Last week, human rights activist Vittorio Arrigoni was murdered in Gaza.

Found strangled in an abandoned home, Vittorio was an outspoken humanitarian and peacemaker since arriving in Gaza in 2009 on a flotilla carrying food and medical supplies.  Aside from working alongside other non-violent direct action (NVDA) folks, Vittorio also accompanied fishermen on their boats as they sailed the sometimes-uncertain coastal waters off the Gaza strip.  His presence was more a witness than anything and Vittorio had a saying that his unpublished book held in part as well: “Stay Human.”  Vittorio was a staunch practitioner of NVDA and those who practice NVDA commit themselves to never physically fighting back—even when your life is threatened. (Click to hear Vittorio explain what brought him to Gaza.)

Since last week, I have struggled with Vittorio’s death.  He was just an acquaintance to me, this man whom I followed religiously as a colleague and on Facebook, posting pictures of his activities in Gaza and keeping his communities updated as much as he could.  I loved reading what he was up to—his life on the sea, his compassion for children, his photographs as he documented the effects of Israel’s random bombings of Gaza—pictures that many from all over the world viewed. Vittorio Arrigoni’s voice was invaluable and his witness an eye into a world that not many realize or understand.

From my own assessment of who killed Vittorio as well as my knowledge from being in the Middle East for a short time learning about the conditions on the ground (see my piece, “Am I Anti-Semitic?”), I can say for certain that I question not who killed Vittorio, but what killed Vittorio.

Did religious extremism kill Vittorio Arrigoni?

There is talk that a break-away group with links to Al Qaeda called Salafi are responsible.  (Read about this theory here.)  I have a difficult time with this assessment.  Then, there is talk that Israel hired men to pose as “jihadists” and kill Vittorio.  This, I also have a difficult time believing.  The pictures released of Vittorio before he was killed show him battered and bruised.  I feel if it were either of these factions, his death would have been video-taped as well as more gruesome.  My jaded inner voice tells me that this is sloppy work, even for Al Qaeda wannabe’s.

The ideology that runs rampant across Israel and Palestine within the religious extremist’s sects is pure hatred exacerbated by a protracted conflict where many people know nothing else but violence and how to eliminate their “enemy.”  We can blame the “Jihadists” or the “Zionists,” but really, what’s important?

The issue and outrage here is that Vittorio was not an “enemy.”  He simply was a humanitarian and peacemaker that saw violence as senseless and disempowering.

There are too many facets of the conflict in the Middle East to name here—I understand that.  Yet, what I understand more is that a brother, a son, a friend, a colleague, and a human being is gone—tragically murdered because he fought for what he truly felt called to do.  His passion is apparent in the video above and more, his compassion for all of humanity is what religious extremism never sees.  True peacemakers—Mahatma Gandhi, Tom Fox—just like Vittorio Arrigoni, all carry with them a sense of justice, love, respect, courage and integrity that religious extremism does not recognize.  Religious extremism killed these fellow human beings.

Religious extremism may be an ideology, but religious extremism is almost tangible.  It is blinding.  It is hate-filled.  It is ignorant.  It is callous.  Religious extremism erases the human being, on both sides, and with that dehumanization, it creates more hatred and at the same time, more sorrow.  Religious extremism has nothing to do with religion or God, and everything to do with a lack of humanity, misconceptions and misinformation.

Since last week, those said to be responsible for Vittorio’s death have since been captured or killed.  (Read the latest news on the outcome of the search for Vittorio’s murderers here.)  More people died—all because there are more people such as Vittorio Arrigoni out on the world ready to make a difference, and there are people who oppose such people; ready to fight the good fight; ready to speak their truth; ready to step up to the plate; and ready to fight for those who are oppressed.  Do those deaths really change anything?

Did religious extremism kill Vittorio Arrigoni?  I believe so.  Will more people die because of religious extremism?  I am afraid so.  Will peaceful beings ever prevail over violent beings?  I hope so.  Did a good man die last week?  Yes.

As Vittorio’s memory lives on, I will remember one thing—a man died in April of 2011 in Gaza doing what he loved to do most.  More, however, I believe that Vittorio, until the very moment he died, did what he hoped everyone else in the world will do—he stayed human.