Howard W. Silbersher, Princeton
To the editor:
I am a senior citizen and I live in consolidated Princeton. I have a first cousin, Marvin Silbersher, who celebrated his 90th birthday in June. Praise the Lord! I am proud of him. He is my hero and my role model.
He is one member of Tom Brokaw’s "greatest generation." On Oct. 1, 1942, Marvin enlisted in the Air Force. During World War II, he and his crew in a B-17 named Blythe Spirit flew 35 bombing missions over Germany from their base in England. The German cities they bombed included Berlin, Cologne, Hannover, Merzberg, others. In an armada of hundreds of planes they targeted and bombed ball bearing factories, munitions plants, refineries and supply depots. Their plane was equipped with the Norden bomb site for pinpoint accuracy.
After reading in the media how Israel is being vilified for responding to rocket attacks on its homeland by the terrorist organization Hamas, I asked my cousin Marvin, if the bombs dropped on military targets on Germany during WW II killed non-combatant civilians. His response was, "With all the accuracy of the Norden bomb site, of course non-combatant civilians were killed." But, he went on, "It had to be done!" To purge the brutal Nazi regime from Europe.
Although the press and the media were not as pervasive during WW II as they are now, I doubt if President Roosevelt was attacked and vilified the way Prime Minister Netanyahu is attacked today. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon declared Israel’s response to Hamas rocket attacks are "unjustifiable!" A reporter in Vox.com wrote, "the brutality of Hamas’ tactics does not justify the brutality of Israel’s response."
So, the question becomes what is "justifiable?" What is a proper response to rockets on the homeland? How would Ban Ki-Moon respond if North Korea launched rockets onto South Korea, threatening his family and thousands of other civilians in South Korea. How would Vladimir Putin respond if the Russian homeland were threatened by rockets from a terrorist organization across its border? Or China, or India, or any country that has integrity or "self esteem."
As a proud American citizen, I know of unjustified acts of brutality committed by American troops in Vietnam, and in 2004, American troops killed 800 civilians and destroyed 4,000 home in the battle of Fallujah. During the recent month of Ramadan 1,500 Syrian civilians and 400 rebel fighters were killed by Syrian government forces. Where is Ban Ki-Moon’s declaration of "unjustifiable" acts of brutality in that fog of war.
If Ban Ki-Moon wants to do something constructive, he and a delegation of diplomats from the United Nations should go to the Gaza strip. They should convince the Hamas leaders that Israel is not going anywhere. As Justice Antonin Scalia states when asked about Bush v. Gore 2000, "get over it." Israel is here to stay. That Hamas should purge from its charter that its goal is the destruction of Israel and that Hamas recognizes Israel’s right to exist. Then perhaps some matrix for a peace between Israel- Hamas – Palestine could be cobbled together. No more rocket attacks on Israel’s homeland and for Israel no more settlement expansion onto Palestinian land.
As an American Jewish person, I unconditionally support Israel’s mission to defend itself, its homeland and its civilians. If Palestinian civilians are killed, the Hamas should be held accountable for rocket attacks on Israel. And what is, and where do we find a "justifiable" response to rocket attacks. Perhaps we can Google justifiable rocket attacks in the homeland.
One last thought, a famous person in world history stated: "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone."
Howard W. Silbersher
Princeton
