Japan examining formal recognition of Palestinian state, says ambassador

Japanese Ambassador for Palestinian Affairs and Representative of Japan to Palestine Yoichi Nakashima says his country is studying the possibility of formally recognizing the State of Palestine in order to achieve peace and stability in West Asia.

“The international community is convinced that there is no solution except for the [so-called] existence of two nations Palestine and Israel,” Nakashima said in an interview with the “With the Editor-in-Chief” program broadcast on Palestine TV on Friday.

He stressed that unilateral Israeli measures hinder the establishment of an independent sovereign Palestinian state.

Nakashima said the relationship between Palestine and Japan is age-old, ongoing and always evolving, emphasizing that Palestinians are living in very difficult circumstances, and that the international community and donor countries are constantly following up on these conditions.

Israel, he said, is targeting international organizations, especially the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and its employees, under flimsy pretexts in order to obtain political goals.

Nakashima also said Japan, as one of the largest donors to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, is making every effort, along with partner countries, to support the work of UNRWA and its relief operations for the Palestinian people.

Spain, Ireland, Norway formally recognize State of Palestine

The trio is the first major Western powers to officially recognize Palestine.

Regarding the decision of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to refer the resolution to end the Israeli occupation to the General Assembly for a vote, the Japanese ambassador stated that Tokyo supports the move and respects all decisions of international organizations as well as principles of international law.

He touched on Israeli crimes against Palestinian prisoners and its violation of all international charters and resolutions, stressing that Japan is following up on the conditions of the inmates and that the ICJ is the legal body whose decisions must be adhered to by everyone without exception.

“We stand with Palestine in the necessity of returning the funds that Israel is withholding so that it can provide services to Palestinian citizens and achieve financial stability,” Nakashima said.

The diplomat said demonstrations taking place around the world are natural reactions to unfolding Israeli atrocities in the besieged Gaza Strip and occupied West Bank.

“The scenes of killing and destruction in Palestine touch the hearts of the Japanese because they have suffered from wars in the past,” the ambassador said.

Back in July, former Japanese foreign minister Yoko Kamikawa said Tokyo is considering plans to formally the State of Palestine, and that her government supports the purported two-state solution to the decades-long Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

The Palestinians hope to establish an independent state of their own in the Gaza Strip and West Bank with East al-Quds as its capital.

Israel occupied East al-Quds during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. It annexed the entire city in 1980, claiming all of al-Quds as its “eternal and undivided” capital in a move never recognized by the international community.

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