June 19, 2016 Ryukyu Shimpo Digital Edition
Participants carry signs calling for the withdrawal of the U.S. Marines in Okinawa at 3:18 p.m. on June 19 at Ounoyama Athletic Park
At 2 p.m. on June 19 at Naha’s Ounoyama Athletic Park, a rally was held to protest in the wake of the rape and murder of a woman by a U.S. military contractor. The official title of the rally was, “Denounce the cruel act of brutality by a former Marine! Mass rally to mourn the victim and demand the withdrawal of all Marines from Okinawa.” It was organized by the All Okinawa Coalition to Prevent the Construction of a New Base at Henoko. According to the organizers, 65,000 participants attended the rally.
The victim’s father expressed his gratitude in a written message to the participants. “In order to prevent any more people from becoming victims, if all Okinawans come together as one in demanding the withdrawal of all the bases and opposing the construction of a new base in Henoko, I think it is possible. As a person of Okinawa, this is my fervent wish,” he said. “In order to prevent any more people from becoming victims, if all Okinawans come together as one in demanding the withdrawal of all the bases and opposing the construction of a new base in Henoko, I think it is possible. As a person of Okinawa, this is my fervent wish,” he said.
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Participants carry signs calling for the withdrawal of the U.S. Marines in Okinawa at 3:18 p.m. on June 19 at Ounoyama Athletic Park
At 2 p.m. on June 19 at Naha’s Ounoyama Athletic Park, a rally was held to protest in the wake of the rape and murder of a woman by a U.S. military contractor. The official title of the rally was, “Denounce the cruel act of brutality by a former Marine! Mass rally to mourn the victim and demand the withdrawal of all Marines from Okinawa.” It was organized by the All Okinawa Coalition to Prevent the Construction of a New Base at Henoko. According to the organizers, 65,000 participants attended the rally.
The victim’s father expressed his gratitude in a written message to the participants. “In order to prevent any more people from becoming victims, if all Okinawans come together as one in demanding the withdrawal of all the bases and opposing the construction of a new base in Henoko, I think it is possible. As a person of Okinawa, this is my fervent wish,” he said. “In order to prevent any more people from becoming victims, if all Okinawans come together as one in demanding the withdrawal of all the bases and opposing the construction of a new base in Henoko, I think it is possible. As a person of Okinawa, this is my fervent wish,” he said.
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The Japan Times Jun 11, 2016
Leader of the pack: Hiroji Yamashiro addresses demonstrators after successfully blocking the gates of U.S. Marine Corps Camp Schwab, Nago. | JON MITCHELL
The peacemakers of Okinawa
Sixty years ago this week, the U.S. government released the controversial Price Report, triggering mass protests on Okinawa that gave birth to leaders who, while renowned in the prefecture, remain little known outside it
by Jon Mitchell
Special To The Japan Times
Jun 11, 2016
Article history
It’s 6 a.m. outside the gates of U.S. Marine Corps Camp Schwab, Nago City, and 100 demonstrators are limbering up with calisthenic stretches designed to reduce their chances of injury from confrontations with the dozens of riot police lined up behind the installation’s barbed wire fence.
For more than a year and a half, demonstrators have maintained a 24-hour sit-in to try to stop construction of a new base in the nearby bay at Henoko. Some days the protesters succeed in blocking the government construction trucks; other days, the police manage to clear them away, often injuring demonstrators in the process.
It’s a war of attrition and both sides know how high the geo-political stakes are.
read more…
Leader of the pack: Hiroji Yamashiro addresses demonstrators after successfully blocking the gates of U.S. Marine Corps Camp Schwab, Nago. | JON MITCHELL
The peacemakers of Okinawa
Sixty years ago this week, the U.S. government released the controversial Price Report, triggering mass protests on Okinawa that gave birth to leaders who, while renowned in the prefecture, remain little known outside it
by Jon Mitchell
Special To The Japan Times
Jun 11, 2016
Article history
It’s 6 a.m. outside the gates of U.S. Marine Corps Camp Schwab, Nago City, and 100 demonstrators are limbering up with calisthenic stretches designed to reduce their chances of injury from confrontations with the dozens of riot police lined up behind the installation’s barbed wire fence.
For more than a year and a half, demonstrators have maintained a 24-hour sit-in to try to stop construction of a new base in the nearby bay at Henoko. Some days the protesters succeed in blocking the government construction trucks; other days, the police manage to clear them away, often injuring demonstrators in the process.
It’s a war of attrition and both sides know how high the geo-political stakes are.
read more…