October 19 & 20, 2023

The Japanese Communist Party Central Committee, in response to a call by UNICEF, has launched a campaign to raise funds for humanitarian relief in Gaza.

The JCP Dietmembers’ group on October 18 took to the streets near Shinjuku Station in Tokyo, calling for a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel as well as for the cancellation of a possible ground offensive in Gaza by Israeli troops. The group, during its 45-minute action, collected more than 50,000 yen from shoppers and passersby who stopped by to listen to JCP lawmakers’ speeches,

JCP Secretariat Head Koike Akira said, “The ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict already took more than 40,000 people of their lives. Yesterday, a hospital in the Gaza Strip was bombed, killing about 500 people. Gaza, under massive airstrikes, is running out of water, food, medicine, and fuel. An Israeli invasion of Gaza will cause an ‘unprecedented human catastrophe’.”

Koike explained that the JCP has long called for: the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the occupied lands; the Palestinian right to exercise their national self-determination, including the right to establish a state; and mutual recognition of each other’s right to exist. He said that all countries concerned and international organizations should make every possible diplomatic effort toward achieving peace in the Middle East.

JCP member of the House of Representatives Miyamoto Toru said, “Hospitals are supposed to be where people go for medical treatment, irrespective of their religious beliefs. Many civilians were taking shelter in that hospital for safety,” condemning the attack on the Gaza hospital as unforgivable.

Inoue Satoshi, JCP member of the House of Councilors, said, “The majority of the Gaza population is under 16 years old. Since birth, they have lived in wartime Palestine without children’s rights.”

Koike pointed out that Japan has its own diplomatic channel with both Israel and Palestine, and that it has a role to play to make humanitarian aid to Gaza possible. He demanded that the Japanese government fulfill that role, not unthinkingly follow the United States, so that both parties can talk seriously about implementing a ceasefire.