Largest US federation of trade unions pledges support in struggle against new US base

　　All Okinawa Council delegates meet with AFL-CIO representatives on November 20
　　 at the AFL-CIO headquarters in Washington, DC.

November 22, Ryukyu Shimpo
Sakae Toiyama reports from Washington, DC

On November 20, delegates from the All Okinawa Council, led by All Okinawa Council co-representative and Kanehide Group chairman Morimasa Goya, visited the Washington, DC headquarters of the AFL-CIO, the largest federation of labor unions in the United States. The delegates asked for cooperation in getting U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma relocated outside of Okinawa. AFL-CIO director of foreign affairs Cathy Feingold expressed her support and her desire to spread the struggle for peace.

A delegation of All Okinawa Council members arrived in the United States on November 15 to convey Okinawan opposition to the planned construction of a new base in Henoko, Nago as part of the planned relocation of Marine Corps Air Station Futenma. November 20 was their last day of scheduled activities.

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1,000 people gather in front of Camp Schwab gate to celebrate 500 days of sit-in

　　Citizens protesting against new base construction in Henoko gathered in front of
　　U.S.　Marine Camp Schwab’s gate, Henoko, Nago on the morning of November 18.

November 18, 2015 Ryukyu Shimpo

A sit-in protest against construction of a new U.S. air base to replace U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Ginowan marked 500 days on November 18. About 1,000 protesters, including prefectural council members, municipal assembly members, and those in citizen groups gathered in front U.S. Marine Camp Schwab’s gate. They staged a huge sit-in protest for three days. The participants formed groups to sit in front of the three gates of Camp Schwab and along the national highway. As of 9:45 a.m., anti-riot police officers from the Okinawa Prefectural Police and Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department had not shown up in front of the gate. And trucks loaded with construction materials did not enter the base.

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All Okinawa Council delegates strengthen ties with local US civil society

All Okinawa Council delegates strengthen ties with local US civil society and convey Okinawa’s situation

Delegates from the All Okinawa Council deepen their ties with members of local civic groups in the United States.

November 19, 2015 Ryukyu Shimpo
Sakae Toiyama reports from Washington DC

A delegation comprising members of the All Okinawa Council, led by Kanehide Group president Morimasa Goya, is currently visiting the United States to express Okinawa’s opposition to the construction of a new US military base in Henoko, Nago, as part of the planned relocation of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma. On November 17, delegates met with staff at the local offices of California congressional representatives Mike Honda (D) and Barbara Boxer (D), both of whom are actively engaged in human rights issues. The delegates asked that the US government take responsibility as an active player in the Henoko relocation issue. In the evening, the delegates participated in a dialogue-based meeting where they deepened their ties with members of local civic groups.

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CBD statement for Okinawa Dugong

photo:CBD(Center for biological diversity)

Okinawa Delegation Seeks Support for Stopping U.S. Military
Project That Threatens Endangered Dugong

SAN FRANCISCO― A delegation of 27 political and community leaders from Okinawa, Japan is visiting the United States to seek support for its efforts to stop the U.S. military from building a large new base in biologically rich and sensitive Henoko and Oura Bay, home to the dugong ― a marine mammal related to manatees that is an ancient cultural icon in Okinawa ― and other endangered species. That project is strongly opposed by residents of the island, which has had a tremendous U.S. military presence since the end of World War II, and Okinawan Gov. Takeshi Onaga, who last month withdrew local consent for the project.

The Bay Area portion of the delegation’s visit on Nov. 15-18 includes meetings with representatives of U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein and U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee, receptions at the city halls in San Francisco and Berkeley, a press conference at San Francisco’s War Memorial Building (401 Van Ness Avenue, 2nd Floor, on Tuesday, Nov. 17, at 11 a.m.), and meetings with the Center for Biological Diversity and other conservation groups that are challenging the project in U.S. federal court. That case is now before the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, with oral arguments expected in spring 2016.

“Okinawa dugongs are facing extinction, a sad fact that the approval process for this project ignored. We stand with the Okinawan people in calling for a real environmental review and respect for local concerns,” said Peter Galvin, director of programs at the Center. “We shouldn’t let the U.S. military continue to trash this biologically important region.”

During a meeting at the Center’s Oakland office, delegation members said that American and international popular support is crucial to stopping a project that is being pushed by the U.S. Department of Defense and the national government in Japan. “We need to reach as many people in the United States as possible and get them to stand up and say this is wrong,” Naha City Council member Emiko Miyagi said.

Yoshiaki Nitta, a member of Okinawa Prefectural Assembly, recalled the long history of U.S. military occupation of the island and called for new era of mutual respect. “What’s happening now is unreasonable and unjust and not the way things are supposed to go,” said Nobutake Yasutomi, a member of the Kin-Town Assembly. “We feel like there is discrimination and oppression against the people of Okinawa.”

The Okinawa delegation travels next to Washington, D.C., where it will meet with the Marine Mammal Commission, Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, and other groups before leaving the country on Nov. 21.

The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 900,000 members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.

New York Times Denying the Will of Okinawans

New York Times　The Opinion Pages　NOV. 4, 2015

　　 Elderly Okinawans trying to block the planned expansion of a U.S. military base last month. Credit Kyodo/Reuters

Japanese police officers in riot gear are dragging away grandparents; protesters are linking arms and lying down in front of military trucks. A local mayor is accusing the central government of lawlessness, and a governor is denouncing “iron-fisted rule” from Tokyo.

That is the tense and ugly situation in Okinawa, where an old battle is intensifying over Japan’s plan, hatched with its strategic partner the United States, to vastly expand an American military base over the long-held, impassioned objections of Okinawans.

………

Japan and the United States see themselves as nations committed to peace, human rights and democracy. Those claims have been tested by the failure to resolve the Henoko standoff.

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