The Japanese Red Army on the anniversary of the Lydda Airport Operation:
A new stage of solidarity with Lebanon and the Arabs.

Beirut: "as-Safir" daily, 31 May 2000

In a communique, a copy of which "as-Safir" received yesterday, on the occasion of the 28th
anniversary of the Lydda Airport guerrilla operation in occupied Palestine, the Japanese
Red Army pledged to strengthen its solidarity with the Lebanese people and to escalate the
struggle in Japan.

The communique stated that the Japanese Red Army is renewing its strong solidarity with the
just struggle of the Lebanese people for the liberation of their land.  It added that,
"Comrade Kozo Okamoto, who fought in that operation 28 years ago, has now been freed and has
been received as the first person granted political asylum in Lebanon.  He has begun his life
anew and in the open under the protection of the Arab Lebanese people."

The communique said that, "our four comrades are confined in a Japanese prison after being
kidnapped by the Japanese regime that violated international laws by plotting together with
the Jordanian government that once again has betrayed the Arab cause."  It continued, "but
this has led to the emergence of a new stage of the struggle on Japanese national territory."

The communique stated that "the solidarity between the Japanese Red Army and the Arab people
is entering a new open and popular stage for justice and equality focusing on the interests
of the peoples, whereas our existence in the past had been secret and illegal -- something we
were forced into as a result of our struggle against the enemy."  It pledged to develop the
solidarity between the Red Army and the Lebanese people.

The communique declared that the Red Army had not been able to present the meaning of the
struggle it waged at the side of the Palestinian and Arab people since the battle of Lydda to
the Japanese people who lived in peaceful and entirely different conditions.  The communique
pointed out that the Red Army had not been able to transcend the differences in conditions
between the two countries, Japan and Lebanon, noting at the same time the support that the
Lebanese had expressed for Kozo Okamoto which was an expression of the strong solidarity
between the two peoples.

The communique indicated that to strengthen this solidarity between, "the Lebanese people and
the Japanese people in the 21st century, we will be a part of the struggle of the Japanese
people."  It mentioned that Japanese society is suffering through a difficult situation, what
with the ideology of 'money comes first', the decline of human society, and the spread of
corruption.

The communique said that "as we see the youth fighting in Lebanon, we will strengthen our
solidarity more, and preserve our experience in the Arab nation to develop ourselves for
the attainment of change in Japan."  It cited the words of [Palestinian writer] Ghassan
Kanafani that "armed struggle is the best publicity campaign" and that the Lydda operation
was an example that showed that the armed Palestinian struggle is a successful offensive
action and that the Palestine Liberation Organization attained its official status in the
United Nations after the October War of 1973, while the armed struggle in south Lebanon
compelled Israel to withdraw unconditionally.  It concluded that armed struggle cannot
achieve victory without the support and help of the people.

The communique stated that the role of the Israeli enemy had become clear: it has become an
"active key" to global hegemony represented by the United States.  It said that Israel had
grasped the key of military supremacy and that it is striving for information and
communications technology in order to dominate the Middle East.  The Red Army emphasized
that the stability of the Middle East depends on the struggle to halt the Israeli policy of
invasion and occupation in all of its manifestations.

The Red Army noted the coming meeting of the seven biggest industrial countries to be held
on the Japanese island of Okinawa in July.  It is there that the United States maintains its
biggest overseas military base.  It noted that the Japanese regime aspires to send its army
abroad and to obtain a seat in the United Nations Security Council and to strengthen its
strategic alliance with the United States.  It seeks to expand its role as a supreme leader for
Asia while it rejects the requests from African countries that it write off their debts.
The Red Army affirmed that the Japanese regime plays in the Asian and Pacific region a role
comparable to that played by Israel in the Middle East.

The Red Army closed its message with a call for a new century of solidarity among the peoples
around the world.

It renewed its thanks to the Lebanese who supported the five Japanese, stressing, "we will
never forget this," noting the opinion poll run by "al-Manar" TV concerning the granting of
political asylum to the five comrades and the campaign that gathered 40,000 signatures on a
petition to give them asylum.

The communique quoted the last words of the two martyrs, Okadira and Yasuda, heroes of the
Battle of Lydda: "we believe that these barefoot children who are playing around us will
continue the war after our battle.  The struggles abroad will reinforce the Japanese
revolution, and in its turn, the Japanese revolution will contribute to the peoples' war in
the world."