"You've got to be carefully taught..."

While Vermont hosted children of 3 faiths from Israel and Palestine - last week they attended a 10 day "Kids4Peace Camp" with Vermont children at Rock Point in Burlington - Max Blumenthal reported (in depth, with photos - taken by Ata Abu Madyam of Arab Negev News) on Israeli high schoolers who have helped demolish a Bedouin village of Al-Arakib, as part of their summer service indoctrination.

It is not hard to imagine what lessons the high school students who participated in the leveling of al-Arakib took from their experience, nor is it especially difficult to predict what sort of citizens they will become once they reach adulthood. Not only are they being indoctrinated to swear blind allegiance to the military, they are learning to treat the Arab outclass as less than human...

[T]he scenes from al-Arakib, from the demolished homes to the uprooted gardens to the grinning teens who joined the mayhem, can be viewed as much more than the destruction of a village. They are snapshots of the phenomenon that is laying Israeli society as a whole to waste.

Other blogger/reporters have commented on Max's story, too: Mondoweiss; PULSE (cross-posted), Helena Cobban. I doubt NPR and other corporate press in the USA would cover this as much as Max has. I first read this when I saw Max had posted it on his Facebook. While there are more horrendous actions in Palestine/Gaza for sure, this was not pleasant to read while eating dinner!

Transformed: A soldier who became a man of peace

Almighty God our Heavenly Father, guide the nations of the world Into the way of justice and truth, and establish among them that peace which is the fruit of righteousness, that they may become the kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Today is the Feast of St Martin, Bishop of Tours, 397.

"The Feast of Martin, a soldier who fought bravely and faithfully in the service of an earthly sovereign, and then enlisted in the service of Christ, is also the day of the Armistice which marked the end of the First World War. On it we remember those who have risked or lost their lives in what they perceived as the pursuit of justice and peace."

Icon by the hand of Br. Leon Liddament, St. Seraphim's Studio, Walsingham, England. View more icons of St Martin here.

"In olden days in England, St. Martin was an extremely popular Saint, and his feast ushered in the great fast before Nativity. When St. Augustine of Canterbury arrived in Kent, he found in Canterbury a Christian church, ancient even then, dedicated to St. Martin. The location can still be seen in modern-day Canterbury."

See St Martin's Church, Canterbury, the oldest church in England still in use - here.

Collect for today:

Lord God of hosts, who clothed your servant Martin the soldier With the spirit of sacrifice, and set him as a bishop in your Church to be a defender of the catholic faith: Give us grace to follow in his holy steps, that at the last we may be found clothed with righteousness in the dwellings of peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

AMSTERDAM REMEMBERS JOHN & YOKO'S BED-IN

Yoko Ono and John Lennon in room 902 of the Amsterdam Hilton. Photo Nico Koster

NRC/international:-- The Amsterdam Hilton is opening up to the public the bedroom where John Lennon and Yoko Ono stayed in 1969 as part of the 40th anniversary celebration of their famous "bed-in for peace".

In all fairness, the Lennon bedroom in the Amsterdam Hilton has always been available to the public. At a price: a one-night stay costs 1,750 euros. But on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the "bed-in", the hotel has decided to relax its policy. Beatles fans can visit the suite - though not to stay in - from March 21 to 29 when a number of Lennon-related events will be taking place.

Closer to home - Imagine: John & Yoko's pacifist anthem: a second bed-in was held at The Fairmont Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, Canada, from May 26 to June 2, 1969. (Hilarious 1969 CBC interview with John & Yoko here.) To commemorate the event, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts , in collaboration with Yoko Ono, has curated an exhibition which will run from April 2 to June 21, 2009.