Three hundred visiting members of Japan’s pro-Israel Makoya sect swore today to “come as one to the aid of the Israel nation” should Israel ever be attacked by a foreign aggressor, “We are blood brothers with them” (the Israelis), declared the members of the sect who arrived here Monday for a 10-day visit to demonstrate their solidarity with Israel on its 25th anniversary.
The group is headed by Prof. Ikori Tashima. Many of them speak Hebrew. They expressed profound regret over the Lod Airport massacre of last May 30, perpetrated by three Japanese gunmen in the service of Arab terrorists. One member of the group, a member of Japan’s parliament, asked to see the sole surviving terrorist, Kozo Okamoto, who is serving a life sentence in an Israeli prison. He said he wanted to convince Okamoto to express regret for his deed.
Abraham Zalmanson, uncle of Sylva Zalmanson, has arrived in Toronto to visit relatives and to make efforts to rouse public opinion on behalf of his niece and the other, “Assirei Zion” (Prisoners of Zion). Zalmanson has been living in Israel for 15 years. The Canadian Jewish Congress is arranging public and private meetings to be addressed by Mr. Zalmanson.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.