Women rally for peace, call to scrap war bills

Nearly 15,000 women wearing something red surrounded the Diet building and formed a human chain on June 20 in protest against the “war bills” being discussed in the Diet. When I came out of the subway station, I saw the blue sky, the white triangular Parliament and thousands of women in red. What a beautiful sight! I was happy to see friends I have long worked with in various movements. Men were seen here and there, and they were also wearing something red. The opening speech by YOKOYU Sonoko was heard clearly through the loud speaker.

“War is a violation of human rights,” she opened her speech. She continued to say her father died in the war at 27. “There is never a good war,” she said at the end. WATANABE Mina from WAM (Women’s Active Museum) said we could not approve the right to collective self-defense or anything Abe administration has been doing and saying. She conveyed the words by former “comfort women” who said, “Never create victims like us again.” She raised a question to all the participants as to how we should mark June 20 in history. (By KASAHARA Mayumi)

1万5000人の赤く燃えた願い～「戦争法案 今すぐ廃案」議事堂に響く

 「女 たちの平和 国会ヒューマンチェーン」が行われた6月20日。地下鉄を出ると、真っ青な空。三角の白い議事堂、赤い服の女性たち。美しい。長年の活動仲間の顔が見え、 なんとなく嬉しい。スピーカーからは、正門前から横湯園子さんの開会の挨拶がクリアに流れてくる。なかなかの装備だ。チラホラと、男性参加者も見られ、彼 らも赤いものを身につけている。戦争は、人権侵害だと第一声。父親が戦争に行き、27歳で戦死したと話し始め、ご自身の経験から、「いい戦争はない」と締 めくくった。wamの渡辺美奈さんは、集団的自衛権は、認められない。安倍政権がこれまでやったり、言ったりしてきたことは、すべて受け入れられないと力 強く述べ、慰安婦だった方たちが「再び私たちのような被害者をつくってはいけない」と伝言した。そして、今日の6月20日をどのように歴史に刻みたいか、 と投げかけた。（笠原眞弓）　

Remark by a former SDF member overwhelms 10,000 people at All-Saitama antiwar action

An “all-Saitama” protest movement was held on a hot summer-like day on May 31 at a park in Urawa district of Saitama City, calling for the revocation of the Abe cabinet decision to allow Japan to exercise the right to collective self-defense. Just as some 30,000 people in Yokohama and another 35,000 in Okinawa gathered and raised their voices of protest, people in Saitama gathered to express their opposition to the war.  During the action, 12,000 flyers went very quickly. The all-Saitama antiwar action became filled with heated atmosphere, which was hotter than outside temperature. 

The speech by a former Self-Defense Force member, DORO Norikazu, was simply overwhelming. “When I was a member of SDF, I viewed people like you as my opponents, thinking that they were pitiful for reacting to the Soviet or China provocation and appealing for pacifism. The reason why I wanted to be assigned to the Ground SDF in Hokkaido was that the army was in the front line of the fight against the Soviet.

However, when a retired defense bureaucrat who wrote the White Paper on Defense of Japan made a remark that the ‘Soviet threat theory’ was fabricated and that it’s written between the lines of the White Paper. I thought I got easily taken in by such a theory.” (By HORIKIRI Satomi)

圧巻だった元自衛官の発言～「戦争させない」オール埼玉総行動に1万人

 真夏日となった5月最後の日曜日（5/31）。北浦和公園（さいたま市浦和区）で、集団的自衛権行使容認の撤回を求める「オール埼玉総行動」が行われた。横 浜で3万人、沖縄で3万5千人が集まって声をあげたように、埼玉でも戦争反対の意思を示そう！ 1万2千部用意されたプログラムはあっという間になくなり、暑さ以上の熱意がみなぎる総行動となった。元自衛官の泥憲和さん（写真）の話は圧巻だった。 「自衛隊だったとき、私は皆さんのような人たちを敵だと思っていた。ソ連や中国にそそのかされて平和主義を叫んでいるかわいそうな人たちだと。私が北海道 の部隊を希望したのは、ソ連と闘う最前線だったから。その後『防衛白書』を書いた官僚が、退官後に『ソ連脅威論は嘘だった。防衛白書の行間にそう書いてあ る』と発言。自分はまんまと騙されたのだと思った」（堀切さとみ）

What happens if we take up others’ fights? ~a former Self-Defense Force official speaks against the right of collective defense

I used to serve in the missile troop of Japan’s Air Self-Defense Force. My duty was to shoot down the fighters coming to attack Japan. We are concerned about Senkaku islands or North Korean missiles and other issues these days, aren’t we? The Self-Defense Forces properly deal with such matters. The SDF members are sworn in to protect the lives of the people even by risking their own lives. Please feel assured of that. The right of collective self-defense, which I am against, has nothing to do with such cases, however. It is far from defending our country. It doesn’t even mean to respond to the fight as a legitimate self-defense. It means to dive into someone else’s fight that we are not even challenged. That’s what “the right of collective self-defense” means. (part of the speech by a former Self-Defense Force member, DORO Norikazu, in Kobe on June 30 )
 Picture: the message on the signboard says "We don't want to see you, SDF members, die in a war"

他人の喧嘩を買いに行ったらどうなるのか？～元自衛官「集団的自衛権」で訴え

私 は元自衛官で、防空ミサイル部隊に所属していました。日本に攻めて来る戦闘機を叩き落とすのが任務でした。いま、尖閣の問題とか、北朝鮮のミサイル問題と か、不安じゃないですか。でも、そういったものには、自衛隊がしっかりと対処します。自衛官は命をかけて国民をしっかり守ります。そこは、安心してくださ い。いま私が反対している集団的自衛権とは、そういうものではありません。日本を守る話ではないんです。売られた喧嘩に正当防衛で対抗するというものでは ないんです。売られてもいない他人の喧嘩に、こっちから飛び込んでいこうというんです。それが集団的自衛権なんです。（元自衛官・泥憲和)

No to path to war! – 3,000 join anti-war rally

The Abe Administration, which approved the right to collective self-defense for the first time after the end of World War II despite Article 9 of Japan’s Peace Constitution, briefed the cabinet approval at the budget committees of both of the Lower and Upper Houses on July 14 and 15, 2014. Prior to that, approximately 3,000 people protested the approval on July 13. Their strong anger was expressed in various placards, saying, “Why are you going to sacrifice youths again?!” “We never send any child to war!” and “The New Komeito is War Party in reality!” The police tried to suppress the movement, but the people’s anger to demand the repeal of the cabinet approval was even stronger so as to fill the road. The protest against the approval continued until July 15. On September 4, another large-scale action will be held against war as well as the cabinet approval in central Tokyo. (M)

 Video (Action in front of the Diet, 6 minutes) 

戦争への道を許さない！～「閉会中審査でごまかすな！7.13国会包囲」に3千人

集団的自衛権行使容認の閣議決定をした安倍政権は、7月14～15日、衆参予算委員会で各一日ずつの「閉会中審査」を実施し、閣議決定の説明・質疑を行う。これに対して「たった一日の審査でごまかすな！」と7月13日昼、約3千人の市民が国会周辺に集まり、正門前ではメインの集会が開かれた。手に手に思いを込めたプラカード。「また若者を殺す気かっ！」「うちの子もよその子も戦争には出さん！」「公明党は本当は“戦争の党”」、危機感と怒りにあふれていた。運動の高揚を押さえるため「青信号でも議事堂前の横断歩道を通行させない」警察側。しかし、人々の怒りはそれを上回り、横断歩道は手をつなぎあう市民であふれ、「閣議決定撤回」のコールがつづいた。国会前行動は14・15日とつづく。また9月4日には東京・日比谷であらゆる潮流をこえて大結集する「戦争させない・９条壊すな！総がかり行動」を行うことが発表された。（M）

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