April 15, 2006
I had a choice of staying with these feelings or sort of nurturing them," Bane said. "I tried to think of ways I could learn more. I felt the need for bridges of understanding with people who could do this kind of thing." Bane eventually organized a Muslim-Christian dialogue in Delaware, where he now lives. Washington Post, April 20, 2006
Donald Bane is the father of Michael Andrew Bane, who died in the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Centre. He spoke at the sentencing phase of the trial of Zacarias Moussaoui. He spoke as a witness for the defense.
In America, such testimony is not permitted if it overtly asserts that the defendant should not be killed. I don't fully grasp this concept. Now that I think about it, I suppose that the relatives of victims of 9/11 who testified for the prosecution couldn't actually say, "we'd like to see Moussaoui die". They could only say, look at how my life has been destroyed by this man. Draw your own conclusion. Why should this man be alive? So I suppose the witnesses called for the defense could say... well, what they did say.
The defense called Bane and a handful of other relatives of 9/11 victims to give quiet, dignified testimony to the effect that there are alternatives to vengeance, and alternatives to declaring that your life has been destroyed by a tragedy and is no longer worth living because the only thing that can give you satisfaction is to see someone-- maybe anyone-- die in retribution.
Bane said his life was worth living. He has even initiated some projects that he hopes will promote understanding and peace between Moslems and Christians.
A large number of family members of 9/11 are still angry, and they want to see someone die for the sins of Mohammed Atta and his co-conspirators. Since Atta and his friends are all already dead, Zacarias Moussaoui is the only prospective candidate.
But an execution doesn't give any real satisfaction, and it doesn't bring closure, and it doesn't bring your loved one back. It just creates more people who wish their loved one could come back from the dead. Yes, even Zacarias Moussaoui has a mother. And even she knows he is a lunatic and that no civilized society would execute a lunatic, especially when he hasn't actually committed any crimes.
Does that sound strange to you? It's true: Zacarias Moussaoui has not committed any crimes-- other than not registering his visa properly. Moussaoui has proclaimed that he wanted to be a 9/11 conspirator and even insists that he would like to be one in the future. We should wish that all our enemies could be so forthright. But if we hanged everyone who claimed to be responsible for sensational crimes, we'd have a busy hangman indeed.
So, when you consider George Bush and the military and the tendencies of conservatives to accuse liberals of being soft and weak and indecisive, and you consider that the school of vengeance sits weeping in the courtroom, confessing to everyone (in the mistaken belief that there is a point to it) that he or she is incapable of finding something in this world worth living for, other than revenge.... when you consider that Donald Bane seems like a perfectly decent human being...