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To:
letters@guardian.co.uk |
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Dear Sir/Madam,
We cannot commit Allied war crimes, like the bombing of Dresden, to the history books until WE too (like most Germans) have learned our lesson from them, and felt shame and regret for the barbaric deeds of our forebears (I have little doubt that "Bomber Harris" is now keeping company with Adolf Hitler, Stalin and their like).
For if it is some how
justifiable for Britain and
America to have deliberately
targeted and kill 10's of
thousands of enemy civilians
when fighting a war they were
already certain of winning,
how much more justifiable it
is for Palestinians, for
example, to deliberately
target and kill relatively
small numbers of Israeli
civilians today in their
struggle for liberation.
If you want to remain a barbarian, at least be consistent. Nothing is more despicable and loathsome than a hypocrite. Added to which, it perpetuates a vicious circle of justified barbarism. Barbarism is barbarism is barbarism. It is barbaric to target civilians - whether in Dresden or Hiroshima 60 years ago or in Tel Aviv today. Expressing shame and regret for the barbarism of one's ancestors is a first, but very necessary step away from our barbaric past and towards a more just and humane future. |
