Why Justice Doesn't Exist

 

Video Transcript: 

I'm going to slap you and you will feel pain. But the first thing you will do is slap me back because you want to get revenge! You want what is fair, you want what is just, you want justice! 

I grew up in a place where justice is very important. I grew up in Israel and Palestine. And, around me,  many people are seeking justice— justice for the murder, justice for the kidnapped, justice for the stolen and no one would rest. Not them, not us, until justice is achieved. Just like Hollywood taught us, justice must always be served at the end of the movie. 

See? I don't really believe in Hollywood and I don't really believe in justice because I have come to learn that forgiveness is a lot more powerful than justice. And, forgiveness, I learned from a woman that's very, very far away from me called Ernestein.

Ernestein lives in Rwanda and she is the most forgiving person I have ever met. She was a victim of the Rwandan genocide. A soldier attacked her with a machete, hand-tied her and threw her into a river to die. Then, he killed her entire family. And that soldier is this person. 

This is a sad story that makes anyone angry and if I were Ernestine, I would come back, find that soldier and I would kill him. I would try to get revenge for myself and for my family. I would try to get justice! But, you know, that's not what she did. Instead of taking justice, she gave forgiveness to the soldier. 

25 years later, they have become friends and she's not the only one. In her country, Rwanda, one million people were killed and when the genocide ended, the country decided to forgive all the killers because according to their president: "Sorry won't bring back any lives. Only forgiveness can heal this nation."

Survivors, they said, must forgive because they're the only ones with something to give. And, that story really moved me. 25 years later, Rwanda healed itself. It is now one of Africa's most successful nations. It is clean, it is safe, it is thriving.

At the end of the day, each one of us is faced with injustice and each one of us wants to slap back but one thing my travels taught me is that justice doesn't exist in the real world. So, instead of seeking justice, let us give forgiveness because in reality, it's the only way forward!