Yashiko Sagamori — Questions for Palestinian Supporters

A Japanese View of the Palestinians

Talk about one picture being worth a THOUSAND words...

An interesting questionnaire for Palestinian Advocates By Yashiko Sagamori

If you are so sure that "Palestine, the country, goes back through most of recorded history," I expect you to be able to answer a few basic questions about that country of Palestine :

1. When was it founded and by whom?
   
2. What were its borders?
3. What was its capital?
4. What were its major cities?
5. What constituted the basis of its economy?
6. What was its form of government?
7. Can you name at least one Palestinian leader before Arafat?
8. Was Palestine ever recognized by a country whose existence, at that time or now, leaves no room for interpretation?
9. What was the language of the country of Palestine?
10. What was the prevalent religion of the country of Palestine?
11. What was the name of its currency? Choose any date in history and tell what was the approximate exchange rate of the Palestinian monetary unit against the US dollar, German mark, GB pound, Japanese yen, or Chinese yuan on that date.
12. And, finally, since there is no such country today, what caused its demise, and when did it occur?

You are lamenting the "low sinking" of a "once proud" nation. Please tell me, when exactly was that "nation" proud and what was it so proud of?

And here is the least sarcastic question of all: If the people you mistakenly call "Palestinians" are anything but generic Arabs collected from all over -- or thrown out of -- the Arab world, if they really have a genuine ethnic identity that gives them right for self-determination, why did they never try to become independent until Arabs suffered their devastating defeat in the Six Day War?

I hope you avoid the temptation to trace the modern day "Palestinians" to the Biblical Philistines: substituting etymology for history won't work here.

The truth should be obvious to everyone who wants to know it. Arab countries have never abandoned the dream of destroying Israel ; they still cherish it today. Having time and again failed to achieve their evil goal with military means, they decided to fight Israel by proxy. For that purpose, they created a terrorist organization, cynically called it "the Palestinian people" and installed it in Gaza , Judea, and Samaria . How else can you explain the refusal by Jordan and Egypt to unconditionally accept back the "West Bank" and Gaza , respectively?

The fact is, Arabs populating Gaza, Judea, and Samaria have much less claim to nationhood than that Indian tribe that successfully emerged in Connecticut with the purpose of starting a tax-exempt casino: at least that tribe had a constructive goal that motivated them. The so-called "Palestinians" have only one motivation: the destruction of Israel , and in my book that is not sufficient to consider them a nation" -- or anything else except what they really are: a terrorist organization that will one day be dismantled.

In fact, there is only one way to achieve peace in the Middle East . Arab countries must acknowledge and accept their defeat in their war against Israel and, as the losing side should, pay Israel reparations for the more than 50 years of devastation they have visited on it. The most appropriate form of such reparations would be the removal of their terrorist organization from the land of Israel and accepting Israel 's ancient sovereignty over Gaza , Judea, and Samaria.

That will mark the end of the Palestinian people. What are you saying again was its beginning?

Jews Survive Because Torah Supports Them

 This article is written in first person voice, but I am not the writer. This article has been forwarded through the internet, and I happened upon in a WhatsApp chat group. It is a very moving story.

A friend of mine found these images. I include them to illustrate the story. It is expected that the story is actually associated with these images.

Nogah Safer is going around Israel writing a Torah.
Each person gets a letter.
This is at a gathering of survivors from the Nova Music Festival.

Last night was one of those "beyond" moments.

I once again had the great merit to accompany my friend Nogah Safer as he "tours" around Israel with the Torah scroll he is very close to completing, giving soldiers and communities that were evacuated after October 7th the opportunity to write a letter in it.

Last week we went to an army base. Super super powerful.

But last night was on a whole other level.

We went to a wedding hall that had been transformed into a place of gathering and healing for survivors of the Nova party, from which 364 beautiful souls were murdered by Hamas terrorists, so many people were injured and dozens were kidnapped and taken into captivity in Gaza.

Last night there were hundreds of young Israelis there. There was food, music, stations for different healing treatments, and a stage on which musicians performed and people spoke.

On the far wall of the hall, it said, in English, in huge blue lights "We Will Dance Again".

Wow.

And then we, the only religious-looking people there, set up a table in the corner, Nogah laid out the Torah scroll, we started playing music, and slowly people started to come over to ask what we were doing.

Nogah explained to them how he wanted to give survivors from Nova the powerful merit of writing a letter in a Torah scroll.

People were blown away. They never were presented with such an opportunity. Many of them never saw a Torah scroll so close up.

The first person stepped up and stood next to Nogah as he wrote a letter for him, followed by a big hug.

And then the next person.

And then the next.

Nogah didn't stop writing for over three hours.

By the night's end, almost everyone at that gathering had come over. People simply wanted to take part, they wanted to connect, they wanted to experience this rare and unique opportunity of participating in the writing of a letter in the Torah.

And many of them dedicated their letters...

To friends who were murdered at the party.

To friends who were taken as hostages by Hamas and are still in captivity.

One of the last women to take part was in a wheelchair. She lost a leg in the attack on October 7th.

It was all heartbreaking. Absolutely heartbreaking.

And at the same time the entire experience, the entire night, was so powerful and inspiring. Even uplifting.

Seeing people coming together. Taking care of each other. Loving each other. Lifting each other up. Helping each other to heal and to learn how to continue on.

At the end of this extraordinary night, I realized something.

It's not only our common enemy in this war that unifies us.

It's not only our common desire to defeat and destroy Hamas that unifies us.

It's not only our common desire to live peacefully in our land that unifies us.

On the deepest level, it's the Torah that unifies us.

Religious, not religious, it doesn't matter.

Last night, I saw the Torah as a giant magnet drawing every kind of Jew towards it. Everyone was included and everyone felt included. Guys with tattoos and body piercings asked, "Can I?" Women came up to us and asked, "Can women also participate?"

"Of course," we said. "Everyone's invited!"

Because the Torah belongs to all of us.

And we belong to it.

Because we find our deepest and truest selves in it.

As Jewish tradition teaches: every Jew is like a letter in the Torah.

And last night I felt like everyone who came up to the Torah was searching for their letter in the Torah.

Which means, essentially, they were searching for themselves.

Because after the disaster and catastrophe of October 7th, everyone – everyone – is looking for themselves and their way in this world on a whole new level.

What is the Solution of the Israeli-Palestinian "Problem"?

 The Gaza Strip and the "West Bank" need to be Israel.

This isn't a prevalent, trendy, or popular idea. Most people seem to believe a "two-state solution" needs to be the only acceptable solution. They are wrong! Dead wrong.

Here is the crux of the problem: The only people in the Middle East who want Israel to exist are Israeli citizens.

I can hear the outcry. No! That is not true! We want a country for the Palestinian people! 

"From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free!" No matter what you think, this is a call for genocide against the Jewish people living in Israel. It is a call for the removal of Israel as a country. It means that there is no place on the planet where Jews may live in peace with their neighbors.

The real problem is solved when all "Palestinians" become "Israeli Palestinians" and live by the laws of the nation Israel. There are no discriminatory laws in Israel. All citizens have the same rights. All citizens who can read, write, and converse in the dominant language have all the rights of any other citizen. Those citizens only "literate" (speak, read, and write) in the language of the land from which they emigrated have all the rights of other citizens. There is no apartheid—that concept as applied to Israel is a complete fabrication.

Any citizen who cannot speak, read, or write Hebrew has several options. There is Ulpan: a series of lessons provided by either the government (free for the first 10 years after immigration); there are also many private organizations providing language instruction (for some fee). Also, many signs in Israel provide several languages, and restaurant menus may be available in two or more languages. Many Israeli citizens speak more than one language. No one is ostracized in Israel.

Israel has approximately 2 million Arab citizens. This is approximately 21% of the citizens of Israel. Israel has 10 Arab ministers in the Knesset (the governing body of Israel).

There are areas in the disputed territories that Jews are not allowed to enter. These areas have large red signs letting the Jews know that to enter this area is to endanger their life. The Israeli government puts up these signs to protect its Jewish citizens from death. It is not certain that a Jew would be killed, but there is no guarantee. There is not any sign that warns an Arab that their life would be in danger if they venture beyond. No Arab is ever in danger in the disputed areas or in the land of Israel.

The only way to assure the protection of all inhabitants of Israel is to utilize the police and soldiers of Israel to certify that the laws of Israel will protect all the inhabitants of the area "from the river to the sea".

That will be accomplished when Israel is all the land from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea and from the Golan Heights to the edge of the Sinai Peninsula.

All people are under one reasonable set of laws. All who will become citizens of Israel can vote for their representatives. All people are protected from danger to their lives. 

Gaza will be rebuilt and infused with high-technology companies and manufacturing. There will be jobs for citizens. A harbor and port will be constructed to facilitate trade.

The world can be shown that Israel is not an occupier, but a partner in facilitating economic growth.

This is the way.

The Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies

 BESA Center Perspectives Paper No. 2,215, November 28, 2023

“We cannot always prevent the murder of workers in an orchard or sleeping families, but we can set a high price for our blood. A price too high for the Arab settlement, the Arab army and the Arab government to pay. … [Retaliation operations] are not for vengeance. It is an act of punishment and warning, that if that state does not control its population and does not prevent them attacking us – the Israeli forces will cause havoc in its land.“

IDF Chief of Staff Moshe Dayan,

Lecture to IDF officers: “Retaliation Operations as a Means of Ensuring Peace”, July 1955

(Published in IDF monthly journal Skira Hodsheet, August 1955).