International
Nagasaki defends exclusion of Israel from atomic bomb memorial despite U.S. and U.K. criticism
Nagasaki’s Mayor Suzuki Shiro reaffirmed his decision to exclude Israel’s ambassador from the city’s 9 August atomic bombing memorial, aiming to ensure a solemn atmosphere. The decision, criticized by U.S. and G7 diplomats, was described as non-political.
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JAPAN: Nagasaki will hold its annual ceremony on 9 August to commemorate the 79th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing of the city.
The city extended invitations to representatives from 154 countries and territories.
However, on 31 July, Mayor Suzuki Shiro announced that the Israeli ambassador to Japan would not be among the invitees.
Mayor Suzuki emphasized that this decision was not politically motivated but was intended to ensure a peaceful and solemn atmosphere during the ceremony, which is dedicated to mourning the victims of the atomic bomb.
The mayor also stated that the exclusion was intended to safeguard the safety of participants and ensure smooth proceedings during the event.
In addition to Israel, Russia and its ally Belarus—both involved in the ongoing conflict in Ukraine—were also excluded from the invitation list.
Earlier, in June, the city had deferred its decision on inviting the Israeli envoy due to ongoing violence in Gaza.
Instead of sending an invitation, Nagasaki sent a letter urging Israel to cease hostilities in the region.
In contrast, Hiroshima, which hosts its own annual peace memorial ceremony on 6 August, did invite the Israeli ambassador to attend.
Israeli Ambassador to Japan Gilad Cohen expressed disappointment over Nagasaki’s decision, describing it as “regrettable” in a social media post.
He argued that the move “sends the wrong message to the world and detracts from the core message that Nagasaki has been promoting for years.”
The ambassador also reaffirmed Israel’s stance, stating, “Israel is exercising its full right and moral obligation to defend itself and its citizens and will continue to do so.”
The decision by Nagasaki's mayor not to invite Israel to the Peace Memorial Ceremony on August 9th is regrettable, sends a wrong message to the world, and deflects from the core message that Nagasaki has been promoting for years. As a close friend and like-minded nation of Japan,…
— Gilad Cohen 🇮🇱🎗️ (@GiladCohen_) July 31, 2024
The exclusion of the Israeli ambassador comes as Israel continues to engage in conflict with Hamas forces in Gaza, an assault that has reduced much of the densely populated strip to ruins and, according to Gaza’s health ministry, resulted in the deaths of more than 39,600 Palestinians.
U.S. and U.K. ambassadors to skip Nagasaki atomic bombing ceremony
The U.S. and U.K. ambassadors to Japan will not attend the annual memorial ceremony marking the atomic bombing of Nagasaki on Friday, following the city’s decision to exclude the Israeli ambassador from the event.
U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel will instead participate in a smaller ceremony in Tokyo, the U.S. Embassy announced on Wednesday (7 Aug).
A spokesperson for the embassy explained that while Ambassador Emanuel wishes to honor the occasion, he does not want to be part of an increasingly politicized event.
The U.S. Consulate in Fukuoka confirmed that Principal Officer Chuka Asike will represent the United States at the Nagasaki ceremony in Emanuel’s absence.
Similarly, British Ambassador to Japan Julia Longbottom announced on Tuesday that she would not attend the Nagasaki ceremony, expressing concerns that her presence could send the wrong message, potentially equating Israel’s exclusion with that of Russia.
Additionally, the ambassadors of Germany, France, Italy, and Canada have also decided not to attend the ceremony.
According to statements given to Japanese media, representatives from these countries indicated that their decision was influenced by the exclusion of Israel.
Instead, counselors and consuls from these nations will attend the event in their place.
Nagasaki Mayor defends decision to exclude Israeli ambassador
Nagasaki Mayor Suzuki Shiro reaffirmed his decision to exclude the Israeli ambassador from the city’s annual peace ceremony on Friday, despite criticism from senior diplomats of the United States and other Group of Seven (G7) nations who said the move would keep them from attending.
In a press conference on Thursday (8 Aug), Mayor Suzuki emphasized that the decision was not politically motivated but was intended to ensure a calm and solemn atmosphere for mourning the victims of the atomic bombing.
“It was a difficult decision,” Mayor Suzuki acknowledged, adding that the priority was to conduct the 9 August ceremony smoothly.
The mayor’s remarks came after reports surfaced that ambassadors from the G7 nations, excluding Japan, along with the Tokyo-based representative of the European Union, had sent a letter of concern to Suzuki on 19 July.
The letter expressed unease over the exclusion of Israel from the event.
When asked to clarify what he meant by “holding the ceremony smoothly,” Mayor Suzuki explained that 9 August is the most significant day of the year for Nagasaki.
He noted that many atomic bomb survivors, whose average age is over 85, will be attending the ceremony in severe heat.
“After comprehensively considering the matter, including the risk of unexpected situations, I decided not to invite the Israeli ambassador,” he said.
Mayor Suzuki expressed disappointment over the absence of the U.S. and European ambassadors but expressed hope that they would attend future ceremonies.
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jessie:
What are you talking about? Which State? Sorry your posts doesn’t make sense.
REPLY to jessie:
Oh Boy! Speaking of having a bridge to sell you….It was an explicit rant, not a comment, wasn’t it? Don’t worry, my posts, they’re – all – HERE…
If you’re talking about the two State solution. It is a chimera. (To think otherwise is to engage in self delusion)
jessie:
You are equating the condemned actions of the Zionists as being anti-Jew. This is deceitful and untrue.
REPLY to jessie:
To the contrary, so then you think that its morally acceptable to marginalize 20% of the population that is not in fact Jewish?
jessie: Reply to Wanker Party 4 hours ago Anti- semitism may be used by the Zionists as an excuse in their actions against their neighbours.Prior to 1948, Jews, Arabs, Persians, Armenians etc lived peacefully in the region. REPLY to jessie: By the same token, your Leftist ‘friends’ MIGHT start to question where their double-standard thought against Jews and Judaism comes from, even when they insist it is anti-Zionist only. lol. Most anti-Zionists I know were infected by Catholicism’s antagonism towards Jews, a mindset that had been developing ever since the heavy yoke of the Roman Empire and its savage oppression of… Read more »
jessie: The Evangelical Gospel Church supports the Zionists. Netanyahu visited the church in America when he was in the U.S. The Evangelical Church does propaganda work for the Zionists. So the support for the Zionists is worldwide even if it goes against Christian teachings. So being anti- Zionist is not being anti-Semitic. Don’t equate it. REPLY to jessie: This piece strikes me as a classic exercise in subterfuge. Many of my peers also fail to grapple with the central thesis of Zionism, whether “Jews have the requisite claim on the geographical area in question”. Of course, that issue is where… Read more »
jessie: Is there any of my posts that says that the Jews don’t have a right to there own State? You can criticise any actions of a particular race without being anti-….Why is it if you criticise the Zionists actions , you are termed anti- semitic? REPLY to jessie: Okay, I hate to have to say it, but dispense with this speciousness. Perhaps it’s amusing to fantasize about being a fake victim for a little while. What it really amounts to is ‘hate’ for Jews and Israel. So I regard this whole discussion – meaningless and does not really provide… Read more »
jessie: Cannot rebut will say Hamas lover and anti- semitic. I stand against the Zionist Movement which many Leftist Jews are also against. Do you even know the difference? ————————————————————————————————————————– REPLY to jessie: Nonsensical drivel like this is inexcusable, especially when coming from ‘supposedly’ thoughtful, opinion pieces. One cannot simply insist on presenting an argument as “not antisemitic” Define own terms in own way and then decides to use those terms to make an argument that has no merit otherwise. The fact is our planet is based largely on nation states that are divided by their religion. Perhaps it is… Read more »
Nagasaki is in Japan. The mayor could not have done this without the consensus of the Cabinet. Keep trying to negate it. It
makes no difference. The event took place without the ambassadors of the G7 rightfully as most of the G7 are weapons manufacturers, creating wars to sell their weapons. A huge percentage of our budgets go to the G7 because of weapons buying.
theforgottongeneration: As tried to explain to a certain goodu hamas lover here, please note this is NOT a Japan issue. Read the article – Hiroshima also host their memorial earlier and it invited Israel – there were no problems. Only hamas lovers and Nagasaki major are trying to politicized the Nagasaki memorial into an anti-Israel issue. ————————————————————————————————– Reply to theforgottongeneration: One just needs to google “anti-semitism” to find people wondering and questioning why anti-semitism appears to persist, even in the face of massive genocide of millions during the Holocaust by Germany while the Japanese do their own Holocaust in Asia.… Read more »
The one (USA) who dropped the 2 bombs on them, killing hundreds of thousands Japanese IS INVITED!. Japan under Emperor Hirohito’s reign, responsible for a multitude of war crimes leading to millions of deaths from sexual slavery and massacres to human experimentation, starvation, and forced labor, all either directly committed or condoned by the Japanese military and government. What hypocrisy! No wonder so many earthquakes nowadays in Japan, even today. Divine judgement?
A slap to the West from the East. We as Asians should celebrate and support the guts of the Japanese. If they join forces with China and India the West is out. Perhaps we may have a peaceful world and our governments can spend more on the social needs of the people than on buying weapons from the West👏👏👏.
The Nagasaki mayor should invite Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, ISIS / ISIL and the IRGC to be more inclusive.
They are experts at turning any event into, “the bomb.”
It is always the US and the UK that are at odds with rational opinion. But then, one of them enabled the Rothchilds and the other thought they fought and won their “independence” from the UK.
S1
Well done Japan. Thumbs-up 👍👍👍👏👏. First country in the world to say no to the Zionists and refusing to give in to the G7. Hats off to the Japanese people.
Japan loses face if Israel is invited.
On the Oct 07 Hamas attack, Nethanyahu commented the underground tunnels in Gaza is a copy of the evil japanese tactic fighting in rat tunnels in the Philippines during WW2.
Japan must be so embarrased by this.
Mayor Suzuki: “… emphasized that the decision was not politically motivated but was intended to ensure a calm and solemn atmosphere for mourning the victims of the atomic bombing…” ——————- Typical Japanese horse-shxt to save face. Israel wasn’t even in existence when Nagasaki was A-bombed (in 1945). Any political backlash Japan fears, if Israel was invited, would be from the post-1948 near-middle East sore losers which has nothing to do with the A-bombings in reasons nor morals. This attitude is very consistent with the Japanese revisionism of how it see itself in WW2 – that it wasn’t an aggressor, that… Read more »