Not Knowing Might Be a Sin: What is Gaza? An Emergency Lecture to Understand Palestine [Book Introduction]

I knew about Israel and the Gaza Strip from the news, but I kept wondering what was actually going on and whose side was in the right.

[What is Gaza? An Emergency Lecture to Understand Palestine]

When I read this book, I found the content very easy to understand, and while reading it, it became an opportunity for me to reflect on myself, thinking, 'Not knowing might be a sin.'
This is not a book review that discusses the contents of the book, but rather just me talking about what I felt myself.

I used to think that an organization that is just must be just.
For example, the police arrest people who do bad things. Judges judge the crimes of people who do bad things. However, that is just common sense in Japan, and it is not like that in the rest of the world.
Reading this book made me realize that Japan is truly peaceful, and that I myself have been living in a state of 'peace-induced ignorance.' I am in my late thirties, and I was aware that I lived in a peaceful country, but while reading this book, I felt a little ashamed, thinking that I might not have understood that at all.

In the world, there are many situations where people are not punished even though it is clear to many that they are 'evil'.
However, the 'evil' side does not think of themselves as 'evil.' This is because they are acting according to their own sense of justice, and from their perspective, that is common sense. It might be the same feeling we have when we think that bad people will be caught by the police and judged by the law.

However, regarding this particular matter, once I learned about the history of the Gaza Strip and the Palestinian people, I also began to wonder what exactly the television news is reporting.

Wars do not happen for a single reason; they occur when multiple reasons intersect.
Regarding this war, the seeds of conflict were likely sown from the background of Israel's founding, and I found myself asking, 'Why did the world make such a decision?'
However, looking back at history, not everyone was saying 'YES,' and many people were saying 'NO!' to continuing this situation. Even so, the situation did not change, likely due to reasons such as power dynamics and the global situation at the time, but both Israel and Palestine have a history of being tossed about by the world. As I learned about the history of the Palestinian people in this book, my heart felt incredibly constricted, and it was truly painful content to read through.
I was born in Japan and raised in Japan. If I want to return to the region where I grew up, I can go back at any time. That was common sense to me, taken for granted.
I thought I understood that it is not like that in the rest of the world, but I didn't understand it at all.
To be forcibly driven out of the place where you were born and raised, thinking you could return immediately, only to have no prospect of returning, and to remain unable to return even into the generation of your grandchildren.
I can only say it is painful.

I may not be able to do anything myself, but I felt strongly that I want to properly learn about it.
I am grateful to have encountered this book, as it made me realize that not knowing might be a sin.

This time, it was a [Book Introduction].
If you are curious, I would love for you to read it at least once.
Well then, until next time ☺