Hiroshima dismisses calls to disinvite Israel from atomic bomb commemorations

Japanese officials have dismissed calls to disinvite Israeli representatives from the annual peace ceremony held in Hiroshima in light of the ongoing war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, CNN reported Friday.

According to the report, some activists and groups of atomic bomb survivors say Israel should not be allowed to participate because of its ongoing offensive against the terror group Hamas.

The activists say inviting Israel also constitutes a double standard, as representatives from Russia and Belarus have not been invited since Moscow invaded Ukraine in 2022.

“Why invite Israel if they are committing genocide-like crimes, just like Russia and Belarus?” Tetsuji Kumada, executive director of Hiroshima’s Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organization, told CNN. “It is very disappointing that our request [to disinvite Israel] wasn’t taken into account.”

A Hiroshima city spokesperson told CNN they do not view inviting Israel as a double standard, saying, “Our policy is to invite all countries. However, Russia and Belarus are exceptions due to the invasion of Ukraine. Russia and Belarus are not invited in order to ensure the ceremony goes smoothly.”

However, in their invitation to Israel, Hiroshima authorities did mention the war in Gaza, calling for a ceasefire and adding it is “deeply regrettable that the lives and everyday existences of many people are being taken away.”

The shell of a building stands amid acres of rubble in this view of the Japanese city of Hiroshima, Aug. 8, 1945. (AP Photo/Mitsugi Kishida)

The Hiroshima-Palestine Vigil Community launched an online petition in May that amassed 30,000 signatures calling for Israel to be disinvited, citing the global protests against Israel, which “clearly outnumber those against Russia in both scale and frequency.” Protests against Israel have been marred with antisemitism and calls for Israel’s eradication.

Yet, Kunihiko Sakuma, president of Hiroshima Hidankyo, an atomic bomb survivors’ advocacy group, advocated for Israeli participation, saying, “As a city of international peace, Hiroshima city needs to invite all nations, regardless of whether they are at war or not.”

Authorities in Nagasaki, whose ceremony is held three days after Hiroshima’s, told CNN they have yet to decide whether Israeli representatives will be invited to their ceremony, adding that the presence of Israelis may “prevent the smooth execution of the ceremony.”

Nagasaki officials stressed to CNN that their considerations are practical and not an indication of a moral stance taken regarding Israel.

The Permanent General Mission of Palestine in Tokyo complained that its representatives were not invited to either ceremony, calling the decision a double standard.

Hiroshima authorities said they have never invited Palestinian representatives to the ceremony, adding that they only invite representatives from countries with embassies in Japan.

A detail of an aerial picture taken by the US military in the days after the second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945, which was shown at the time during a briefing to a group of top government officials at the Department of War, seen at the Stimson Center in Washington, DC, on May 16, 2016. (AFP/Nicholas Kamm)

Japan has long supported a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with their Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa reiterating that support at a news conference last week.

“We continue to comprehensively consider the recognition of Palestinian statehood, taking into account how to advance the peace process,” she said.

The Hiroshima and Nagasaki ceremonies are held annually on August 6 and 9 respectively, the dates on which the United States dropped nuclear weapons on the Japanese cities, killing over 100,00 people and leading to Japan’s unconditional surrender and the end of World War II.

The war in Gaza broke out on October 7 when Hamas terrorists infiltrated Israel, killing some 1,200 people and kidnapping 251.

The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 38,000 people in the Strip have been killed or are presumed dead in the fighting so far, though the toll cannot be verified and does not differentiate between civilians and fighters. Israel says it has killed some 15,000 combatants in battle and some 1,000 terrorists inside Israel during the October 7 attack.