Citizens calling for an immediate ceasefire in the wake of the humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian autonomous region of Gaza caused by Israeli military attacks voiced a protest near the Israeli Embassy in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo on the 4th. Approximately 1,600 people (according to the organizers) participated, with reportage writer Kei Kamata and author Keiko Ochiai calling for the event. They called for an end to the massacre and held a moment of silence in memory of the victims.
Kei Kamata (center), a reportage writer calling for an end to attacks on the Gaza Strip, and others in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo on the 4th (some images have been processed)
Police blocked off the road in front of the embassy, and protesters protested on the sidewalk about 50 meters away. Waves of people holding homemade placards calling for an “immediate ceasefire” and “peace for Palestine” filled both sides of the road for more than 100 meters.
Mr. Kamata said, “I made this urgent call in hopes of raising my voice and saving even just one child before a massacre begins due to ground attacks.It’s not Hamas’s fault or Israel’s fault, but we are doing everything we can to save the people.” I hope that a truce will be decided as soon as possible.”
Kaori Kanda, a storyteller and one of the callers, lamented that Japan abstained from the United Nations’ humanitarian truce resolution, which was approved by 121 countries. She criticized, “The brutal scenes in Gaza seemed to overlap with the lives lost in the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and the Tokyo air raids.Isn’t it Japan that should be calling for a ceasefire?”
Saori Gomi, 34, an office worker from Arakawa Ward, Tokyo, said it was her first time participating in a demonstration, and she stood on the sidewalk with a handmade placard that read, “Stop the massacre.” “Living in an international community where this kind of genocide is tolerated is nothing short of terrifying,” she complained. (Yoko Nakayama)
2023-11-04 10:25:13
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