The Gaza Strip is under attack of retaliatory violence continues (Sadat Younis/Twitter)

At my public high school, it was generally assumed that Jews were not a minority, but a majority. As such, whenever national politics came up, attitudes towards Israel were a big deal.  

Few people even bothered to ask how people felt about the Israeli-Palestinian debate because so often the response would be, “I’m Jewish; of course I’m pro Israel.” 

But in a country founded on the importance of religious freedom, shouldn’t we be able to look at these issues with a more nuanced gaze? Shouldn’t we be able to look past a set of inherited beliefs to judge the issues based on our own moral compasses?

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The fact of the matter is that the four teenage boys were found dead this week. 

Jerusalem’s mayor is calling the killing of the 17-year-old Palestinian boy a “horrible and barbaric act” while Palestine’s president publicly decried the kidnapping and killing of the three Israeli teens. 

The fact of the matter is that this what is going on right now is not just a matter of politics and religion; it’s about human rights; it’s a matter of how people should be treating people regardless of their beliefs or allegiances. 

Differences of nationality and religion are not enough to justify the continued killing of innocent people—children really—who will never get to see peace settle in the Middle East. 

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Even after losing her nephew in the trio of West Bank killings, Yishai Fraenkel has been able to look beyond the thirst for vengeance that has blinded many in the aftermath of these atrocities. 

“We do not know precisely what occurred in east Jerusalem tonight and the police are investigating. If indeed an Arab youth has been murdered for nationalistic motive, this is a horrifying, shocking act. There is no difference in blood," said Fraenkel in a statement published on behalf of her family. "Murder is murder, whatever one’s nationality or age. There is no justification, no forgiveness and no atonement for any murder whatsoever.”

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What has happened in the past weeks has been terrible; it has been heartbreaking and unnecessary.

Too many children are lying dead by no fault of their own for us to continue being blinded by religious dogmatism anymore. We are not children fighting over toys in a sandbox, but adults who need to work harder to use their words, rather than their fists and their guns, to learn how to co-exist.  

Contact Deputy Editor Sara Newman here. Follow her on Twitter here.