Abe Kosuzu, Professor, University of the Ryukyus, Okinawa, August 6, 2018.
First of all, I would like to send my heartfelt sympathy to the people in Vieques and Puerto Rico who are still fighting a good fight for the restoration from the hurricane María. This year, we have enormous serious rain disasters, and hope we can do the same good fight against a “Shock Doctrine”!
Well, I would like to send a message from Okinawa on this day of August 6th.
When I think about it, I think we have too many days of remembrance in this world.
April 3rd is the day for the Korean people to remember the massacre of the citizens by their state military. May 15th is the day of “Naqba,” the great catastrophe of the people of Palestine. In Okinawa, in June 23rd, we mourn for the miserable victims of atrocity in the Battle of Okinawa.
And in August, we share with the world the memory of the two days of Atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima on 6th, and Nagasaki on 9th in 1945.
Unfortunately, these days of remembrance have lessened their power of reflection to the state government in Japan. Japan, today, has rather been acting as an obstacle for international efforts fighting against the Nuke. And the Japanese government’s open-hand policy to follow Trump Administration of the U.S. scares again and again the people living in the East Asia borders, including Okinawa.
So, thanks to Radio Vieques, it is a great opportunity for me that I can share our update information of the continuing protest in Okinawa with the people in Vieques.
(1) Our Henoko protest is now, at another culmination that our prefecture governor finally showed his decision of revocation to the reclamation of the sea of Henoko to construct a new U.S. base.
However, the Japanese government would never seem to respect the decision of the prefecture, reported that they might prepare another law suit to accuse the prefecture government.
Please check the local newspaper updating. Ryukyu Shimpo has the English site and somehow useful for that aim.
http://english.ryukyushimpo.jp/2018/08/02/29153/
(2) The court in the United States on Henoko base construction (we call it a “Dugong trial,” after a name of endangered sea mammal) rejected our claim to stop the construction of U.S. base on Henoko sea. It means the decision of the federal district court in San Francisco gave a legitimacy to the Japanese government’s relentless way of constructing a U.S. military base in Okinawa, to crash endangered spices, natural environment of rich bio-diversity, and a democratic voice of the people in Okinawa.
An appeal would be filed soon, so we need a wide support voices from within and outside of the United States.
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20180803_21/
(3) I would like to share about the issue of the U.S. Military PFOS/PFOA contamination of drinking water in Okinawa. I know there is the similar situation suspected in Vieques and/or Culebra.
Dr. Kawamura Masami of IPP (The Informed-Public Project), who is the best contributor of this issue in Okinawa, has released an updating report in English. Please contact IPP blog for more details.
My friend has newly started an English site for the protest action in Henoko. Please check updating news and support us!
