Home > ATTAC JAPAN : DON’T KILL THEM!! THEY ARE NOT ENEMY OF IRAQI PEOPLE!!
ATTAC JAPAN : DON’T KILL THEM!!
THEY ARE NOT ENEMY OF IRAQI PEOPLE!!
by Open-Publishing - Saturday 10 April 2004
7 comments
Yesterday three Japanese were kidnapped on the way to Baghdad by one religious
brigade. The brigade sent a letter demanding the Japanese government to withdraw
the Self-Defense Forces, or Japanese Army from Iraq within three days and telling
that they would kill them in the same way as Americans in Falluja if the Japanese
government wouldn’t accept
it.
Three Japanese were going to Baghdad to support Iraqi people. Naoko Takato at
34 is a NGO activist of medical care. She is particularly involved in street
children who lost parents because of
American bombing.
Soichiro Kooriyama at 32 is a photo-jounalist who often sends us information
and photos with message showing tragedy of war and occupation
to stop them.
Noriaki Imai at 18 is a young peace activist. He has just graduated from the
high school. He lives in Hokkaido near the big base of the SDF which plays a
key role in Japanese dispatched forces in Iraq. He joined the International Joint
Demonstration on March 20 to stop occupation and pull out all allied forces from
Iraq.
Now the Japanese government says that it would never pull out the SDF and continue
to stay in Iraq, ignoring many pleas from ordinary Japanese asking the government
to help them and make the SDF leave Iraq
immediately.
We are now sending the Japanese government, Prime Minister, as many politicians
and media as possible a message demanding the Gvt to help them and withdraw the
SDF at once. We are now rallying in front of the Parliament. There are many persons
marching around the Parliament.
NEVER KILL THEM!
THEY ARE FRIENDS OF US WHO LOVE PEACE AND CALL FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE IN IRAQ
AND ALL OVER THE WORLD!!
Yours
Yoko Akimoto
Secretariat, ATTAC Japan
Tel:81-3-3310-2877 Fax:81-3-3310-9474
e-mail: nag00562@nifty.ne.jp
10.04.2004
Collective Bellaciao
Forum posts
10 April 2004, 09:28
never kill them!!!!!!!!!!!!!
11 April 2004, 13:50
I HOPE WE CAN DO SOMTHING TODAY BUT ANY WAY I WILL SEND ANOTHER CALL FROM
MBC CHANEL AT 9 PM BEIRUT TIME TO OUR RESISTANCE IN IRAQ REGARDING OUR
JAPANESE FRIENDS I HAVE NEWS THAT THEY ARE IN GOOD HEALTH
MAY GOD HELP US
WE NEED MORE HELP FROM ALL ANTI WAR MOVMENTS TO SEND US MESSAGES TO SEND IT
WITH MY CALL TONIGHT
FADI MADI
12 April 2004, 03:59
Dear all,
Thank you for your greatest effort.
Three kidnapped Japanese peace activists will be
released very soon.
I do really appreciate efforts of Amir Rekarby,
Faris, Herbert, all of
Iraqi National Democratic Current, and all of you.
I really recognize again that the international
network of solidarity is
quite important. I hope that this network, not
governemental effort,
will solve the kidnapping case and create a genuine
relationship of
trust among people, movements and religious groups
leading to the
process for reconciliation.
For your reference, please see the statement of
Iraqi National
Democratic Current.
Yours
Yoko Akimoto
Secretariat, ATTAC Japan
12 April 2004, 04:02
For the release of the three kidnapped Japanese .
The kidnapping of Foreign Civilians is wrong and
should be condemned , especially when these
civilians are friends of the Iraqi people and
opponents of the War .
Yesterday and today , Satellite TV Channels showed
scenes of three kidnapped foreign journalists under
death threats . the kidnappers gave the Japanese
Government three days ultimatum to withdraw its
troops or else these hostages will be killed . The
Japanese government replied that it will keep its
troops in Iraq and will not alter its course under
the threat .
Some people were surprised by this reaction on the
part of the Japanese government and its disregard
for the life of its citizens .making observers
wondering about this response .
This morning a friend from the Iraqi National
Democratic Current , living in Japan telephoned and
informed us that : the Japanese section of the
World Social forum ? ATTAC ? the anti-war and anti
globalisation movement had contacted him and
explained that these three persons have no relation
to the war being launched against Iraqi people and
further these three persons are friends of the Peace
organization having participated in a number of anti
war and anti globalisation mass activities and
especially against the war in Iraq .
The group of course has made well publicized efforts
during the Jakarta , Paris and Bombay peace meetings
of the World Social forum side by side with
Independent Iraqi democrats in opposition to the US
Occupation of the country .
Our friend further added that our Japanese friends
request our intervention and do all possible efforts
to save the life of these three activists for peace
and friendship . Our comrades in the Iraqi National
Democratic Current immediately made all possible
communications through appeals made via the TV
Channels and as much as possible of any available
means of communications to try and save the life of
these three peace activists .
We take this opportunity to appeal to all who may
have a direct or indirect relation in this affair
to do every efforts to save the life of these
friends of the Iraqi people and release them .
The Japanese government may not care much about the
well being or fate of these three activists ,
probably to set and example to all peace activists
who may interfere negatively with government troops
iraq deployment plans , but we do care immensely ,
the kidnapping of innocent foreign civilians is an
Unpardonable crime as well as a serious mistake that
does not at all reflect the noble aims of the true
Liberation struggle from the bloody US Colonialist
occupation of Iraq . These Hostages must be released
Immediately with full honour and apology from their
kidnappers .
If the kidnappers insist on their way and refuse to
release them , then we suspect some hidden links
behind the scene to discredit the Iraqi Liberation
movement .The US occupation has quite a track record
of ¡È special Operations¡É either directly or
undercover or through their quislings .
We repeat our Urgent appeal to all and any one who
can help release these three friends to do
everything possible assure their release .We must
keep high ethics worthy of the great cause of the
Iraqi Liberation struggle and its highest ideals for
the noble cause of the Iraqi People¡Çs Uprising and
its national resistance . The enemy will always keep
trying to distort the reputation of the resistance .
We take this opportunity also to expose the criminal
practice of the US occupation of flooding the
country with the worst kinds of international thugs
under the title of the ¡È Civilian Contractors ¡È
who in reality are international mercenaries with
long criminal records ranging from Chile¡Çs Pinochet
to Apparthied South Africa to professional killers
from Europe and America . These group of Mercenaries
now actually number about 20,000 constituting the
second largest contingent of the so called ¡È
Coalition¡É . It is these ¡ÈCivilian¡É Mercenaries
that had the greatest contribution in blurring the
borders of what is Military and what is Civilian in
Iraq .
Alla Al-Lami
Information Office
Iraqi National Democratic Current
12 April 2004, 04:03
Dear all,
Thank you for your greatest effort.
Three kidnapped Japanese peace activists will be
released very soon.
I do really appreciate efforts of Amir Rekarby,
Faris, Herbert, all of
Iraqi National Democratic Current, and all of you.
I really recognize again that the international
network of solidarity is
quite important. I hope that this network, not
governemental effort,
will solve the kidnapping case and create a genuine
relationship of
trust among people, movements and religious groups
leading to the
process for reconciliation.
For your reference, please see the statement of
Iraqi National
Democratic Current.
Yours
Yoko Akimoto
Secretariat, ATTAC Japan
12 April 2004, 04:08
Thanks for all
Friends around the world,
We express our heartful thanks for your efforts to save our young Japanese
friends.
Yesterday at noon and at 6 pm, 2500 citizens, unionists, peace activists
and anti-nuke activists gathered in front of Prime Minister’s Official
Residence in Tokyo. We demanded immediate withdrawal of Japanese troops or
SDF from Iraq to save three young Japanese who have been detained by
resistance fighters for three days in Iraq. We also demanded cessation of
the attack against Falluja citizens by US-led occupation forces and ending
occupation.
Relatives of hostages told us their anxiety in tears and resolution to
demand withdrawal of troops. That afternoon Prime Minister Koizumi, who is
stiffly refusing withdrawal, rejected relatives’ demand to have a talk
ruthlessly.
Today we will also have rallies and contnue to demand withdrawal of
Japanese troops from Iraq.
with many thanks to all,
Osamu Yomono
Japan Confederation of Railway Workers’ Unions
oyomono@nifty.com
10 April 2004, 20:25
An open letter to the Japanese People
I would really like to apologize for you about what is happening in Iraq
now, and I would like you to know that Iraqis are doing their best to find and release
the three innocent Japanese hostages: Ms Takato, Mr Koriyama, and the young Mr Imai.
Please know that Iraqis in general have feelings of respect to Japan, and they look up to the Japanese people that rebuilt their country after the WWII, Iraqi people believe in the Japanese cultural experience, and try to learn lessons from what you did and what you are doing now.
You must know that I had never met a single Iraqi with feelings of hate or aggression towards the Japanese people, and those events of kidnappings does not reflect in anyway the feelings of the majority of Iraqis, most of us hope that these incidents didn’t happen, and that the first contact between our cultures didn’t start by these violent incidents.
I hope that the kidnapers are just trying to draw the attention of your people, and I hope they will let the three hostages go back home safe.
I would like to ask you to put more pressure on your government to pull
out your Japanese Defence Forces from Iraq, let the Bush administration handle and solve the problem with the Iraqi people, it is their responsibility. Don’t give the Bush administration a fake international cover.
Please don’t let your sons and daughters from the military die in Iraq, and don’t start a terrible history of violence and hate between your people and our people.
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