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Jewish human rights group protests 'anti-Semitic' ad in Nihon Keizai Shimbun

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The Simon Wiesenthal Center, a Los Angeles-based human rights group, on Monday issued a protest to the Nihon Keizai Shimbun-sha over an advertisement appearing in the Aug 2 edition of its Tokyo edition that it alleges to be anti-Semitic.

In a press release also posted on its website, the Wiesenthal Center's associate dean Abraham Cooper blasted the Nihon Keizai Shimbun for having "broken a longstanding commitment to desist from running advertisements that promote anti-Jewish stereotypes, by running an advertisement for two books that promote the canard of Jewish control over the global economy."

The advertisement for "Why did the Jewish financial system collapse?" (author: Kotaro Nada), which appeared on page 6 of the Tokyo edition, was placed by publisher Apple Shuppan. The ad asks rhetorically, "Is it true that the Rothschild family controls the global economy?" and purports to explain what was behind the failures of Lehman Brothers, AIG, Citibank and Bear Stearns.

The ad also touts a second work by Nada titled "Jewish Money: Why are they able to continue to move the global economy?"

The Nihon Keizai Shimbun boasts a claimed daily circulation of over 3 million copies. It is often compared to The Wall Street Journal and Financial Times.

The Wiesenthal Center had made previous efforts to dissuade the Nikkei from providing space for offensive ads.

"In 1993, our center protested to the Nikkei for running ads," Rabbi Cooper pointed out. "That led to a commitment never to return to such practices. That commitment was shredded by the running of this advertisement."

Cooper was referring to a one-third page ad placed by publisher Daiichi Kikaku Shuppan that appeared in the Nikkei in July 1993. Festooned with a Star of David, pentagram and various satanic symbols, that ad claimed to reveal that the distorted image of Mt Fuji reflected on Lake Kawaguchi on the now-defunct 5,000 yen banknote was actually Mt Sinai -- evidence that the Bank of Japan, Ministry of Finance and other institutions had been infiltrated by a "Jewish conspiracy" aiming to "destroy Japan."

The vernacular Nikkei did not apologize for the 1993 advertisement, but issued a disclaimer asserting that it in no way "agrees or supports the expressions used in the advertisement." A spokesman at that time also reaffirmed the company had "no bias whatsoever toward the Jewish community."

Works touting Jewish conspiracies can be found for sale in most major book chains in Japan and via Amazon.com's Japanese site. While the popularity of such works appears to have declined in recent years, the SWC and other Jewish organizations may fear a new resurgence.

"Japan should not return to its status as the number-one producer of anti-Semitic books which legitimized . . . the most insidious conspiratorial anti-Jewish stereotypes," Cooper remarked. "Considering the sorry current state of the world economy and the spiking of anti-Semitism across Europe, Nihon Keizai Shimbun and Nikkei company have an obligation to cancel any future ads of this nature, apologize to its Japanese-language readers for this outrageous misstep and educate its current leadership about anti-Semitism."

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Don't know why people like to make stuff up about the Jews. Of course in Japan, if you are not full blooded Japanese, you are considered something less than those who are full blooded Japanese. Perhaps this explains why this kind of story against the Jews is perpetuated. Jews have never done anything against Japan...ever...

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Mr Nada asks some good questions.

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"the spiking of anti-Semitism"??? Try, a return to a balanced view of the middle-east, finally treating the Palestinians as a legitimate people. How about some balance in your reporting?

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Whoppee, here we go again. If it's not the Jews it's the Illuminati or the Freemasons or the Leprechauns. One would think that the publisher of a serious economic newspaper is not so hard up that it depends on ad revenues from third-tier publishers of off-the-wall hate books.

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Freedom of speech?

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It has been my observation that everything and anything that can even remotely be described as "anti-semitic" in Japan has it's origins in Europe and the U.S. Obviously, since there were no Jews in Japan historically. For this reason I don't particularly agree with the Wiesenthal center's approach towards the Japanese newspaper.

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It'd be interested to see how the Japanese authors did their "research." Did they travel around interviewing bankers and analysts in places like New York and Zurich, I wonder?

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Judaism is fair game. After all, all they do is protest. Now, an ad about the impact of Arab-controlled oil money, the islamist movements it funds, and the encroachment of islamic banking.... that would be something the newspaper couldn´t get away with.

As Orwell noted, some are more equal than others.

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Altria, ossanamerica, willb et al; I suppose if the article were "Why do blacks dance so well?" or "Why are Japanese so sneaky?" You wouldn't have a problem? Its amazing to me that the Nihon Keizai Shimbun could print fear-mongering I thought was dead in the 1940's

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Hardly fear- mongering...but free speech is very selective in Japan.

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To be fair, global banking is highly orchestrated. Even the phrase "global banking" is attacked as being anti-Semitic.

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Has the Simon Wiesenthal Center ever had a go at Ford, the company that financed Hitler? Just wondering.

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Don't screw with the Jewish establishment. The Japanese media should know this better than anyone. I remember the case of the magazine here in Japan (Marco Polo?) that signed its own death warrant by running an anti-Semitic piece. Every Abe, Soul and Horowitz got on their case. The magazine went on permanent hiatus soon after. This was about 15 years ago.

On another level, the Japanese media (print, TV, radio) has for a long time been able to hide behind its language, the mentality that you can slag off foreigners because they cannot understand the language. Obviously, this argument and a number of similar ones are little more than urban myths.

Finally, if there is actually a Jewish banking conspiracy, perhaps they could take some time out of their business schedules (controlling the international monetary system) and target the Nikkei Keizai Shimbun for a little bit of payback.

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I think the books would make interesting reading. Come on, Jewish friends. Surely it doesn't really matter if some Japanese newspaper wants to advertise a book that makes some claims about people of your ethnicity, probably incorrect and based on flimsy research. People should have the choice of being able to read it and draw their own conclusions. Calling it an "outrageous misstep" supporting "anti-Semitism" makes neutral parties wonder what all the fuss is about.

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can't blame the japanese as they clearly don't know any better.

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two books that promote the canard of Jewish control over the global economy.

Hey, we all know the world banking system is controlled by Buddhists. So leave the poor Jews alone and let's not get distracted from our war against the Muslims.

I remember the case of the magazine here in Japan (Marco Polo?) that signed its own death warrant by running an anti-Semitic piece.

Yes, Marco Polo, a respectable magazine, published a non-anti-Semitic article questioning the gas chambers at Auschwitz.

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"Jewish human rights group" or right-wing Zionist propaganda machine? Do some googling about their activities people.

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Ossan: "For this reason I don't particularly agree with the Wiesenthal center's approach towards the Japanese newspaper."

I agree with you that it's odd that Japan print such material at all, and that the ideas originate from elsewhere where there is a history of such content, but the bottom line is that the printed material contains the same kind of anti-Semitism most of the world has come to see as not only ridiculous, but wrong. In other words, that the content has its roots elsewhere does not change the content -- it just makes it all the more bizarre that it would appear in the Keizai Shinbum. In a way, it also makes it a little scarier. Since the Japanese have little knowledge (in general) about the history of Jews and the roots of anti-Semitism and what have you, articles like this which they DO read might impact their way of thinking. I'm not saying they're sheep, but when they don't know much about a subject and it appears on NHK or in the papers, Japanese tend to flock to either buy/avoid the product, or if it's opinion tend to believe what is said.

Anyway, I'm surprised this appeared, and I agree that it's in bad taste to have allowed it as far as the presses. Poor management on this one.

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Equality - before you accuse me of being an anti-Semite you might want to read what I wrote. It was just an impartial comment on the folly of trying to lay the boot into the Jews as a group.

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I since there were no Jews in Japan historically.

Actually, there is a very strong argument with a lot of physical evidence to support the claim that one of the lost tribes of Israel came to Japan. There are hundreds of old Japanese words that share the same pronunciation and meaning as old Hebrew words and many KATAKANA have the same pronunciation and symbol of ancient Hebrew characters (not the current form). Shinto and Jewish customs are almost a mirror image of each other: http://www5.ocn.ne.jp/~magi9/isracame.htm There are several books on this.

Japan is rife with literature distorting the image of Jews. The common non-Israeli Jew has no connection to Israel's policies and wars, so don't make the argument justifying these books because other people who happen to be Jewish and run a country which they define by their Jewishness choose to engage in massacres.

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Actually, there is a very strong argument with a lot of physical evidence to support the claim that one of the lost tribes of Israel came to Japan

Seriously fascinating info. Thanks for posting it. The website does show a lot of similarities in cultural artifacts. But I was just wondering, have any remains been found that could possibly be traced back to the ancient tribe?

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any remains been found that could possibly be traced back to the ancient tribe?

Well, do you means skeletons with the IBM-tattoos from Auschwitz? You know, it is irrelevant, as factual evidences generally don't play important role in any nations "ancient history" concept. It is also irrelevant, as for many Japanese their relation with Jews are determined by two points: Jews already got the "best banker and masterminds" and the "poorest victims of the WWII" medals, and this seriously heart some Japanese egos, who wants these medals in their pocket.

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Kotaro Nada is clearly some kind of Neo-Nazi type of thinker who has bought into the whole hate mongering that neo-rightist types propagate on the web.

The fact that a news entity allowed this to be printed in Japan is not terribly surprising since Japan frequently engages in stereotyping in media. And prejudice and discrimination is rampant here. Who know's what lies beneath the surface what notions the local right wing crowd keep.

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One more note. As humans we need to be more careful about putting racial lables on things. Too much has been applied to condemning all of Islam, or all Arabs or all Jews for the faults or issues of some individuals. We need to remember that such gross generalizations harm us all in the end. And that the Japanese have been victims of this kind of absurd generalizations many times as well.

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sigh

I kind of enjoyed posting on this board for a few weeks, but the serious lack of constructive feedback is wearing thin.

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For those who are interested, having a look at a biography of this Nada dude, it appears he is in his early 40s. Highlights of his life seem to be quitting Seinan Gakuin University and then going to work for the Ministry of Finance (don't know in what capacity - public relations?). After that he became a freelance journalist, specializing in the topic of "Jewish Money". Sounds like a bit of a right-wing nut job to me.

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"Actually, there is a very strong argument with a lot of physical evidence to support the claim that one of the lost tribes of Israel came to Japan."

What physical evidence could possibly support a work of fiction written thousands of years ago? Thanks for providing a link, but I smell a Velikovsky. I thought I had heard all of the lost tribe conspiracies years ago. The Celts, the Finns, etc. But everyone seems to agree that the Africans are the tribe of Ham, which brings the whole agenda into sharp relief.

And Timorborder: "Sounds like a bit of a right-wing nut job to me."

What was your first clue? I am sure he was "banking" on the controversy and probably tipped off the Wiesenthal center himself. Anyway, what it comes down to is that if there were a conspiracy, you could profit from it, and people like Madoff would not have bilked so many Jewish people. Nada will sell many books to the most gullible people alive. If he starts up a mailing list, he can milk them for more yen.

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When when Jewish groups complain they cite anti-Semitism, never racism.

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Yes, Tetsukon. As they should. Judaism is a religion; some would argue that it is an ethnicity. I do not know anyone who would Jewish people a race. Do you?

Oh. I see. You are replying to tkoind? I think that poster speaks to the broad practice of generalization that makes things worse for all of us. At least one group that defends Jewish people against anti-semitism upholds anti-defamation and actually does, for instance, file amicus briefs, etc. on behalf of victims of all kinds of discrimination.

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I have a Japanese friend whose son works for Goldman. He's always saying "Jewish people are sooooo clever" whenever I openly mention the religion of my birth. Each time I wish he'd just shut up. As for anti-semitism, anti-racism, anti-this and anti- that, "All we are saying, is give peace a chance" by John Lennon really says it all. God rest his soul. But for the ad to appear in Nihon Keizai means they received money for its appearance, ie. they should be stricter in their policy of allowed advertisements. Would they accept an ad from the former Aum Shinrikyo stating similar claims? Thank goodness someone spoke up about it.

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Could anyone please explain why the ad is not "anti Jewish", rather than "anti semitic". The subject comes across my readings occasionally, but "anti Jewish" would be more clearer to my understanding. Also, I rarely see the dispute go into detail, categorically showing some contentions as blatantly "false, inaccurate". It is a prominent feature of "anti semitism" controversies.

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Addendum:

When mentioning the disputes going into details, I am not referring to revisionist history, but rather controversies concerning current events.

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Could anyone please explain why the ad is not "anti Jewish", rather than "anti semitic".

Antisemitism just sounds much worse than anti-Jewishness. The latter is simply being critical of a particular religion, not any worse than being anti-Islam. The funny thing is that most Jews are not even Semitic.

Regarding these books, are they criticizing all Jews (i.e., its THE Jews) or are they merely pointing out that the financial system is controlled by a group of Jews?

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Klein2, according to the UN definition both religion and ethnicity fall into the definition of racism.

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The UN definition makes sense as it is often impossible to distinguis the two when dealing with hatred. A person may be discriminated against for being born Jewish yet no longer practicing the faith. We saw this in the holocaust. Or for being Jewish yet of Etheopian or other racial lineage.

Both are equally dangerous and should be equally fought against.

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BTW, here is an interesting video of an Israeli interviewing Zundel. He mentions the increasing antisemitism. Its not the usual Zundel potrayed on the msm.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVkp96Gm5tU

A person may be discriminated against for being born Jewish yet no longer practicing the faith. We saw this in the holocaust. Or for being Jewish yet of Etheopian or other racial lineage.

But are these books doing either of these? I don't know, as I haven't read the books, but I suspect they might just be describing the dishonest behavior of a small group, most of whom are Jewish.

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Its interesting to have some freedom of speech and people to write their views in the book and news source, at least no one is getting hurt and i think the readers themselves can come to their own conclusion whether in a agreement or not.

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What physical evidence could possibly support a work of fiction written thousands of years ago?

If you can read Japanese and have a background in Hebrew, this work is plenty of evidence. However, most people don't study ancient Japanese and ancient Hebrew, so the connection is invisible to the common person.

http://www.amazon.co.jp/%E6%97%A5%E6%9C%AC%E6%9B%B8%E7%B4%80%E3%81%A8%E6%97%A5%E6%9C%AC%E8%AA%9E%E3%81%AE%E3%83%A6%E3%83%80%E3%83%A4%E8%B5%B7%E6%BA%90-%E8%B6%85%E7%9F%A5%E3%83%A9%E3%82%A4%E3%83%96%E3%83%A9%E3%83%AA%E3%83%BC-%E3%83%A8%E3%82%BB%E3%83%95-%E3%82%A2%E3%82%A4%E3%83%87%E3%83%AB%E3%83%90%E3%83%BC%E3%82%B0/dp/4198621101/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books

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As tkoind2 suggests, negative overgeneralizations about any group of people simply perpetuate stereotypes and create bias in the minds of the gullible and ignorant. The fact that there is even any debate about whether or not 'Jews control the global banking system' is a ludicrous example of this. As for Nihon Keizai Shimbun's complicity, I would argue that any newspaper that has advertisements for racist, sexist, or products or services that perpetuate negative biases is complicit based on the fact that they not only implicitly condone them, but also profit through their promotion.

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In Japan and America books people find disagreeable are published. It's not a big deal.

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so why DID the financial system collapse?

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The "jewish" financial system? Wasn't aware the Arian Nation accepted asians. Sounds anti-semetic and just plain stupid to me.

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Youre all fear the truth !

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So ridiculous. I believe in freedom of speech -- anyone is welcome to say and believe whatever they want. But I also believe that people have freedom of LISTENING, too, and are not required to pay attention to or agree with the idiotic things some people believe. Media organizations are not required to accept any and all advertisements sent their way; they are perfectly within their rights to refuse to print something they deem offensive. Advertisements for books like this should be relegated to tacky tabloids. An organization as powerful as the Nihon Keizai should be DOUBLY cautious about the ad revenue it chooses to take in.

I'm ashamed that a publication as reputable as the Nikkei would print an advertisement for something so utterly ridiculous. The ethnic stereotype that "THE JEWS" are in control of the world's governments and economic structures is based in centuries of bigotry directed against the Jewish community. Honestly, how can they do such things when (depending on which kook you talk to) the Illuminati, Freemasons, and alien invaders are already controlling these things? Getting a bit crowded at the top, ne? To imply that the current economic climate is due to the machinations of a secret cabbal of Jewish muckity-mucks is not only a pathetic attempt to push a racist agenda, but also a distraction that diverts attention from the real causes and effects of the global recession, delaying any genuine solutions. That a financial authority like the Nikkei would publish an advertisement for this garbage only succeeds in giving it a veneer of legitimacy: "Ah, if the Nikkei thinks it's okay then there must be some truth to it."

Shame on you, Nikkei. Next time, read the ad copy before putting it in the paper. And if you DID read it, and STILL went ahead and published it, then double the shame and triple the blame on your shoulders.

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crazy wackos, saying anything for attention

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There's nothing wrong with free speech. The point being made here is that these books are being advertised on a very well known newspaper. People will start to believe the legitimacy of the book's claims. It's like having beer/ciggs on a kids programming show.

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A lot of japanese ike "occultism" and conspiracy theories, and Nostradamus, etc... Plus the fact 99,99999% of japanese never had any contacts with Jews make all the assumptions possible. I guess Nada was taught the same crap as all my japanese friends, believing in "WE japanese we are the $Nit". But unfortunately, he found out on this planet, a small community appeared 5000 years ago, and won more nobel prizes, made more significant scientific discoveries, wrote more interesting books and were more educated and wealthy than any japanese right-wing nutjob could even dream for Yamato. The Jews are not destroying Japan. But cockroaches like Nada are indeed destroying at the speed of light.

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Translation:"Why was 'Jewish financial system' collapsed?" "Jew Money: why can they "

Translation: "Why was 'Jewish financial system' collapsed?"

"Jew Money: why can they hit the jackpot in an entire world economic system?"

I don't know about the first one, but the second one is apparently intriguing a racial bias.

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Simon Wiesenthal Center should pay for the unsold AD spaces this could protect the newspaper from an escalation of overseas ogranization: for example next they could get muslim integralists asking to stop publishing nude/sexy ADs or offending contents...

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I see no increasing of antisemitism. Those few (compare to the people in the world), who are on the very right side are just some stupid punks don't know nothing about history. Anyway, a little self-critism beyound jewish people about what they do, would help not to be always a target with rightwingers...

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Why would an American civil rights organization think they have any business telling a Japanese publication what to do. Nihon Keizai has no responsibility to abide by the nitpicking criticism of an organization with too little to keep them busy...

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Who da hell do the simon whatever centre think they are telling another country how or what they can say we are not living in nazi germany you know!

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I wouldn't go so far as to call it a "Jewish Financial System" however if one looks at the religious identity of the major players responsible for this (including the previous and current Fed chiefs) it's understandable where people might get that idea.

Truthfully I'm SICK of hearing people cry anti-semite whenever someone expresses a view different from what they want people to believe. Of course the media will pick and go with this (being that the majority of these CEOs hail from the same community).

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KyotoChris On the spot. Methink the lady doth protest too much (sic). If you have 90% of the media on your side plus a total monolopy on truth and suffering it must get quite boring after a while.

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I'm sure the Nikkei has a standard it applies to the contents of advertising that appears on its pages. It knows, for instance, that an ad for a book critical of the Imperial family would immediately bring down the wrath of noisy right-wing trucks, and therefore refrains from running such ads. Perhaps the only way for the Jews to get the attention of the Nikkei management would be to rent or lease a large diesel-powered vehicle with 120 decibel loudspeakers and serenade the Nikkei HQ with old hits by Eddie Fisher and Barbara Streisand.

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BobbieWickham -- sorry, but you and KyotoChris are not "on the spot". KyotoChris' silly comments aside, the issue is not whether Jewish people happen to be in a disproportionately high number of key positions in the financial world. The issue is whether a newspaper with the stature of the Nihon Keizai should accept an ad that clearly panders to anti-semetic feelings. The issue is about what standards a supposedly well-regarded news source should be held to.

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I find this extremely disturbing, unlike some who've commented.

If a wacko site is proclaiming that the Jews control the world financial system then we laugh at them because we know it couldn't possibly be true. When a respected financial newspaper does the same then it is more serious, even if it's an 'ad' taken out in the paper. This kind of stuff just wouldn't be allowed in Britain; it's incitement to hatred. It's also patently untrue.

Just because there are a lot of Jews in Hollywood we would never deign to call it Jewish Hollywood. Just because a lot of Jews are involved in finance doesn't mean they're in on some kind of huge conspiracy. That is childish nonsense.

But in Japan lately I have seen how much casual racism is rather commonplace here. You only have to delve into the recent changes on health care restrictions for foreigners to see that casual racism is accepted fully. But that goes with many countries who are supposedly almost wholly one 'race' - ignorant attitudes take the place of sensible rationality.

Perhaps there's also a huge Jewish conspiracy to keep pumping out Nobel prize winners or great authors too? We should fight and rage against ignorance and stupidity everywhere.

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Convenient how thoughts counter to what you obviously believe are so easily dismissed as "silly." The paper, as an entity, has the right to run whatever they choose to. If people take offense at it then it's their problem. If you don't like the message they may or may not be promoting, then don't read the paper.

Those with money and power scream the loudest about unfairness.

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KyotoChris: Sorry, but are you referring to my comments? Not sure as I never used the word 'silly' but if we take your comments then you're saying that NKS could promote Nazism too? And homophobia, racism and suicide bombing? And if we don't like it we shouldn't read it? In a world renowned newspaper? I don't think you've thought this through. I think we've evolved a little beyond the wholesale peddling of lies throughout societies - this isn't 1940s Nazi Germany.

Your last comment is the mother of all non-sequiturs, unless you think I am a world controlling Jewish financier in disguise...

Your earlier comments on people crying 'anti-semitism' whenever Jews are attacked is a different point entirely and hints at darker motives. I happen to despise what the Israeli government and its military have been doing in seeking to wreck, murder and de-humanise Palestinians, but here we are talking about a world renowned newspaper allowing anti-semitism and lies about the Jews controlling the world financial system in its paper. Whether you like it or not, the idea is warped fantasy.

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My guess it has something to do with Jewish mysticism, and that relates to Japan; now not sure about what Christians are behind that church, but being in California and all the moral debate happening there, does make me wonder. And as for the newspaper, I wonder how much other Asian influence is amongst them?

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Hold on one minute! The newspaper did NOT write an article promoting anything. It simply printed an advertisement for a book. I find it ridiculous that there is a religious organisation that goes around telling respected media producers what they can and can't print. Who do they think they are? It is this sort of whining and whinging that makes people lose respect for the Jewish.

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The paper has every right to publish whatever kind of advertisement they choose to be it "anti-semitic," "pro-nazi," a book about how dogs don't bark, they really meow, or that it was Japan who was invaded by the US on December 7, 1941 and not the other way around as we all know. If you start imposing censorship in one area, it sets a dangerous precedent for more extreme censorship of speech and thought in general.

I don't agree with hate in any form or function but I do believe that an individual has a right to how they feel and think as long as it doesn't inflict harm on another (be it physical or mental harm). It's just tiring of hearing whining and making things out to be more than they are.

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KyotoChris what you're saying is fine in principle, but when you look at the details you see that Japan's vernacular newspapers think they are able to run ads that some groups deem offensive because the newspapers are "only read by Japanese" or "not seen by many foreigners" -- the argument about whether or not a tree falling in the forest makes a sound or not. I read Japanese and I found the ad rather offensive. Three million Nikkei readers got to see it last Sunday, even though they subscribe to their newspaper for information about business. Finally, I re-read the article in JT and noticed it mentioned the Nikkei had AGREED with Wiesenthal's earlier protest and changed its policy to drop such ads for the past 16 years. At least they should get their act together and show a little consistency...

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"Klein2, according to the UN definition both religion and ethnicity fall into the definition of racism."

Good thing I don't pay too much attention to UN definitions. That seems to me to be an extremely stupid decision on their part. Why would anyone assume that things that people CAN decide are the same as things that people CANNOT decide in terms of discrimination? If this is true, I will stop listening to any UN pontification on such matters.

And Moonbeams. Please be specific. What do you mean "background in Hebrew" and ancient Hebrew? I would love to investigate this. Please assume that I can read Hebrew and ancient Japanese and proceed with your explanation from there. Also you misquoted me. I did not say that your idea was a work of fiction, I said that this story of tribes being split up and all is a work of fiction. Your idea of similarities of Japanese and Hebrew would not be supportive evidence of that, anyway, but I would love to hear your explanation.

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Please hurry Moonbeam, I have tried to read up on this myself and find only books that are poorly edited and filled with circular reasoning. The very first page of Eidelberg's book says something like:

There are unexplained mysteries. We know there were tribes because they are written about in ancient books. We do not know about the lost tribes. Could the Japanese be a tribe?

My point is exactly that this story of tribes being lost and all is not corroborated. We might as well be looking for Noah's Ark on Mt. Fuji, right?

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Ok. Haha. I have seen the comparisons of katakana and the Hebrew. The Hebrew is stylized in a crazy fashion, and not because it is ancient or anything. That is not evidence of any connection. Certain word combinations, even cognates, are not rare. That is no evidence. If there were many of them, then it would just reflect the influence of the Silk Road, not bible stories.

I see rabbis claiming that palanquins are proof of some connection, but that is absurd. Why Japan? Why aren't the rabbis jumping up and down for Chinese to be thought of as a lost tribe of Israel? If the evidence is so strong, why are Japanese seen as gentiles by any reasonable Jewish person?

Looking at it another way, if the tribe had made it all the way from the mideast along the silk road, why did it not stop at someplace more like home along the way? How would it get to Japan? Crossing the East China Sea or even the Sea of Japan is a different technological task than crossing the Red Sea, after all. And if the tribe landed, it would have been square in the middle of Yayoi, with other strong clans surrounding it. Why would a clan use the newcomers' kana to read Chinese? Why would such a tribe then use only some Hebrew characters but not all?

You know, if the evidence were more interesting, it would be fun to think about, but I see a lot of unsubstantiated opinions and pontificating by religious figures, which is usually a clue that there is no more to see here. Thanks Moonbeam. You said a common person would not undertand the similarity. You were certainly right. Looking at the evidence, I think it takes a pretty special person to believe it.

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I think when you look beyond all the questions, I wonder if it isnt more lifestyle choices, and priorities?

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if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck.....

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"Well, "Mein Kampf" it isn't, nor is it Luther's "On the Jews and their Lies," but speaking of quacking ducks, where there is smoke there's usually fire. Jews have historically run the financial system since the 15th century. (My supporting link was objected to by the moderator.) Remember, calling a spade a spade does not make anyone anti-Semitic. Only promoting hate of semites does that. The Nikkei does the first but not the second. The SWC has been shown to be a bunch of charlatans, whose founder lied through his teeth. It should rather focus on hate speech in its own ranks, and hateful actions by the country whose religion it has nationalized, (My supporting links were objected to by the moderator.) I agree with what ironchef says,

"if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck....."

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The book should be burned.

Oh, wait. If we start burnin' books, the next think ya know we'll start burnin'...

=O

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Why blame the Japanese everyone knows America is the the most racist country and if anyone else does something wrong its only because the U.S. is to blame. If you are American you have no moral right to judge other counties like Sudan, Cuba, etc. Oh wait Obama president now maybe were allowed to be critical of some of our friends and not just Israel the other root of all evil in the world.

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Why blame the Japanese everyone knows America is the the most racist country and if anyone else does something wrong its only because the U.S. is to blame.

In Japan, they really don't understand the meaning of casual or blatent racism because you rarely have friends who are outside of your own race. They still have to be in their own group to be comfortable. If you had a personal experience in understanding why certain issues or subjects are considered derogotory and hurtful to other cultures, you develop a wider awareness and you become sensitive to the steps you take to improve race relations. In U.S., most educated people understand the fine lines being what is acceptable and what is not. Athough, U.S. still has the race problem, but over the last 30 years, they have changed in a positive direction. U.S. is more based on individual capability and race is of less factor. Obama is a good example of minorities or blacks who can achieve top position. Do you think Korean-Japanese of fourth generation can ever be considered or become a Prime Minister in Japan? Probably never and you talk about America being the most racist. I doubt Japan will ever change.

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Well put sfip330. I know a shall we say "typical" Japanese person in his 40's who says surprising things like "Oh, we have no predjudices in Japan, especially against blacks like you have in USA", or when locating my neighorhood on the google after my return home, "Oh, all American houses look the same".. I rest my two cents on these comments, of which its just too hot today to refute.

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I wish everyone could just get over it. I thought around the 2nd grade you were supposed to be taught not to let other people's words bother you. Oh well.

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Its like when you say anything about something that America has done, which may or may not be accurate, you are labelled as anti-american. It is not anti-anything to discus a hypothesis, it is only anti if you are drawing the conclusion that, therfore, they are bad/ lesser as a group.

What is negative about saying that someone is rich, and in control of finances? is it negative hate speech and anti american to say America holds the most miltary power in the world? Is it anti-summer to say that summer is hot? You could always take it as a compliment that people can see what has been acheived by Jewish people. Maybe they are jealous of those rich families. I know I am. I also know not all Jewish people are swimming in a vat of gold coins and hundred dollar bills like Uncle Scrooge. Its all about perspective, which gets distorted when you play the victim card, as Japan does in its own ways.

By the way, I like how Klein says most 'reasonable' Jewish people consider the Japanese to be 'gentile'. A word synonymous to infedel, heathen etc. So most resonable Jewish people are Anti-Japanese!!! No wonder there is so much bad blood.

Man, sometimes people need to get over themselves. Claiming conspiracy theories against ones-self, is akin to a conspiracy theory in itself. No son, everyone is NOT out to get you. Take your damn medication.

Of course I deplore true anti-semetism, as much as anti-nonsemetism or true anti-any-group of people. almost as much as I deplore those who cry wolf.I haven't read the book though, so maybe the wolfish Jew hater Japan really is at the door.

I myself however, am deeply anti-semantic, and fear I have just contradicted myself.

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LOL - Do I really have to ask you to read it again? I hope you can figure out where you got it mixed up there.

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ROTFLMAO, no, notimpressed. You don't have to do that.

Check the dates. This thread ended days ago.

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So glad you know the differnece between semantic and semitic. Glad I noticed my spelling mistake there too. I hadn't noticed the dates no, but my late 2cents are there now. But obviously at least you were still reading it.

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grrr...difference*

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No, I'm not still reading it.

I just go to most 'recent' comments and there you were.

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