Just as the "turntable of civilization" appeared as a gallant in July 2010, Islamic thought researcher Ms. Akari Iiyama is an excellent star who appeared before the Japanese people in 2021.
She is a woman, a supreme national treasure, who has appeared in Japan. In this country, women have been cherished the most and are the happiest in the world, as represented by Murasaki Shikibu and Sei Shonagon.
The following is from Ms. Akari Iiyama's column in Themis, a monthly subscription magazine published on February 1.
It is a must-read not only for the Japanese people but for people worldwide.
Asahi & Mainichi Shimbun's Disease of "Israel Hatred
The "freedom not to report" ignores the victims of the Hamas massacre.
Iiyama Akari, Researcher of Islamic Thought and Visiting Professor at Reitaku University
It was Hamas that started the Gaza War.
The year 2023 has ended, and the year 2024 has begun.
On December 31, Asahi Shimbun's "famous column" Tenseijingo begins with the headline, "Good-bye 2023," as follows.
"I was so busy with news that the year ended in the blink of an eye. I regret many things, such as missing out on something I should have read or missed. Looking back, all I can think of are my regrets."
The "news-crazed days" are fulsome with the appearance of blowing "professional air." Still, the writer of Tenseijingo is a reporter for the Asahi Shimbun, so it is only natural for him to be news-crazed days.
Many Japanese can sympathize with the feeling that the year will end in the blink of an eye.
However, the story takes a sharp turn from here.
He asks, "What thoughts shall we carry into tomorrow's New Year's Day?"
He says that adults should fulfill as many of their children's dreams as possible.
But if you look around the world, some children shed tears from the relentless bombardment. There are children whose sparkling sensibilities are nipped in the bud by abuse. In the Gaza Strip, in Ukraine, beyond the sea, in Japan."
It is ridiculous.
Why did the Asahi newspaper "turn its eyes around the world" and choose the Gaza Strip and Ukraine as the places where "children shed tears from merciless shells"?
Why did Asahi choose Japan as a place where "children whose sparkling sensibilities are nipped in the bud by abuse"?
A similar bias is confirmed in the January 1, 2024 Mainichi editorial.
The editorial begins with the headline, "Over 2024: Two Wars and the World: Wisdom to Overcome Human Crisis. "
The international community is facing a 'crisis of humanity' (UN Secretary-General Guterres) as civilian casualties, including children, continue to mount.
In the Palestinian territory of Gaza, where the death toll exceeds 20,000, people spend sleepless nights in the face of Israeli military attacks. Ukrainian citizens are growing increasingly impatient with the protracted Russian invasion."
Both the Asahi and the Mainichi cover the war in Ukraine and the war in Gaza, focusing on the sacrifices of children.
The fact that children who are not even old enough to fall victim to war has a strong emotional appeal.
What is strange, however, is that for some reason, both the Asahi and the Mainichi report that the children being sacrificed are Ukrainian and Gaza children.
It was Russia that started the war in Ukraine.
Russia invaded Ukraine militarily, and Ukraine responded in self-defense.
Russia marched into Ukraine and killed Ukrainian men, women, and children.
Russia not only massacred Ukrainian children but abducted them one after another, and Ukrainian presidential advisor Herasymchuk stated that "about 200,000 people may have been taken away.
Ukrainian children are indeed victims of war.
On the other hand, it was the radical Islamic terrorist organization Hamas, which effectively controls Gaza, that started the Gaza war.
It was not Israel.
However, neither the Asahi nor the Mainichi make any mention of the fact that Israeli children are being killed.
On October 7, 2023, Hamas fighters invaded Israeli territory and carried out a brutal terrorist attack targeting civilians, killing over 1,200 people on that day alone.
Surveillance footage, images from body cameras worn by Hamas fighters, eyewitness testimonies, and autopsies of the bodies left behind are revealing a horrific reality that is beyond description.
The evil act of beheading a fetus
Hamas had no mercy on children or women.
In Israeli rural homes raided by Hamas, bloodstained children's rooms and kindergartens were found.
The bodies left behind revealed that some children were dismembered and left to die, while others were raped and killed to the point that their bones were shattered.
Some children were roasted alive whole; others were executed and beheaded.
One Hamas fighter's body camera captured a pregnant woman's stomach being slit open with a knife, the fetus being dragged out of there, and the beheading of the fetus.
Hamas not only massacred many Israelis but also abducted and took away some 240 people.
Among them were five-month-old babies and many children.
Some of the children were released in an exchange of prisoners with Israel, but there are still babies and children who remain abducted.
The Israeli children are, without a doubt, victims of war.
This far surpasses the level of "tears from shells," as the Asahi writes.
However, both Asahi and Mainichi write that the victims of the war in Gaza are Gaza children and do not look at Israeli children.
Japanese media and "experts" generally hate Israel.
Therefore, they can only report on the situation in the Middle East in the context of "Israel is evil."
So, even though Hamas started the war, before long, they switched the story to Israel being the bad guy.
Suppose they report heavily on Hamas' prejudice against Israeli children and women. In that case, it will be revealed that it is Hamas that is at fault, which is inconvenient, so they avoid mentioning Hamas terrorism as much as possible and instead report as if Israel is bombing Gaza on a massive scale and intentionally slaughtering the Gaza residents.
They are identifying it as an enemy as a symbol of power.
And like Asahi's Tenseijingo and Mainichi's editorial, they mention the Gaza war at every opportunity and denounce Israel, saying that they feel sorry for the children of Gaza and that Israel is a genocidal state.
They arbitrarily use "freedom of the press" and "freedom not to report" to continue their biased reporting that gives the impression that "Israel is evil."
The Japanese media's hatred of Israel is shared by their hatred of Japan and their hatred of the United States.
They consider "anti-authority" to be justice and position themselves as its representatives. They designate the United States, Japan, and Israel as symbols of power and label them as enemies.
They speak hatefully about Japan, and in the same tone of voice, they also talk about Israel.
That is why the Japanese media's coverage of Gaza is highly biased.
It is like a disease, and there is nothing I can do to change it, even if I point it out.
So, the reader has no choice but to recognize that the media is suffering from the disease of Israel's hatred.
January 26, 2023, in Kyoto
