We Won't Give Up the Fight!
See the many photos with this report at
http://space4peace.blogspot.jp/2015/12/we-wont-give-up-fight.html
We were up early yesterday morning and on the road to Camp Schwab where
there was a 6:00 am gate blockage against the early construction work on the
proposed Marine airfield twin-runways that will be plunked down in pristine Oura
Bay.
Our Veterans For Peace delegation was warmly received by the more than 100
Okinawan citizens who were already gathering in front of the gate when we
arrived. Many of them were elderly and protest leaders had them chanting and
singing even before the sun rose. We were given tiny folding seats in the front
row of the festive crowd and we tied our banners to thin plastic poles that held
aloft a blue tarp used to protect from the rain and sun.
Just after 7:00 am the Japanese police (from Tokyo and boarding in an
expensive ritzy resort nearby) began hauling the gate blockers away one by one.
Our VFP contingent locked arms and spread out flat on the ground. We were the
last to be taken but were carried away just like the rest of the folks. They
stowed us in a make shift holding pen behind a couple police buses and after
about 15 minutes let us go once the gate was cleared for the waiting
construction vehicles.
The Okinawan peace activists quickly moved down the road a bit to the main
base gate and proceeded to sit in the road blocking that one. Police pushed
enough people aside to open one lane so cars could leave the base and again our
VFP crew was positioned in the front row so the many American GI's leaving the
base could not miss our white faces and VFP attire. I saw one Marine give us
the thumps up as his car left the base.
One 87 year old woman we met at the gate told us her story - she was burned
severely by American flamethrowers during the 1945 US invasion of Okinawa. A US
military officer once told her, "Killing is my business." She had fire in her
eyes and is much adored by the protest crowd.
We were next loaded up and driven an hour further north to Takae where even
another US base is located. This one is called the northern drill area for
jungle warfare where three kinds of helicopters are being deployed (including
the controversial Osprey which has often crashed). This area is a subtropical
forest and mountain area that the military has used since Vietnam for jungle
training. Sixty percent of Okinawa's drinking water comes from this region. It
was only in recent years that the small local village called Higashi (population
150) learned that the US had tested Agent Orange in the surrounding forest
during the Vietnam years. Dow Chemical (which manufactured Agent Orange) drums
were uncovered in the area. The locals tried to get the water tested but US
forces interfered with that process. Fox and turtles in the area have been
found with deformities.
We jumped back on our bus and returned to Camp Schwab just in time for what
is called "Henoko University" which was a group of about 50 folks again blocking
the construction gate. We were invited to join them and each of us were asked
to tell a bit about our time in the military. I talked about my own conversion
from a young militarist to a peace activist largely because of the protests at
Travis AFB in California where I was stationed and the impact of those regular
vigils on the GI's inside the base. I suggested that they are touching more
hearts than they could ever imagine and that the sparks from their non-violent
protests are causing many inside the base gates to open their minds and debate
the issues. So keep protesting!
At 5:00 pm we arrived in Nago City to meet with Mayor Inamine who a few of
us from VFP had met in Washington last year when Okinawan leaders traveled to DC
to lobby against the Henoko runway project. Mayor Inamine stood by a huge map
of the city on his office wall and pointed out four areas where he is using his
powers to block requests for base expansion operations. He reported that 80% of
the people in Okinawa are opposed to US bases and that he and the current Gov.
Onaga were elected because of their opposition. The mayor reported that Japan's
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Washington were trying to drown Okinawan citizens
demands - it's a classic power struggle which is now before Japan's Supreme
Court for resolution. The question: Can Tokyo overrule local elected officials
who are implementing the will of the people?
Mayor Inamine also reported that Japan is paying for the Marine runway that
is proposed to be built on top of Oura Bay. Just like the South Korean
government is paying for the Navy base on Jeju Island - the US is now forcing
'host governments' to pay for greater shares of Pentagon military operations in
various countries. This then allows Washington to say that the conflict between
local citizens in South Korea or Japan is a 'domestic issue' and that the US
really can't get involved. Total bullshit.
The mayor told us that "We don't want to take the part of victimizers in a
war. During the Vietnam War US bombers took off from here. It so offended
us." He also stated what we heard from our other meeting with the mayor of
Yomitan Village two days ago - "Okinawa does not prosper from US bases. Less
than 5% of our island income comes from bases. The new runway has a flight path
that would go directly over a popular tourist resort that attracts 200,000
people each year. If the Henoko runway gets built they won't come back
anymore."
Already we can see that from top-to-bottom the people of Okinawa are in
serious revolt against the US military empire. It's days are numbered.
Ordinary citizens are blocking base gates - city mayors and the governor of the
island are using every legal means at their disposal to block base expansions.
The media on Okinawa is covering the story practically every day on the front
page. The right-wing Abe government in Tokyo is getting hammered in Okinawa.
In Japan citizens are allowed to designate which of the nation's 47 prefectures
(states) they want their taxes sent to. Many people in Japan, in solidarity
with Okinawa, are designating their taxes be sent to the struggling people in
Okinawa.
It makes our VFP delegation furious to see the abuse the people of Okinawa
are daily getting from Tokyo and Washington. The people keep telling us they
will never give up - we heard the same words on Jeju Island. The folks on
Okinawa understand what real war means. The memory of the 1945 US invasion that
killed one out of every four people on Okinawa is seared into their
consciousness. They understand that US bases on their island make them a target
once again.
The people here also keep saying that they are tired of war and they
realize that they must fight hard to make sure it does not destroy their
beautiful island home once again. We keep telling them that they are not alone -
we are all in this one together.
Bruce K. Gagnon
Coordinator
Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space
PO Box 652
Brunswick, ME 04011
(207) 443-9502
globalnet@mindspring.com
www.space4peace.org
http://space4peace.blogspot.com/ (blog)
Coordinator
Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space
PO Box 652
Brunswick, ME 04011
(207) 443-9502
globalnet@mindspring.com
www.space4peace.org
http://space4peace.blogspot.com/ (blog)
If you are not a LIFETIME member, please
consider becoming one. Perhaps you have a deserving member in your chapter, a
family member, or a veteran who is not yet a member whom you would like to honor
with a LIFETIME membership. As LIFETIME members we are bound together with the
30-year history of VFP and to LIFETIME members who have gone before us and those
yet to come
