生長の家とは何だったのか？

ジャパンタイムズ社説

 

A wake-up call for Japan
   
Jan 23, 2015  
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2015/01/23/editorials/a-wake-up-call-for-japan/#.VMTnprf9ncs

The safety of the two Japanese men held hostage by the Islamic State group remained unknown after the 72-hour deadline set by the group for the Japanese government to pay $200 million in ransom in exchange for their lives passed on Friday. All-out efforts must continue to achieve their release. The extremist militant group should realize the folly of its actions and promptly release the two men.

There is no legitimacy in the acts of the group, which has threatened to kill Kenji Goto, a freelance journalist, and Haruna Yukawa, a private security contractor, if Japan fails to pay the ransom. In a video posted Tuesday on websites associated with the Islamic State, a masked man brandishing a knife and standing between the two kneeling hostages stated that Japan had “volunteered to take part in this crusade” against the group when it “donated $100 million to kill our women and children, to destroy the homes of the Muslims … and in an attempt to stop the expansion of the Islamic State, you have also donated another $100 million to train the (apostates).”

Islamic State, however, has the facts completely wrong. As the government has emphasized, Japan’s $200 million aid to countries involved in conflict with the Islamic State, pledged by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during his Mideast tour, will be used for humanitarian aid to help refugees in Syria and Iraq dislocated by conflicts in the region — not on the military operations against the extremist group.

Regardless of the facts, though, any attempt by Islamic State to achieve its goals through kidnappings and death threats is unjustifiable, no matter what the purported cause might be.

Yukawa, from Chiba, was reportedly kidnapped by the group last August after going to Syria to train with militants, while Goto, a respected journalist known for his coverage of the consequences of conflicts on people, especially children, is believed to have been seized after he entered Syria in October to cover the civil war there. There have been reports that Goto went to Islamic State-controlled areas to search for Yukawa, whom he knew. The demand for their ransom was obviously timed for Abe’s trip, which took him to Egypt, Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian territories, and the pledge of Japanese aid to the region.

The Islamic State group, which has seized large swaths of Syria and Iraq in its violent quest to create an Islamic caliphate, has been suffering losses from airstrikes by a U.S.-led coalition. It is speculated that by targeting Japan, which is not a party to the military operations, the extremist group hopes to divide international support for actions against the militants.

The hostage crisis should not deter Japan in its efforts to contribute to the global fight against terrorism in its own, nonmilitary ways. It is only natural that Abe — while emphasizing that saving the lives of the hostages would be the government’s top priority — stressed that the international community must not cave in to threats of terrorism.

What’s also needed in Japan is an increased awareness that the country and its people are no longer immune from acts of international terrorism. The warped logic behind Islamic State’s demand for ransom suggests that an appeal to reason — by emphasizing, for example, the humanitarian nature of Japan’s aid to Middle Eastern countries — does not eliminate the danger of the nation and its citizens being targeted. The government, businesses and people need to be on guard, particularly against attacks on Japanese nationals overseas.

That does not mean that the focus of Japan’s efforts toward international security should change. Japan has earned the respect of many people in the Middle East for its post-World War II era pacifist policies. Humanitarian and economic aid to help eradicate poverty and improve medical and education systems contribute to alleviating societal conditions that sow the seeds of militant extremism. Japan can and should continue to contribute to the fight against terrorism in this way.

共同通信ニューヨーク支局長 Hajime Ozaki氏インタビュー

Japan striving to rescue second hostage from Islamic State

TRANSCRIPT

HARI SREENIVASAN, PBS NEWSHOUR ANCHOR: For more about today’s beheading of one Japanese hostage and Japan’s efforts to free the second, we are joined now by Hajime Ozaki. He is the New York bureau chief of the Kyodo News Agency.

So, what steps did the Japanese government take to try and free this particular hostage? Or what are they still doing to try to get the next one?

HAJIME OZAKI, KYODO NEWS: I believe that the Japanese government is trying all its effort to release Mr. Kenji Goto, the second hostage, so there are channels, including neighboring countries, countries to ISIS, and then Jordan and so on.

HARI SREENIVASAN: Uh-huh. And there’s been some concern that this is in retaliation to the prime minister’s visit to the Middle East region, pledging another $200 million for countermeasures against ISIL, but also humanitarian support.

HAJIME OZAKI: Correct. Prime Minister Abe last week visited Cairo and issued that statement that the Japanese government is trying to help the refugees and neighboring countries to ISIS, which are fighting the threat of ISIS. Apparently, ISIS seized the moment of Prime Minister Abe’s statement, and the ransom that they demanded coincides with the amount of the money that Prime Minister Abe pledged to humanitarian assistance.

HARI SREENIVASAN: So, is there any chance Japan would pay the ransom? I mean, back in the late ‘70s, there was an incident in Bangladesh and there was some question about an incident in the late ‘90s in Kyrgyzstan. Was there an official government policy that said they wouldn’t pay?

HAJIME OZAKI: The official government policy is to comply with the kind of international norm, that not to bend to the threats of the terrorists. So, it is understood that the Japanese government is not ready to pay the ransom.

But everything may be possible. But, on the other hand, now ISIS changed their demand from the ransom to the release of the hostage taken in Jordan.

HARI SREENIVASAN: So, what has the reaction been in Japan over the past few days? Obviously, this news broke so late at night that most Japanese were asleep and they won’t know until tomorrow morning and & that will be the reaction to this hostage’s assassination. But over the past several days, as this story has been building in Japan, what’s it been like?

HAJIME OZAKI: Yes, of course, most of the Japanese population are very much concerned and worried about the fate of the two hostages, and there was a press conference by one of the — the mother of one of the hostages the other day, and it — her appeal to free the — free her son was widely appreciated and a lot of compassion grown in Japanese society.

HARI SREENIVASAN: All right.

HAJIME OZAKI: On the other hand, there are some sentiments in certain people in Japan that the guys went to Syria knowing that there are risks, and there are some voices that blame the behavior –

HARI SREENIVASAN: That they engaged in risky behavior.

HAJIME OZAKI: Right, correct.

HARI SREENIVASAN: OK, Hajime Ozaki, the New York bureau chief of Kyodo News Agency, thanks so much.

HAJIME OZAKI: Thank you very much.