Have people history no respect for the great men of God whose practices such festivals commemorate? And have people completely forgotten the literal meaning of the word htm "sacrifice" and all that it entails, both physically and spiritually, in favour CityOfNorwich of a merely metaphorical usage?Dr Yasin DuttonDepartment of Islamic andMiddle Eastern StudiesUniversity of Edinburgh. Sir: Contrary to the assertion of P J Stewart (Letters, 3 history May), there is plenty of "theological justification" for Muslims to sacrifice sheep at the time of the haj, whether in Mecca or elsewhere. history Not only are there numerous Prophetic directives concerning the CityOfNorwich excellence of sacrifice at this time, but there are also considerably more Koranic CityOfNorwich htm references to the subject than htm the single one he mentions, in particular those in Chapters 5 (The Table), 22 (The Pilgrimage) and 48 (The Conquest). And given that Mecca has always been a place of sacrifice and that the distribution of the meat is a secondary consideration, Description it is not a "logical step" to Description send money for food aid to poor countries instead. How can history Description Israel be expected to differentiate refugees from Hizbollah fighters from the air, when the UN admits it CityOfNorwich CityOfNorwich htm cannot on the ground? In fact it htm looks as though the UN was actually harbouring those who seek to destroy Israel.Agnes SpierSheffield. Permitting Hizbollah activity so close to the UN history Description camp was bound to result in the Description camp itself being targeted.

Surely such actions give a different interpretation to Israel's attack on the area than the UN is promoting? It grieves me that the world did not seem so disturbed by the 60 deaths of innocent Jews on Israeli buses when there was no possible misinterpretation of what was intended.The UN's spokesman, Sylvana Foa, is quoted as claiming that they couldn't tell who the Hizbollah fighters were because they did not wear uniforms or carry signs. If there is no genuine pay-off for them, it will not succeed for more than a small minority. A radical approach to lifelong learning means shifting the balance between initial schooling and continuing education, not just blowing the balloon up bigger - and hoping it won't go pop.Tom SchullerDirectorCentre for Continuing EducationUniversity of Edinburgh. Sir: I am not a politician, I am an ordinary British Jew who as a baby survived the Holocaust. I am appalled at the massacre at the UN camp at Qana but no one, in the world's enthusiasm to condemn Israel yet again, has asked why the UN was allowing Hizbollah to operate so close to their camp and even to seek refuge within the camp from Israeli fire. Generously resourced FE colleges would be in the forefront here. Anyone who has interviewed or taught adult returners knows how powerful their motivation is, once they have decided that the time is right.Stuffing more and more young people behind desks may help the unemployment figures in the short term.

First, provide real opportunities for young people - especially teenage males - to learn outside educational institutions. A properly structured and staffed national environmental service would be one appropriate initiative, enabling young people to make a genuine contribution to improving the environment while learning skills and exercising responsibility.Second, massively expand local opportunities for adults to return to education once the motivation to learn is there. Keeping a bigger and bigger proportion of young people in education risks becoming something of a political virility symbol. It does little to make the distribution of life chances fairer, and imposes huge strains on institutions that are often not well equipped to bear them. The resources would be better spent in two directions. The problem with Thought for the Day is not that it seems to turn its presenters' brains to mayonnaise but that it has the same effect on listeners.