by SCOTT FOSTER
Geopolitics trump peace politics as G7 diplomats eschew Nagasaki atomic bomb commemoration to protest Israel’s exclusion
Ambassadors to Japan from the other G7 nations – the US, UK, Canada, Germany, France and Italy – refused to attend Friday’s (August 9) peace ceremony in Nagasaki because the Israeli ambassador had not been invited. The only other countries not invited were Russia and Belarus.
According to the US Embassy in Tokyo, Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel decided against attending because the event had been “politicized.” By making front-page news around the world, he ensured that it was.
British Ambassador to Japan Julia Longbottom said that leaving out Israel created “an unfortunate and misleading equivalency with Russia and Belarus.”
This was not unexpected. On July 19, the ambassadors of the six countries and the European Union sent a letter to Nagasaki Mayor Shiro Suzuki stating that it would be difficult for them “to have high-level participation” at the event if Israel was excluded.
Mayor Suzuki told the press that “It was not due to political reasons that we did not invite the Israeli ambassador. We wanted to conduct the ceremony smoothly in a peaceful and solemn manner. It was a difficult decision.”
According to media reports, Ambassador Emanuel wrote Suzuki a letter in which he stated that “I believe your decision is a political one and has nothing to do with the security and safety of the event, especially in light of the caliber of attendees.”
The G7 ambassadors did attend the peace ceremony held in Hiroshima last Tuesday, to which Israel was, but Russia and Belarus were not, invited. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who represents a district in Hiroshima, addressed both events.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi told the news media that the Japanese government is “not in a position to make any comments” on Mayor Suzuki’s decision because the event was hosted by the city of Nagasaki.
Asia Times for more