January 5, 2025

Akahata editorial (excerpts)

Israel’s campaign of genocide in the Gaza Strip of the Palestinian territories continues unabated, killing at least 45,000 people in 15 months. Of them, at least 17,000 were children. The number of injuries is 110,000. Many people in Gaza are dying from disease due to the disruption of water and food supplies. The ratio of children with limb amputation to Gaza’s population is the highest in the world. One million children in Gaza must be in need of mental and health support. Reportedly, 90% of buildings there, including homes, hospitals, and schools have been destroyed or severely damaged.

As the Israeli government and military officials blatantly said, “We are fighting with wild beasts in human form. We will put them through hell,” it is indeed genocide. In the occupied West Bank, more than 830 Palestinians have been killed.

The Israeli military last fall launched an air campaign and a ground invasion in Lebanon, turning a large number of residents into refugees. In Syria, taking advantage of the collapse of the Assad regime, Israel repeatedly conducted airstrikes and military actions. It also continues to bomb Yemen. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is clearly pro-Israel, which may accelerate Israel’s depravity.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) in July of last year denounced Israel’s acts as clear violations of international law. The ICJ issued an advisory opinion that Israel is obligated to promptly end its occupation of the Palestinian territories and its acts of violence against Palestinians that have continued nonstop for more than 57 years. Israel also has an obligation to compensate, according to the ICJ Advisory Opinion. The UN General Assembly in September, 2024 adopted a resolution in support of the Advisory Opinion, enumerating measures that State Parties should take such as to impose an arms embargo on Israel. Subsequently, the Government Pension Fund of Norway, one of the world’s largest investment funds, stopped investing in Israeli telecommunications companies in line with the UNGA resolution.

In a joint statement, 40 UN experts on human rights called upon “civil society organizations and national human rights institutions to mobilize and call on their states to comply with the ICJ’s landmark Advisory Opinion.” The joint statement states, “It is time to knock on the doors of every political leader and responsible official ministry across the world to bring an end to Israel’s illegal occupation, apartheid, oppression of, and onslaught against the Palestinian people.”

The Japanese Communist Party has been demanding that Japan cancel its plan to import Israeli-made attack drones, cease negotiations on an economic partnership agreement with Israel, and press the U.S. to stop its military assistance to Israel. The JCP is also opposed to the move by the Aichi prefectural government to promote business collaboration with Israeli companies. The party will continue to work together with concerned citizens to expand international solidarity in order to stop the ongoing genocide in Gaza.