Chapter 205
While Japan was wasting its time disposing of evil magistrates, the world situation changed dramatically. More than 33,000 people have died in Israel's attacks on the Palestinian Gaza Strip, with children accounting for one-third of the victims. Furthermore, oil prices, stock prices, and foreign exchange rates became unstable. As I have long pointed out, Russia's invasion on Ukraine is evil and Israel's attack on Gaza is not justice. Both conflicts are to be condemned, and the United Nations needs to bring them to a humane end as soon as possible. I'm disappointed in America's opportunism, but to begin with, the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948 was far too unreasonable. The cause of the founding of the nation was more than 2,000 years ago, during the ancient Roman era, when the province of Palestine was destroyed and the Jewish people, who lost their country, endured persecution as exemplified by Hitler's Holocaust and were scattered around the world. After the turmoil following two major world wars, a plan to partition Palestine was finalized through international conflict mediation by the United Nations. Jews liken the founding of their nation to the Old Testament's ``Exodus,'' but this is not something that is unknown to Muslim Arab countries. It would be too much of a stretch to suddenly start a new country with steak. Jews are a people full of business talent and have formed an elite class called the establishment that has achieved business success all over the world, and is called the shadow government. Although the situation was mediated by the United Nations, wars in the Middle East and other events caused more turmoil in the Arab world than ever before. Japan is an island country, so unlike Europe, there is no sense of traveling back and forth through borders with other countries, but Europe is only separated by borders from Arab countries, Russia, and Eastern Europe. Although the United States is not an island nation, it lacks a sense of crisis because it is far from conflict areas. Therefore, although there is little interest from the American people, the oil majors cannot ignore Arab oil interests as they are involved. The Israeli government is in good hands because it depends on the United States, but with regard to the Gaza Strip issue, it is going against its wishes. The fact that things don't go as planned reflects the decline in America's status. I was preparing to give a lecture at EGCPA2024 to be held in Rome, Italy in mid-March, but the lecture was changed to virtual just before the event. Although the reason has not been disclosed, it is clear that the conflict in the Gaza Strip had an impact. Since it is during the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has warned travelers to be careful about terrorist attacks in places where people gather. Since I had already made reservations with cheap tickets, I thought it would be a shame to cancel, so I went to Rome to give a lecture despite the risk. I wanted to see scary things, and since the ban on overseas travel has been lifted since the coronavirus, I wanted to see the world situation with my own eyes. At the Roman ruins, there was a tense atmosphere, with police and, in some places, armed troops in camouflage uniforms holding automatic rifles as they warned against terrorism. What was also striking was the sharp drop in the number of Chinese tourists. In the past, famous spots like the Trevi Fountain would have been filled with Chinese people, but I rarely saw them there. There were also many Italian tourists on the return flight to Kansai International Airport. Are there fewer trips north due to the Ukraine war? It was my first time flying with an Arab airline, and I was a little nervous about flying close to a conflict zone via Abu Dhabi, but the plane was modern and comfortable, except for the fact that the movie didn't have Japanese subtitles. I hope nothing happens on May 14th, Israel's founding day, but Japan is too carefree.
Ancient Roman ruins that can be said to be unrelated to the Gaza issue
April 8, 2024
The world situation is tense due to opportunism
