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29 October, 2009 0:31 AM
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| Newsletter No.
1435
YUTAKA IIMURA COMPLETES HIS FIRST TOUR AS PEACE ENVOY As we noted at the beginning of this month, the diplomat Yutaka Iimura has become the new Special Envoy of the Government of Japan for the Middle East and began his new assignment with a tour of the countries most intimately involved in the so-called Arab-Israeli peace process. Today is the day in which Iimura is scheduled to return to Japan. This Newsletter will review the progress of Iimura’s first foray into the region.
According to his official itinerary, Iimura touched down in Cairo on August 2nd and left for Israel the following day. I’m sorry to say, however, that I’ve found no information at all about this leg of the trip. The Egyptian Foreign Ministry has posted nothing in English and the English-language online media in Egypt is pretty impoverished in general. As a result, for all we know, Iimura may have spent his time in Cairo sleeping in his hotel room.
Iimura arrived in Tel Aviv on August 3rd and stayed in Israel-Palestine for about five days. On the Israeli side of the fence, the Japanese diplomat met with President Shimon Peres, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Daniel Ayalon, and Director-General of the Foreign Ministry Yossi Gal. According to an official MOFA statement, “Special Envoy Iimura appreciated respectively Israel’s acceptance of the two-state solution which the Roadmap of 2003 is based on. He also requested a freeze of the settlement activities and suspension of construction of housing for Jewish persons in East Jerusalem. He also expressed his concern about the displacement of two Palestinian families from East Jerusalem by the Israeli Authority on August 2.” I’m not sure, but the specific request for a “freeze” on settlement construction does not sound like anything that Tokyo had asked for during the Bush era. We may have yet another case in which MOFA is simply echoing the position-of-the-moment held by the White House.
Iimura also made a priority of discussing North Korea: “Japan is concerned with the developments in North Korea. The regime is very isolated and dangerous, and the fact that they have carried out two nuclear tests is a severe existential threat to the neighboring countries.” Peres replied that he agreed, and added, “North Korea attempted to help Syria become a nuclear state… I see great similarities between the North Korean and Iranian regimes—both are wallowing in corruption, the use of force, and starvation of their people. The combination of these characteristics and their nuclear aspirations make them dangerous.” Peres also presented his views on the peace process: “It’s an economic peace, but economic peace is no substitute for political peace. To achieve that may take a lot of time… Compare the darkness of Gaza with the light of Ramallah… No one forces the Gazans to live in darkness. Their situation could be the same as the West Bank.”
Speaking of the West Bank, that is where Iimura went next. He met with “President” Mahmoud Abbas, “Prime Minister” Salam Fayyad, and “Foreign Minister” Riad Malki of the Fatah government. (Japanese diplomats continue to comply with the US-Israel boycott on Hamas.) There is no real change in Tokyo’s position here. Iimura expressed his nation’s commitment to continue economic assistance to the Palestinians, but avoided making any political statements outside the zone prescribed by Washington. He also “urged for efforts towards reforming the government structure and building a viable economy in Palestine,” according to the relevant MOFA statement. Prime Minister Fayyad complained about Israeli violations of previous agreements and the continuing efforts to build illegal settlements. He declared that “it is essential that the international community acts to oblige Israel to be committed to the international law and the decisions of the international legitimacy.” In particular, Fayyad demanded that “Israel must stop the demolishing of Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem, and should reopen all Palestinian institutions that it shut down in the city… and should lift the siege on the Gaza Strip as this siege is a collective punishment to more than 1.5 million Palestinians.” Shortly after Iimura’s visit to the West Bank, MOFA announced a new package of financial aid for Palestinians, including US$6.3 million channeled through UNRWA, US$2.8 million for the World Food Programme, and US$1.3 million for the local UNICEF program.
On August 8th Iimura arrived in Amman where he met with Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh. The Jordanian minister emphasized that serious negotiations between the Palestinians and Israelis leading to the creation of an independent Palestinian state based on the two-state solution are badly needed. He highlighted the importance of the Arab Peace Initiative. Judeh stated, “There is a real opportunity at hand to bring about peace in the Middle East through international consensus, and all parties should seize this opportunity to bring about peace and stability, as the world is convinced that a solution to the conflict is an international interest.” The media reports have Iimura responding only that Japan appreciates the important role of King Abdallah in bringing about such a peace, and promising Japan’s further support. At about the same time as Iimura was in town, Ambassador Tetsuro Shioguchi met with Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Suhair al-Ali and signed an agreement by which Japan would provide about US$15 million for the “Project for Improvement of Airport Security Equipment at Queen Alia International Airport in Jordan.”
Iimura arrived in Damascus on the 9th and stayed in Syria for several days, perhaps indicating that Tokyo is now ready to upgrade this connection. He held separate meetings with Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem, Deputy Foreign Minister Faysal Mikdad, and Assistant Foreign Minister Ahmad Arnous. The main points addressed by Al-Moallem were his desire to strengthen Syria-Japan relations and outlining his government’s position on Arab-Israeli peace. In regard to the latter issue, the Syrian foreign minister declared, “Israel is the one that puts obstacles in the way of achieving peace, which necessitates the international community to move effectively to bring Israel to respond to the requirements of peace, on top of which freezing settlement building, stopping Judaization of Jerusalem, recognizing the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, and putting an end to the Israeli occupation of the Arab territories, including the Syrian Golan.” In regard to Japan-Syria bilateral relations, Iimura is quoted as saying, “Syria is a country of importance for Japan, and our bilateral relations have been growing steadily, as well as our ties and the reciprocal visits between us. We are committed to continue rendering aid to Syria, especially in the fields of electricity and infrastructure.” The reports of the discussions between Envoy Iimura and Deputy Foreign Minister Faysal Mikdad, and Assistant Foreign Minister Ahmad Arnous are practically identical in content. Finally, it should be noted that the Asahi Shinbun recently interviewed Syrian President Bashar Assad, who said, “Japan has a very vital role in development in Syria. But we would like to see more of a Japanese role in the peace issue.”
As noted in Shingetsu Newsletter No. 1426, Yutaka Iimura took over his duties from Tatsuo Arima on July 15th. We have not yet reported, however, a few minor events that took place in the final months of Arima’s watch. On February 19th, Arima conferred by telephone with his American counterpart, former Senator George Mitchell. No doubt the main topic was to discuss the incoming Obama administration’s approach to the Arab-Israeli issue. Along these same lines, Tatsuo Arima visited Mitchell and other US policymakers in Washington from April 4th to 8th. There were no substantive reports about this visit. Tatsuo Arima paid his last visit to Israel and Palestine exactly a month later, from May 4th to 8th. Again, there were no reports to tell us what may have occurred during this trip. The final MOFA statement on Arima’s activities came on July 4th; less than two weeks before he was replaced. The previous day he had called Mahmoud Abbas and held a fifteen-minute phone call. And then, suddenly and without public explanation, Arima was relieved of his post. Did something happen behind the scenes? Was it a planned retirement? Is Arima having health problems? To date, we have no information.
Reading MOFA statements in recent months, one may be forgiven for not realizing that there is an organization called “Hamas” that won the last free elections held in Palestine in early 2006. Tokyo’s policy on Hamas in the days of the Aso administration seems to be to ignore its very existence. As reported in Shingetsu Newsletter No. 1308, Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone revealed his government’s thinking on March 3rd when he observed, that talks with Hamas would “give a certain legitimacy to Hamas, which does not acknowledge the existence of Israel and resorts to violence.” (Apparently, it is Nakasone’s view that Hamas’ victory in obtaining a majority of votes from the Palestinian people themselves does not provide it with any degree of political legitimacy.) As Nakasone announced his boycott on talks with Hamas, State Secretary for Foreign Affairs Shintaro Ito was in Sharm al-Shaikh, Egypt, at the “International Conference in Support of the Palestinian Economy for the Reconstruction of Gaza.” Ito announced at that event a package of US$200 million to help reconstruct the Gaza Strip after the Israeli attacks on that territory in December and January. MOFA posted Shintaro Ito’s speech at that event (which we also provide in the Appendix below). Notable in his speech is that the word “Hamas” does not appear at all. However, Japan’s best work, as usual, tends to be done at the level below the senior government authorities. Members of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Alumni Association have done preliminary work to help the Palestinian population of Gaza, distributing clothes to those who lost everything in the Israeli assault and visiting families who lost relatives in order to pay their respects. Moreover, an NPO called The Campaign for the Children of Palestine, based in Toshima Ward, Tokyo, has been selling postcards in Japan to raise money for food, medicine, and other necessities for Gaza residents. However, like many other such NPOs around the world, they are having difficulty staying in contact with their own operations in Gaza because “a Japanese staff member of the NPO’s Jerusalem branch… has been barred from entering the region by the Israeli military since mid-September last year.” That report came from the Yomiuri Shinbun in February. It is not clear if the situation has improved in recent months.
Prime Minister Taro Aso received a courtesy call from participants in an exchange project for youths from Israel and Palestine, and other people involved in the project, at the Prime Minister’s Office on August 4th. The group of ten youths from Israel and Palestine were visiting Japan to participate in the Middle East Peace Project in Kanazawa. Prime Minister Aso declared, “I introduced this exchange project to the world as a type of ‘diplomacy that Japan is uniquely able to undertake’ when I delivered an address to the General Assembly of the United Nations last September. As such, I have a strong attachment to the project—personally as well. The political situation of Israel and Palestine remain severe, yet it is of utmost importance for both parties to start taking steps, wherever possible, for co-existence and mutual prosperity. I understand that you, in pairs, spent time with Japanese families. I hope that such an occasion would become an opportunity for trust building. It is my sincere wish that you will be the ones who carry on the future of Israel and Palestine.” The Golan Heights Mission, in which a Ground Self-Defense Force unit consisting of forty-three personnel carries out the transportation of everyday necessities, the restoration of roads, and other activities as part of the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) was extended for another six-month period on July 24th. The mission is now authorized to continue until March 31, 2010. Japan began to send the SDF to the Golan Heights in February 1996, and it is likely to continue even should the Democratic Party of Japan form the heart of the next government. The UNRWA Neirab Rehabilitation Project received a US$4.3 million grant from the Japanese government in mid-March. Japanese Ambassador to Syria Masaki Kunieda signed the agreement which funds the construction of one school, two neighborhood blocks, one community center, and a range of community development activities for the Neirab refugee camp in Syria, which houses 18,000 refugees, and is said to have some of the worst living conditions of camps administered by UNRWA. UNRWA Deputy Commissioner-General Filippo Grandi commented: “This is a further evidence of Japan’s support for Palestine refugees and demonstrates the unique partnership between UNRWA and Japan. With this contribution, Japan is helping to give these refugees a home that they can feel proud to live in and a real sense of community. It’s a genuine contribution to the peace and stability of the region.” Other Recent Aid Packages are US$6 million for the “Program for Construction of Sewage System for Promoting Mutual Confidence” and US$9.5 million for the “Project for Establishment of New Schools in the West Bank.”
Remarks by Mr. Shintaro
Ito, State Secretary for Foreign Affairs of Japan, on the
Occasion of the International Conference in Support of the
Palestinian Economy for the Reconstruction of Gaza Honorable Chairs, On behalf of the Government of Japan, I should like to express my deepest appreciation to the Governments of Egypt and Norway for their great efforts in hosting this conference. Now, the international community should unify our efforts to reconstruct Gaza and to restore the Middle East peace process aimed at building a Palestinian state living peacefully side by side with Israel. Honorable Chairs, All the parties should contribute to the realization of Middle East peace with their own wisdom and experience. They should act responsively, and make constructive efforts. I whole-heartedly welcome the recent agreement reached by Palestinian factions to launch a dialogue for their internal reconciliation. I strongly urge them to maintain it. I also ask the countries in the region to intensify their efforts for stability. I call on Israel to freeze the settlement activities and to ease the movement restrictions as included in the Roadmap. In order to recover the normal lives of the innocent citizens of Gaza, it is indispensable to continue humanitarian assistance and ensure a permanent cease-fire. It is also required to keep the crossings open continuously to secure the smooth movement of the related people and goods. Japan calls on the related parties including Israel to make further efforts towards this end. At the same time, to prevent a return to violence, Japan supports the efforts to eradicate the smuggling of weapons into the Gaza Strip. Honorable Chairs, For our part, Japan has been making its own efforts. In response to the situation in Gaza, we immediately implemented about 11 million US dollars in emergency humanitarian assistance including in-kind assistance to UNRWA. Following the telephone calls from Prime Minister Aso to Prime Minister Olmert and President Abbas, we dispatched Ambassador Arima, our Special Envoy for the Middle East, to fully support Egyptian mediation efforts for a cease-fire. Several Japanese NGOs are actively engaging in the efforts for the improvement of the humanitarian situation. The reconstruction of Gaza must serve as a cornerstone for the establishment of a Palestinian state comprised of the West Bank and Gaza. To this end, Japan will provide 200 million US dollars in assistance to the Palestinians in the coming years, which includes the unimplemented part of the pledge in Paris and some suspended projects. And swiftly, we will implement humanitarian assistance at a scale of 60 million US dollars which is part of the 200 million US dollars I have just announced. Also, we will strengthen our support for the creation of a viable Palestinian economy through the "Corridor for Peace and Prosperity" initiative and other means. Honorable Chairs, With a view to creating a Palestinian state, the international community should support President Abbas and the Palestinian Authority in their efforts to unify the West Bank and Gaza. We will keep advancing towards a "two-state" solution. Now is the time that we should establish constructive dialogues among different civilizations. By doing so, we will be able to integrate our individual efforts in order to formulate a grand strategy towards that solution. I believe that it will become a united root for a tree that will bear a fruit of peace. Let's advance together towards peace. Thank you.
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