I met a young, promising Christian writer at a one-day seminar on Dietrich Bonhoeffer recently. What a pleasant surprise, he is convinced that the Jewish nation, having been on the verge of vanishing during Hitler's reign, has to grow beyond its victim-hood.

"Israel must stop the air raids on Lebanon, it cannot justify all its aggression first against the Palestinians and now the Lebanese civilians by camouflaging itself as a victim of the Holocaust." His tone could not have been firmer.

As I am recalling our short exchange of views on the issue, Israel has been intensifying its bombardment on its northern neighbour. Barely two weeks into the offensive, the Lebanese authorities came out with a report that the Israelis were using phosphoric bombs that were forbidden under international conventions.