Japan–Palestine relations are the relations between
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
and the
Palestinian National Authority.
Although the two countries have friendly relations, Japan does not recognize
Palestine as a sovereign state but as the Palestinian National Authority.
History
Before Japan and Palestine established official relations, one serious incident was triggered. Three
Japanese Red Army terrorists, in coordination with the
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine,
killed 26 people in an indiscriminate shooting at the passenger terminal of
Lod Airport on May 30, 1972.
Initially, a
Palestine Liberation Organization
The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO; ar, منظمة التحرير الفلسطينية, ') is a Palestinian nationalism, Palestinian nationalist political and militant organization founded in 1964 with the initial purpose of establ ...
office was opened in
Tokyo in 1977.
Yasser Arafat, Chairman of the PLO and later
President of the State of Palestine, paid an official visit to Japan in October 1981.
Arafat paid additional four visits to Japan between 1996 and 2000.
also paid a visit, the first of its kind, to the Palestinian Authority in 1995. In October 2001, former Prime Minister
Ryutaro Hashimoto denied the existence of a direct link between the roots of international terrorism and the Palestinian people's struggle for their legitimate rights and called on
Israel to implement international resolutions to advance the peace process.
President
Mahmoud Abbas
Mahmoud Abbas ( ar, مَحْمُود عَبَّاس, Maḥmūd ʿAbbās; born 15 November 1935), also known by the kunya Abu Mazen ( ar, أَبُو مَازِن, links=no, ), is the president of the State of Palestine and the Palestinian Natio ...
met with Prime Minister
Shinzo Abe at the
Akasaka Palace in Tokyo on October 21, 2019, and attended the
enthronement ceremony of the Japanese Emperor on the following day.
Japan’s support to Palestine
Japan is actively providing assistance to the Palestinians. During the period 1993–2002, economic aid was provided, totaling US$630 million, at an annual average of US$85 million, through
UNRWA, the
United Nations Development Programme and
UNICEF.
During early July 2023,
Israeli forces repeatedly attacked the
Jenin refugee camp, wounding and killing innocent Palestinian civilians and destroying their homes. Around a month later, on August 15, the
Government of Japan decided to provide an emergency grant aid of US$1 million through UNRWA to support the Jenin camp.
Emergency Grant Aid for Humanitarian Assistance in the Jenin Refugee Camp in Palestine , Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan
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See also
* Foreign relations of Japan
* Foreign relations of Palestine
The foreign relations of the State of Palestine have been conducted since the establishment of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in 1964. In November 1988, the PLO's Palestinian National Council declared the independence of the S ...
*
* General Mission of Palestine, Tokyo
* Japan–Arab League relations
References
External links
Representative Office of Japan to Palestine
Japan Archives - Question of Palestine
Palestine
__NOTOC__
Palestine may refer to:
* State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia
* Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia
* Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...
Bilateral relations of the State of Palestine
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