Rachel Frenkel, the mother of abducted teen Naftali, addressed a Jewish congregation in Geneva Tuesday and told the audience that the abduction of her son and two other yeshiva students by Hamas has brought unity to the nation of Israel.
Frenkel was in Geneva along with Bat Galim Sha’ar and Iris Yifrah, the mothers of the other two abductees. She had addressed the UNHCR and made an impassioned plea to help all three captured boys return home.
At the UNHCR, Frenkel spoke a little about each of the boys, humanizing them in the face of the delegitimization and smear campaign presented by the UNHRC for the 90 minutes prior.
"With your permission, I’d like to tell you about the boys. My son Naftali is 16. He loves to play guitar and basketball. He’s a good student and a good boy - a combination of serious and fun. Eyal loves to play sports and cook. Gilad is an amateur pastry chef, and loves movies.
"My son texted me - said he’s on his way home - and then he’s gone. Every mother’s nightmare is waiting and waiting endlessly for her child to come home."
Frenkel took to task the justification of the abduction as a vehicle of Palestinian Arab 'frustration.'
"Mr. President, it is wrong to take children, innocent boys or girls, and use them as instruments of any struggle. It is cruel."
"This council is charged with protecting human rights. I wish to ask: Doesn’t every child have the right to come home safely from school?"