Japan Press Weekly

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2014 July 16 - 22 TOP3 [POLITICS]

Japanese citizens rally to demand halt to Israeli offensive

Japan’s civic groups jointly staged a rally on July 18 in front of the Israeli Embassy in Tokyo, protesting against the nation’s indiscriminate attacks on Palestine’s Gaza Strip.

Japan Peace Committee Secretary General Chisaka Jun said, “Many Palestinians are being killed by Israel’s attacks. Most of those victims are women and children. Victimizing any more people is totally unacceptable.”

Nishikawa Kyoko, vice president of the New Japan Women’s Association (Shinfujin), stressed, “Use of force provokes reprisals and further deteriorates the situation. The Japanese government should take an initiative in working to resolve the issue in a peaceful manner.”

After the rally, representatives of these organizations submitted to the embassy a petition calling on Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to put a stop to the attacks.

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As of July 18, three citizens’ groups (the Japan Asia Africa Latin America Solidarity Committee, the Japan Peace Committee, and the Japan Federation of Women’s Organizations) released statements calling for an immediate halt to Israel’s military campaigns.

Every statement requests both Israel and Palestine to recognize each other’s right to exist as well as launch efforts to settle the dispute through dialogue.