The Israeli Lebanon War: Response to Switzerland

In 2005, after repeated attacks by Hezbollah on  Israeli civillians and repeaed loss of civillian life,  the Israeli’s attacked the Hezbollah strongholds in Southern Lebanon.  The Israelis had asked the Lebanese government to control the attacks coming from their soil, but they did not stop the terrorism.  The purpose of the Israeli attacks and incursion was to degrade the facilities of Hesbollah, to kill as many fighters as possible and to destro make the terrorists realize that Israel would not sumply allow the attacks because the terrorists were striking from Lebanon.  Hexbollah, embeded its fighters and facilities amongest the civillians of Southern Lebanon and often stored their weapons and ammunition in civillian facilities, fired their rockets from civillan private and public institutional property which then made the civillian facilities legitimate military targets according to the International Law and the Rules of War.

 Along with the military destruction, there was extensive Lebanese civillian collatereral damage.  Switzerland immediately called for a cease fire to end the civillian casualties; however, Israel needed time to destroy the Hesbollah facilities.  Lewis D. Eigen sent this private letter to the Swiss Ambasador to the United States, agreeing that it would not be made public for 5 years.  That time has elapsed.  This is the contents of the letter:

The Conundrum of Religious Freedom for Jews

Written By

Lewis D. Eigen

The Jewish prisoner flinched at the accusations of the police officer.  Wearing a traditional white and blue Jewish prayer shawl and publicly praying was so offensive to public morality that for the sake of order in the community, the religious authorities and the police officer had to act.  He had nothing personal against the accused, but it was his job to maintain a level of public order and decorum.  So many people had been so offended by the accused that he had to act.  People took their religion very seriously.  God himself had told man how to behave, and this misguided Jew goes out in public and offends most of the serious, fundamentalist religious believers.  It was not just the clerics stirring up hate.  So many people thought that God and they were being mocked by someone who had no respect for the word of God or man’s religious traditions.

The date was November 18, 2009.  The place most of us assume was probably Saudi Arabia or Iran.  That the fundamentalist Moslem bigots would not allow a Jew to pray in public.  That is the so called law in those countries that blatantly flaunt standards of religious tolerance and commonly violate the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights.  But this particular gross denial of Jewish religious rights was not in those countries.  It was not even in a Moslem nation.  Nor a Christian one for that matter.  It took place in the Jewish state of Israel.  The police officers were themselves Jewish.

Islamic Dialogues: 2 The Martyred Son

The Martyred Son, is a tragic playlet of a Palestinian family whose first knowledge of the radicalization of their only son is after his death in the process of murdering 7 Israelis. Their soul searching and recriminations developed while they rethink how such a thing could occur, provides a painful glimpse into the dynamics and impact of the extreme fundamentalists on what otherwise might be a normal society. One critic has observed, “anyone of any religion will tear up reading this poignant, intimate account of what we never usually consider when we hear of another suicide bombing.”

Islamic Dialogues: 3 The Dinner of the Tunisian Politicians

A dialogue of two Tunisian senior government officials, both Western educated, regarding the problem of modernizing the rural, desert South of the country where religious Islamic fundamentalism and the desert cultural tradition are major obstacles. The modernity, and relatively successful development of the country, with no oil or other natural resources, compared to other Arab countries is historically, culturally and politically explained in this insightful dialogue.

Child Soldiers Are Unfortunately Nothing New

President Abraham Lincoln had recently signed the act of Congress creating the Medal of Honor. Secretary of War William Stanton personally awarded the first medals. On September 16, 1863, it was recieved by Willie Johnston, He was 13 years old and only 5 feet tall. He had enlisted in the army at the age of 11, and was awarded the highest medal for his bravery during the Peninsula Campaign when he was 12.

Brain Cells and Democracy

New research indicates that some of the neuron cells of the brain may be organized according to the democratic principles of a New England town meeting.