Arab News Japan
HIROSHIMA: An “Alternative Peace Memorial Ceremony” was held in Hiroshima on Tuesday, the day the city remembered the victims of the atomic bombing 79 years ago.
The official ceremony at Peace Park featured speeches from Prime Minister KISHIDA Fumio and the Governor of Hiroshima, Yuzaki Hidehiko. The Israeli Ambassador also attended the invitation of Hiroshima Mayor MATSUI Kazumi, who at the same time rejected inviting a representative of Palestine.
While the Peace Ceremony has always been a sad, quiet remembrance, this year it was joined at the other side of the Peace Park by roaring demonstrations denouncing the Japanese government and Hiroshima City Mayor MATSUI for inviting a representative from Israel that “is carrying out a systematic genocide of the Palestinians in Gaza.”
Citizens’ groups supporting Palestine staged peace events and invited the Palestinian Ambassador, who Hiroshima City banned from attending the official ceremony. Ambassador Waleed Siam joined the event online and reminded his audience of the horrors of the genocidal war Israel has been waging against the Palestinian people.
“As a Palestinian enduring the brutal realities of Gaza, I stand before you with a burning rage and a relentless demand for liberation and freedom,” he said. “The suffocating grip of Israeli oppression mars our existence, and the agonies we face are the direct result of decades of violent subjugation.”
“This is not just about peace; it is about justice, it is about freedom, and it is about reclaiming our stolen dignity and land. Bombing schools that are refuge to our civilians and citizens being burned alive and dying under the rubble, they are committing daily genocide against Gaza and the West Bank.”
Siam related the horrors of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima to the suffering of his people in Palestine.
“Just as the Hibakusha survivors of Hiroshima bore witness to unspeakable horrors, we, too, bear the scars of a relentless campaign to erase us. We express our profound disappointment and frustration that the city of Hiroshima, a symbol of peace, has chosen to be hijacked by the oppressors and their supporters while excluding the victims.”
“The invitation extended to those who perpetuate our suffering, and the absence of our voices undermines the principles of justice that Hiroshima stands for. We should not make this holy ceremony for hypocrites that have an established history of genocide, ethnic cleansing and war crimes.”
The protesters chose to hold their Alternative Peace Memorial Ceremony on Tuesday evening when the temperature in Hiroshima topped 35 C. They were loud in their protests, with some saying their exclusion from the Peace Ceremony at the Peace Park reflected the same authoritarian attitude that crushed the antiwar movement in the 1930s.
Others held banners that said, “Don’t invite Israel and (Prime Minister) Kishida to the Peace Ceremony!” and “We won’t allow any pressure to stop our anti-war and anti-nuclear movements.”