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Follow Us on TwitterACT! Tell Japan not to join Israel, US warmongering! 17Mar13 March 17, 2013
Alternative Information Centre - 16 March 2013
We, representing those around the world who hope for a just peace in Palestine, declare the following statement to protest the recent Japanese Government’s decision to participate in work share for the F-35 fighter jet, which is to be used by Israel against Palestinians and other peoples, making this a dangerous exception to Japan’s decades-long arms exports restrictions.
Statement: Japan must end participation with US and Israel warmongering!
We are deeply concerned with the recent decision of the Japanese government to make a crucial exception to its decades-long policy of strict arms export control by allowing Japanese companies to contribute to the manufacturing of the US F-35 fighter jet which in turn will be exported to Israel.
Since 1967, Japan has adhered to a commendable policy of prohibition of weapons exports to “countries involved in or likely to be involved in international conflicts” as part of its efforts to promote international peace in conformity with Japanese Constitutional Law which vowed to “renounce war.” Therefore, breaking these principles, particularly in the case of Israel, a country implicated in war crimes and crimes against humanity in the course of its oppression of the Palestinian people, marks a dangerous and deplorable shift to Japanese foreign policy.
The F-35 fighter jet will very likely be used by the the Israeli military in its warmongering against Palestinian, Lebanese and other Arab peoples as seen during the recent assault against the besieged Palestinians of Gaza. Furthermore, the F-35 is a key instrument of the failed American war machine that has destabilized the world and decimated lives. Japanese participation in this project will come at a cost of the lives of Palestinians, Afghans and other innocent peoples around the world.
Therefore, we demand that:
1. the Japanese government immediately rescind its decision to participate in the manufacturing for the F-35 fighter jet and make explicit its prohibition of arms export to Israel as a country that wages war;
2. Japanese companies, including Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. who is to be the main contractor for the F-35, refuse to participate in this project or be the target of international boycotts for complicity with the Israeli occupation, colonization and apartheid against the Palestinian people.
Sign the petition here.
Agence Media Palestine (France)
Al-Awda, the Palestine Right to Return Coalition
Al-Jisr — The Bridge (Japan)
Artists Against Occupation
Association for support of Al Ahli Arab Hospital (Japan)
ATTAC Kansai (Japan)
BDS France
Boycott Israeli Apartheid Campaign – Vancouver (Canada)
Boycott! Supporting the Palestinian BDS call from Within (Israeli citizens for BDS)
Campaign against Nuclear weapons and Missile defence (Japan)
Campagne Civile Internationale pour la Protection du Peuple Palestinien (CCIPPP France)
Canada Palestine Association
Citizens Asociation against Revising Constitution (Japan)
Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid (Toronto, Canada)
Committee on Social Concerns of the United Church of Christ in Japan (UCCJ), Osaka District
Echo-Echanges ONG France-Japon
International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network
Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign
Joint Trade Union for Christian Workers (Japan)
Kansai Common Action (Japan)
National Lawyers Guild International Committee (US)
National Lawyers Guild Free Palestine Subcommittee (US)
Netherlands Palestine Committee (NPK)
Palestine Forum Japan
Palestine Peace Solidarity (South Korea)
Palestine Solidarity Network-Edmonton (Canada)
Palestine Solidarity – Sapporo (Japan)
Queers Against Israeli Apartheid – Vancouver (Canada)
Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network
Students Against Israeli Apartheid – Toronto (Canada)
Toronto Students for Justice in Palestine (Canada)
US Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel
Vermonters for a Just Peace in Palestine/Israel (US)
Viva Palestina Malaysia
Voice of Palestine (Canada)
Winnipeg Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid (Canada)
Thank You.
