- "By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and
we wept when we remembered Zion. Upon the willows in the midst thereof
did we hang our instruments. For there, they that had taken us captive
asked us for words of song. And they that had led us away asked us
for a hymn, saying: Sing us one of the songs of Zion. How shall
we sing the Lord's song in a strange land? If I forget thee, O Jerusalem,
let my right hand be forgotten. Let my tongue cleave to my throat,
if I remember thee not, If I set not Jerusalem above all other, as at the
head of my joy. Remember, O Lord, the sons of Edom, in the day of Jerusalem,
Who said, 'Lay waste to her, even to the foundations thereof.' O daughter
of Babylon, thou wretched one, blessed shall he be who shall reward thee
wherewith thou hast rewarded us. Blessed shall he be who shall seize
and dash thine infants against the rock." (Psalm 136)
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- The ancient Israelites, exiled from their refuge in Babylon,
wept for the homes they were forced to flee. Jehovah warned them not to
forget or forgive those who had destroyed their homeland, the sons of Edom,
descendents of Esau, brother and rival to Jacob, the patriarch of the Jews.
As I see the images of displaced and broken bodies in the news of Israel's
latest desolation of Lebanon, I wonder if the Israeli prime minister thinks
about Lebanon's dead babies as he dons his skullcap and recites his morning
prayers. Does he thank Jehovah for giving him another opportunity to dash
enemy infants against the rocks?
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- Jehovah, the old war god, has been at work in this bitter
land for thousands of years, setting tribe against tribe and fueling death
and destruction with implanted memories of ancient wrongs. What reconciliation
can there be for brothers who dance in each others' footsteps and crush
their children with mortar rounds and artillery shells?
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- What peace can there be for people who are pawns in Jehovah's
ancient blood lusts and now fall prey to greedy world powers who only want
to carve up the region's oilfields for their own benefit? Can our
cynical political leaders be trusted to arrange a peace when our own President
keeps telling the world, "Wait, it's too soon to make peace in Lebanon.
The war needs to continue for a few weeks yet!" Meanwhile, his surrogates
pepper the TV shows with opinions that this is the start of World War III.
Why not? It's a hellava war for those with fat wallets bulging
from gas prices through the ceiling because of wars! The war god
must be pleased with the escalating terror undertaken in his name, with
those who love peace marginalized by their governments and forced to stand
by as the cacophony of war defeats sanity and hope. How did the Jews get
it so wrong?
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- The Torah and Amalek
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- The Torah describes the two signal events that lay the
foundation for Judaism: the exodus from Egypt, and Moses on Mount Sinai
and receiving the Ten Commandments from Jehovah, the basis of the five
books of Moses that describe the religious, social and ethical conduct
at the heart of Judaism. But the Israelites in the wilderness worshipped
graven images of local gods and refused to give up their idols for a god
who demanded absolute loyalty and strict adherence to the Code Moses brought
down to them from an invisible but very angry and demanding god. The
special relationship between Jehovah and the Jews relies on their obedience
to Jehovah's laws. It is in the adherence to Jehovah's precepts that Jews
are distinguished from all other tribes and nations.
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- For Jews, allegiance to the Ten Commandments is more
important than allegiance to flag or country. The Book of Judges in the
Old Testament recounts how the Jews forgot their loyalty to Jehovah and
became ensnared in the courtly protocols of the Jewish kings, from the
time of David on, abandoning the old Jehovic rules. It was only after
the destruction of the second temple and the exodus from Israel that many
Jews returned to their ancient compact with Jehovah, the god of Israel.
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- The book of Deuteronomy describes Jehovah's demand for
absolute loyalty and adds one additional commandment (Deut.25:17-19):
- "Remember what Amalek did unto thee by the
way, when ye were come forth out of Egypt; How he met thee by the way,
and smote the hindmost of thee, even all that were feeble behind thee,
when thou wast faint and weary; and he feared not God. Therefore it shall
be, when the Lord thy God hath given thee rest from all thine enemies round
about, in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance
to possess it, that thou shalt blot out the remembrance of Amalek from
under heaven; thou shalt not forget it."
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- Growing up a Jew, I learned the history of the Jewish
people, the prayers, and the instructions that cover everything from social
relations with strangers to marriage, business, health and cleanliness,
dietary and spiritual practices essential for being a Jew. While the practices
were exacting and tedious, they were not a heavy burden, except for one,
the admonition to remember the evil done by the tribe of Amalek and to
eradicate them from the face of the earth. It seemed not to be in keeping
with the ethical practices I had been instructed to follow. Why did our
god admonish his chosen people to wipe out another tribe, and never to
forget or forgive the insult delivered to our forbears more than 5000 years
ago? The rabbis said it was because Amalek attacked the rear of the column
of Israelites retreating from Egypt in the wilderness, killing women, children,
the sick and frail, avoiding the seasoned soldiers at the front while maximizing
the Israelites terror. The need for this vengeance and slaughter of innocents
is taught to every Jewish child still today.
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- A New Song of Peace
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- Now we see what comes of ancient blood feuds that know
no end. In Lebanon, the Hizbollah are Amalek to Israelis because they are
launching missiles into Israel and killing civilians indiscrimately. Meanwhile,
Israel's planes, ships and ground forces are destroying Lebanon in pursuit
of Hizbollah, destroying everything and everyone in their path, including
frail women, children, the sick and the infirm who are hiding from Israeli
bombs in airless basements. But the shelters are no match for the
high-tech, precision bombs the Israeli army is using, recently received
from the United States on an emergency basis in order to proceed with the
total "cleansing" of Lebanon.. The bombs turn homes into dust
and rubble that rain down on the terrified women and children sheltering
in basements, snuffing out their lives. In war, there are no innocent victims,
only those in the path of the war machine who must be expunged.
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- Jehovah, the god of war, has planted an infernal seed
in the perpetrators of this war that continuously feeds the dark fires
of hatred and violence. There appears no escape from the vengeance of Jehovah
and his demands for catastrophe. The prime minister of Israel says emphatically,
"There will be no ceasefire!" The President of the United States
says it's too early for a ceasefire. While hourly, more innocent Lebanese
bleed and die, and a million have become displaced persons. Is this war
or ethnic cleansing, the last century's preferred solution for clearing
land coveted by foreign colonizers?
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- The time has come for Jews to sing a new song, a song
of peace. Peace is now possible. Contrary to the misinformation disseminated
by the White House and White Hall, Israel vetoed unprecedented peace proposals
that would have initiated a promising new framework for serious negotiations,
and went on to provoke Palestinian and Lebanese groups into retaliations
that now threaten to escalate into an even more dangerous regional conflict.
This was the news from a reliable source, the morning before the invasion
of Lebanon.
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- The peace proposal was rejected because of a veto by
Israel's secret intelligence service, Shin Bet, who favored the invasion
instead of peace. Peace has few friends in the region and many enemies.
But we cannot, in conscience, continue to sit on our hands and watch the
massacre and uprooting that's been going on for three weeks to feed the
death-eater dreams of the global expansionists. There are no small wars
only berserk warmongers. Wars have neither regions nor borders, and peace
is never the result of wars. The blood of the slaughtered always demands
retribution.
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- Now, we are all Lebanese, as our humanity is slaughtered
along with the innocents.
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- Luise Light is a nutritionist and author of, What to
Eat; The Ten Things You Really Need to Know to Eat Well and Be Healthy
(McGraw Hill, 2006). She is a resident of Bellows Falls, VT, where she
is an elected Village official.
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