Defending Palestine, Hundreds Of Japanese Citizens Follow The Intifada March

Palestinian Defending Action in The Intifada March in Shibuya, Tokyo, Saturday (5/11) night. (ANTARA)

JAKARTA - Hundreds of citizens, both Japanese and foreign nationals, participated in a long march entitled The Intifada March as a form of support for defending Palestine in the Shibuya area, Tokyo.

The action began with an oration at Jingu Dori Park delivered by Father, a native of Gaza, Palestine in Japan

"I was born in 1987, which turned out to coincide with the first intifada and why this mars is called Intifada March," he was quoted as saying by ANTARA, Sunday, May 12.

He emphasized that the action was not just to inform what was happening in Palestine or to raise public awareness of it because the blasphemy carried out by Israel had been more than 200 days since October 7, 2023.

"Times to educate people about what is happening in Gaza have passed. The time to show anger is now, the time to stand up is now, the time to scream is now, the time to pay for it is now, the time for revenge is now, the time for intimacy is now," he said.

The woman wearing the hijab also criticized the actions of world citizens who were only watching while the bodies were strewn every day on the streets of Palestine, both children and the elderly and there was even no place to bury their bodies.

"Aren't we ashamed as human beings watching all this happen, seeing bodies everywhere, women open their hijabs. What you've done for Palestine," he said.

The action continued on foot about 10 kilometers across popular tourist centers and shopping in Japan, such as Shibuya Crossing and Omotesando.

The participants shouted 'Free-Free Palestine!', 'Birruh, biddam, nafdika ya Palestine' (With our souls, in our direction, we will redeem you, Palestine).

Suddenly, the action, which was closely monitored by the Japanese police, drew the attention of tourists and not a few of them recorded and joined the long march.

They are also not afraid to call on people to boycott products that clearly support or are affiliated with Israel, especially when crossing outlets that peddle these products.

Not only Muslims, participants consist of various backgrounds, ethnicities, races and religions that tire of voicing Palestinian independence.

Japanese citizen Ellie sees long march as an effective means of building awareness and making people understand what is happening in Palestine so that she participates in the action.

He condemned the genocide committed by Israel in the tarnished land by the three religions, namely Islam, Christianity and Jews.

"That person shouldn't think this problem is complicated, genocide shouldn't happen, even before October 7th. I hope people learn the history of why this is happening. This must stop and must be a ceasefire," he said.

Similar to Americans, Rachel, who joined the action because she wanted to show her support even though there was little she could do.

"For me (genocide) this is crazy and it is still happening today. This certainly provides enlightenment to me as an American citizen who doesn't know much about this conflict and it's a shame since October 7 there is not much knowledge about it to educate residents," he said.

Both hope that empathy can grow among the world's people and not just be silent and watch.

"If you have humanity, you should defend Palestine," Ellie said.

"I'm just looking back, present and future and we'll see who's right in history and who hasn't done anything," he said.

Not to forget, Indonesian citizens were also present in 'The Intifada March', one of which was Wais Alkindy.

"It's really from us who can't do anything, yes, besides praying for of course and this real action helps spread information, raise awareness of Japanese people a lot and non-Muslims also join here a lot," Wais said.

The first intifada, namely the Palestinian jihad against Israel, took place on December 8, 1987. The action also coincided with the world's kafiyeh or soban Palestine.