The Sun remembers 1950: Where I Stand: Hank Greenspun

Friday, July 7, 2000 | 10:33 a.m.

Note to readers, July 6, 1950: Hank Greenspun, publisher of the Morning Sun, left Las Vegas early today for Los Angeles, where he must appear in federal court this morning on charges of smuggling arms to Israel. Greenspun and two other defendants are accused of shipping guns to Mexico and then to Palestine in 1948.

If this column should be missing from this spot for the next few weeks, I want you good people to know that the fault will not be mine. It seems that I have to go to Los Angeles to keep an appointment with the Federal Government.

I remember keeping another appointment back in February of 1941 when I went to the Army, presumably for a year's training, but stayed five years instead. The government called. There was a war on.

This appointment is a little different. Same government, different war, much different consequences. From World War Two, I returned, and my government called me a hero. From the Israeli-Arabic war, I returned and my government called me a criminal.

To my way of thinking, they were both wars for independence; both were wars to preserve the democratic way of life. For one, my government gave me a medal; for the other, they want to put me in jail.

The proposition as I see it is a simple one; Americans fighting in China, Americans fighting with England and Canada against Germany, before we entered the war, Americans in Korea, all heroes. Americans fighting in Israel, all criminals.

I went through one trial which lasted three and one-half months and a jury of my peers, all good, fair-minded people, acquitted me. However, my government is not satisfied; they must exact their pound of flesh, so Thursday morning I go on trial again.

Same charge as before, "a conspiracy to violate the Neutrality Act by shipping arms to Israel."

The ironic part of the government's stand is that they are at present doing the identical thing, shipping arms to Israel. The reasoning, however is a little different. When I presumably shipped them, Israel was a new and very weak nation, entirely surrounded by seven large Arab nations intent on annihilating the new state which had been created by the United Nations. Israel's people were in danger of being massacred and therefore no one must help them under penalty of going to jail.

Today, Israel is in a different position; her army is recognized as the most powerful in the Middle East. Israel is the only pure democracy near the borders of Russia. Today, we need Israel as our first line of defense in that part of the world, so today we are shipping arms to Israel.

Looks like I was two years too early. Going on trial Thursday, I might even go to jail for being two years too early.