Why Japan Is an “Accomplice” in the Occupation of Palestine
ASIA--PACIFIC, 25 Aug 2025
Machi Kunizaki | Huffington Post Japan – TRANSCEND Media Service
Israeli Settler Violence increasing in intensity and impunity, with support from IDF and Israeli police: Burin village, in the occupied West Bank. After settlers set Palestinian cars on fire. Note the hand gesture of the Israeli settler, wearing the traditional Yarmulke or Koppel. Kippah (lit. dome) is the Hebrew word for skullcap, to a defenceless Palestinian, while the attacks are in progress.
Photo Credit Getty Images – by Prof. Hoosen Vawda
The Similarities between the Colonial Rule in East Asia and the Israeli Settlement
22 Aug 2025 – Takanori Hayao says, “The paradigm that the Palestinian issue is a religious or ethnic conflict is a convenient discourse to conceal the fact that Israel is a settler-colonial state.” How has Japan historically contributed to the limitless violence directed against Palestine? https://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/68884ab116000063ea5d77e9.jpeg?cache=MFi7RDjSnD&ops=scalefit_1440&format=webp
Interview with Takanori Hayao:
Takanori Hayao: Born in 1973. Professor at Tokyo Keizai University. Specializes in the history of social thought. From 2002 to 2004, he lived in East Jerusalem as a visiting researcher at Hebrew University, conducting fieldwork in the West Bank, Gaza, and within Israel. His books include Palestine/Israel, (Published by Yushisha) and Thirty Things You Need to Know About Israel (Published by Heibonsha), and his translations include Israel-American Neocolonialism: The World After October 7th by Hamid Dabashi (Published by Chiheisha).
In the Gaza Strip, one of the Palestinian territories, many civilians have been killed due to Israeli military attacks and restrictions on the delivery of supplies. More than 1,800 Palestinians have been shot dead near supply distribution centers while seeking food. Despite witnessing the artificial starvation of children, including infants, every day, the international community has failed to stop it.
Japan Is Not Unrelated to the Genocide Occurring in Palestine.
“Japan has a deep historical connection to and responsibility for the current Palestinian/Israeli issue.” This is the point made by Takanori Hayao, a professor at Tokyo Keizai University who studies Zionism (the idea of a Jewish state) and Israel’s policy toward Gaza, and whose books include Palestine, Israel, and Us in Japan (Published by Koseisha).
How has Japan historically contributed to the limitless violence directed toward Palestine? What do Japan’s colonial rule in East Asia and Israel’s occupation and settlement of Palestine have in common? We interviewed Hayao about these issues. [Hayao’s words are printed in the Italic letters below.]
Japan and Britain Reconciling Interests:
— In your book, you state that “Japan has been complicit in the Palestinian issue throughout the history of imperialism and colonialism.” What specific responsibility does Japan bear?
After the First Sino-Japanese War, Japan, Britain, and Russia clashed over their interests in China and Korea. Japan and Britain formed the Anglo-Japanese Alliance because they shared a common enemy: Russia. They pledged to respect each other’s interests and “separated their territories.”
Japan’s victory in the Russo-Japanese War and its colonization of the Korean Peninsula, along with Britain’s expansion of its colonial rule in the Middle East, including present-day Palestine, were the result of reconciliation of interests.
Furthermore, after World War I, Japan struck a deal to grant the British Mandate over Palestine in exchange for its mandate over the South Sea Islands. In this way, Japan bears historical responsibility for British rule over the Middle East, and could even be called an accomplice.
As Britain advanced its de facto colonization of Palestine, the Zionist Movement* began in earnest with British backing in the 1920s. The decisive turning point in Israel’s ongoing invasion of Palestine was British rule at the time. (*The Zionist Movement refers to the idea of establishing a Jewish state in Jerusalem, known as “Zion,” and the movement to realize this goal.)
— Since the Meiji Restoration, Japan has pursued colonialism, invading the Ainu Mosir (settlements of the Ainu people) and the Ryukyu Kingdom, colonizing Taiwan and Korea, and controlling Manchuria. What similarities do the Zionist movement and Japanese colonialism have in common?
The colonialism of Israel and the West in the Middle East, and Japan’s colonial behavior in Asia, share a common underlying racist ideology.
The racist idea that “we are superior and the indigenous people are inferior” justifies colonial rule, which involves massacres and the plundering of people and goods from indigenous peoples.
Not only did Israel commit genocide against Palestinians, but the West also tolerated it and even supported and provided military support. This is a manifestation of the continued existence of white supremacy, which holds that “white people are superior to non-whites.”
Racism can also be seen in Japanese colonialism. It positioned other Asian peoples as inferior and barbaric, and asserted the superiority of the “Yamato people,” as the term was used at the time.
The “Anthropology Pavilion Incident,” in which indigenous peoples were exhibited alive at the 1903 Osaka National Industrial Exposition, reflects this Japanese racism.
Similarities Between the “Division of Korea” and the “Partition of Palestine“:
— Awareness of Japan’s historical involvement in the Palestine/Israel issue seems extremely weak in Japanese society. What is the background to this?
A major factor, I believe, is Japan’s continued avoidance of directly facing up to and reflecting on its own colonial rule and wartime responsibility.
After Japan’s defeat in World War II, it lost its colonies on the Korean Peninsula and Taiwan in one fell swoop. It was not due to a resistance movement or a domestic debate that “colonial rule is wrong.” The Allied Forces simply took away the colonies without any independent decision-making process on Japan’s part.
Furthermore, during the Cold War, Japan was incorporated into the Western bloc, made up of capitalist countries centered around the United States. In 1951, Japan signed the San Francisco Peace Treaty, entering the post-war world with peace treaties only with Western countries. Because this treaty essentially exempted Japan from responsibility for reparations, it resulted in Japan avoiding confrontation with its own colonialism.
The majority of Japanese people remain unaware of Japan’s direct colonialism in East Asia. It is inevitable that they have little perspective on their own indirect responsibility, especially when it extends to the Middle East.
— In your book, you point out that there are “similarities” between the division of Korea into North and South Korea, the partition of Palestine by the United Nations, and the founding of Israel. What are the similarities?
The founding of Israel in 1948 after the partition of Palestine and the division of the Korean Peninsula into North and South Korea both share the commonality of being “divided by imperial interests during the process of decolonization.”
Furthermore, after World War I, Britain was granted the Mandate of Palestine by the League of Nations, and its original intention was to support the indigenous Palestinians until they achieved independence.
However, Britain issued the Balfour Declaration* and allowed Jews to settle in Palestine. Ultimately, Britain left the Palestine issue entirely to the United Nations, and in 1947, the UN adopted the Partition Resolution for Palestine. (* The 1917 declaration issued during World War I by then-British Foreign Secretary Balfour, expressing support for the establishment of a Jewish national home in Palestine)
Despite being mandated to administer Palestine, the British government was extremely irresponsible for supporting the Zionist Movement, which relied on Jewish settlers from Europe, and for not taking any steps toward Palestinian independence.
It Is Not a Matter of Religious Conflict, But of the Right to Self-Determination:
I believe that the erroneous view of the Palestine/Israel issue as a “religious conflict between Muslims and Jews” or an “ethnic conflict between Arabs and Jews” is deeply rooted in Japan, rather than as a matter of colonialism.
The paradigm that the “Palestine issue is a religious or ethnic conflict” is a convenient discourse to conceal the fact that Israel is a “settler-colonial” state created by colonialism and racism.
On one side are the indigenous Palestinians, whose land was carved up by the West and whose independence has been continually prevented. On the other side are the Jewish settlers, who were persecuted as a minority within Europe, but were sent as European agents and are supported by the West. The two sides are by no means fighting on equal footing.
The Palestinian issue is about the right of self-determination of the Palestinian people who resist colonial rule. Throughout their long history, Western countries have neglected and trampled on the Palestinian right to self-determination.
Researchers and journalists sometimes say that the only way to resolve the issue is to pursue a two-state system based on the Oslo Accords. However, this is a misunderstanding. The Oslo Accords never stated that Palestine would be recognized as an independent state. In fact, even after the agreements were reached, Israel’s Palestinian settlements continued to expand.
The Palestinian people chose Hamas, a party opposed to the Oslo system, as the leading party in the 2006 elections in order to ensure Palestinian self-determination. Yet, the West and Japan did not recognize Hamas, which resisted colonialism, and instead supported the continued occupation and settlements under the Oslo system. Here again, Japan became an accomplice in the occupation of Palestine.
The Oslo Accords are a 1993 agreement between the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and Israel. The PLO recognized Israel as a state, and Israel recognized the PLO as the autonomous government representing Palestine. While Israel claims that it does not attack civilians, in reality it continues to indiscriminately kill civilians, including children.
The claim that “Hamas is terrorist” is arbitrarily used to justify the killing of civilians. Hamas members, like members of a certain Japanese party, are ordinary people living ordinary lives in Gaza, working as taxi drivers, cafe staff, or running hospitals and kindergartens. Of course, not all party members are combatants.
While claiming that they do not attack the civilians, the Israeli politicians also claim that “there are no innocent people in Gaza.” In other words, as long as they are in Gaza and have created the Hamas regime, they are essentially telling, “It’s OK to kill all Palestinians.“
This logic is similar to what the Japanese military did in mainland China in the 1930s and 1940s. In 1932, the Pingdingshan Incident [Massacre] occurred in Manchuria (present-day northeastern China), where villages were burned down and many residents massacred on the grounds that they were harboring anti-Japanese guerrillas. During the Second Sino-Japanese War, the Japanese military similarly indiscriminately bombed Chongqing on the grounds that it was harboring anti-Japanese guerrillas, killing many civilians.
These atrocities by the Japanese military are similar to Israel’s targeting of Palestinian civilians, claiming that all Hamas supporters are terrorists.
— The international community, including Japan, has failed to stop Israel’s ethnic cleansing of Palestinians. What can we do for the resistance to genocide?
As I have discussed so far, the events unfolding in Gaza are by no means a story from a distant world; it is an issue in which Japan has a deep historical connection. And even today, Japan, along with the West, continues to tolerate and participate in genocide without stopping it.
Discrimination against women, LGBTQ people, people with disabilities, immigrants, indigenous people, and all other forms of discrimination against minorities at our feet are rooted in the West and Israel’s occupation of Palestine and discrimination against the Arabs. The xenophobia that is spreading in Japanese society, which surfaced in the July 2025 House of Councillors election, and the Palestinian genocide are fundamentally connected in terms of racism.
Instead of acknowledging the reality that people of diverse origins support them and revitalize society, they view them as enemies, insisting that “Japanese people come first” and “redistribution should only be for Japanese people.” This idea itself is extremely discriminatory, not unlike Nazi Germany, which advocated “Aryan supremacy,” and Zionism, which advocated Jewish supremacy. Just as Nazism and Zionism did, even Japanese nationals will eventually be labeled “unpatriotic” and ostracized, even if they are Japanese citizens.
I also think that it would be good to donate to Gaza, participate in protests and political movements, or organize study groups and lectures on Palestine. Face the human rights issues at hand and do what each person can in their own place and within their close relationships. I believe that increasing the number of people like this in society will lead to a fair resolution to the Palestinian issue.
(Interview conducted by Machi Kunizaki)
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As we mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, discourse denying and distorting Japan’s responsibility for colonial rule and its history of aggression is rampant in Japanese society. The current spread of xenophobia in the Japanese society is deeply connected to this historical denial. Huffington Post Japan is launching a new project commemorating the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, “Resisting Denial of the History of Aggression and Discrimination by Japan,” which brings together the words and actions of those who seek to pass on the lessons of Japan’s past to future generations and those who resist historical distortion, so that Japan will never again repeat its wars of aggression and colonial rule.
Notes:
- Hyperlinks were added to the text of the above-mentioned English translation article by the translator for the convenience of the reader.
- The views and/or opinions expressed in the above-mentioned article are those of Takanori Hayao (interviewee) and/or Machi Kunizaki (interviewer). Their views and/or opinions do not necessarily reflect those of the Transcend Media Service (TMS) or those of the translator. Therefore, the reader is kindly requested to understand, interpret or judge those views and/or opinions at his or her own responsibility.
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Satoshi Ashikaga is a member of the TRANSCEND Network for Peace Development Environment. Having worked as researcher, development program/project officer, legal protection/humanitarian assistance officer, human rights monitor-negotiator, managing-editor, and more, he prefers a peaceful and prudent life. His previous work experiences, including those in war zones and war-torn zones, constantly remind him of the invaluableness of peace.
Translation: Satoshi Ashikaga – Google Translate
Original in Japanese: 日本がパレスチナ占領の「共犯者」である理由。東アジアへの植民地支配と、イスラエルによる入植の共通点は | ハフポスト NEWS
Tags: Colonialism, Colonization, East Asia, Gaza, Genocide, Israel, Israeli occupation, Japan, Jewish Settlers, Rogue states
This article originally appeared on Transcend Media Service (TMS) on 25 Aug 2025.
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