Jerusalem News (2 August 2016, 27 Tammuz, 5776)
Contents:
1. "Time to Be Reasonable Concerning Japan" by Douglas Augustine
2. Polish court rules to continue denying stolen property from Holocaust survivors
3. European support for anti-Israel groups.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
1. "Time to Be Reasonable Concerning Japan" by Douglas Augustine
Re
JN-1185. Jerusalem News
http://hebrewnations.com/features/jn2/jn1185.html
#5. The Religious Cult Secretly Running Japan
Dear Mr. Davidiy:
Earlier this week you published a short article concerning a religious cult secretly running Japan. For reference purposes, I have copied and pasted it below. As you know, I have spent most of my adult life living in Japan and feel I have a fairly good sense of the place and its people. I've also noticed over the years that Japan is a very popular target for criticism for any number of reasons of which one of the most popular is the behavior of its people during World War II. Nearly everyone alive at that time as a teenager or older has already departed this life. Even so, the steady drumbeat of finger-pointing and accusation continues.
The article in question concerns a "secret" cult of Shinto that supposedly runs the country now. First of all, if this has become the subject of an article published here and elsewhere, how "secret" can it be? The stated goals of this secret cult are supposedly to "gut Japan's post-war pacifist constitution, end sexual equality, get rid of foreigners, void pesky 'human rights' laws, and return Japan to its Imperial Glory."
I'm being honest when I say that reading the above list of goals gave me a chuckle. Yes, there is a movement to amend the constitution to allow Japan to beef up its self defense capabilities but hardly to the degree of "gutting" it as stated in the article. Given what has transpired in the United States of late, does it make sense for Japan to continue to rely on it for its defense? In short, the USA can no longer be viewed as reliable in the event of trouble, so what is Japan supposed to do to please people like the authors of the article? Truthfully, I would like to know their opinion in this regard.
As for the rest, Japan would have to proceed contrary to the strong and express wishes of the people. In old Japan, that would not have been an issue because conditions were very similar to what prevails in North Korea today. But in today's Japan, public sentiment is taken very seriously. In fact, I would even venture to say that Japan is more democratic than the United States where defecating repeatedly on the wishes of the majority has become a source of amusement for shrill sodomites, communists, anti-racists, illegal aliens, muslims and seemingly every other fringe minority with an agenda. Japan uses paper ballots and has measures in place to ensure that only citizens are able to cast ballots whereas every effort to bring integrity into the voting process in America is met with hysterical resistance in the form of accusations of racism and ***phobia. In addition, low approval ratings can and do cause resignations in contrast to the USA where instead of being tossed out en masse, the members of Congress continue to be re-elected notwithstanding its remarkably low approval rating that has been mired in single digits for more than a decade.
So I'd like to pose a few questions to the authors:
(1) Do you honestly feel Japan's government can impose policies that will result in the death by starvation of 2/3's of its population? Kicking out foreigners and attempting to roll back time to the Edo Period when the country was closed would have exactly that effect because Japan is not self sufficient in food for its current population.
(2) Do you honestly believe disenfranchising half the population (women) and forcing them into a state of subservience as it used to be in the "good old days" has a prayer of succeeding? Japanese women are a lot stronger than people think, believe me!
(3) Do you really believe Japan can get away with booting all foreigners out of the country without severe blow-back? Japan has no resources of its own and cannot even feed itself without importing food. So when trade is adversely affected and Japanese nationals are designated persona non grata in retaliation, the standard of living will drop like an anvil. The current generation loves its creature comforts in the form of working infrastructure, travel, diet, dress, entertainment, and on and on. How do you think the population will react to being forced to give those things up and being reduced to a diet of fish heads and rice all for the sake of returning Japan to its "Imperial Glory"? The notion is ridiculous.
Well, the authors attempted to get some attention by writing a piece of nonsense. Even if true and many of Japan's leaders are participating in the "secret" Shinto cult, in my opinion, the proper response should be a resounding "so what!" Anybody attempting to implement its policies would find his political career coming to a very abrupt halt.
Douglas Augustine
Tokyo, Japan
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
2. Polish court rules to continue denying stolen property from Holocaust survivors
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4834662,00.html
Extracts:
Despite heavy international pressure to change its existing legal stance, which refuses to consider property claims made after 1988, the Polish law remains in place.
The Polish Court found on Wednesday that the law limiting the returning of property to Polish Holocaust survivors is constitutional and therefore will not be amended. The decision means that many survivors and their relatives will continue to be denied the option of reclaiming property that was stolen during and following WWII.
Several governments and organizations had put pressure on Poland to change its law and allow the return of stolen Jewish property, among them the US, Canada and Britain.
Â
The legal owners of the property were also denied reasonable opportunity to file a claim prior to 1988, since almost all Polish-born Holocaust survivors had been living outside of Poland between 1945 - 1988, a fact that effectively prevented them from filing a request with the Polish Communist government. Any claims that were presented before the government were either denied or not looked into during the Communists' time in power, which ended in 1989.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
3. European support for anti-Israel groups.
 +++SOURCE:AlArabiya News 31 July 16: Netanyahu criticizes European 'support'
for anti-Israel groups' ,by Agence France Presse
Website: www.imra.org.il
QUOTE: inquiry had 'found support from European countries,including France,for several organizations that engage in incitement, call for a boycott of Israel and do not recognize the state of Israel's right to exist'
FULL TEXT: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday[31 July] said his government was looking into support from European nations for groups engaged in what he described as anti-Israel activities, specifically mentioning France.
Â
Speaking at the start of a cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said an inquiry had 'found support from European countries, including France, for several organizations that engage in incitement, call for a boycott of Israel and do not recognize the state of Israel's right to exist.'
Â
'We will complete the inquiry and submit the findings to the French government,' Netanyahu said, without identifying any organization.
Â
Israeli officials have regularly condemned support by foreign governments for left-wing NGOs critical of the country's policies towards the Palestinians.
 Â