A Militant Protest Against the Israeli Embassy on the Anniversary Oct. 7 Gaza Uprising 

On October 7, one year after the Palestinian uprising, the Grand March Against Constitutional Revision and War Metropolitan Area organized a protest against the Israeli Embassy in Tokyo.

Zengakuren Clashing with the riot police

3:00 p.m.

Three hundred people gathered near the Israeli Embassy. Facing the riot police who are setting up a blockade with their backs to the iron fence, the protesters formed a line. The students from All-Japan Federation of Student Self-Governments (Zengakuren) led them who had simmering anger toward Japanese imperialist Ishiba government that supported US-Israeli genocide.

The president of Zengakuren, Hiro Yajima, gave the command: “Charge!”

Zengakuren President Hiro Yajima giving a speech in front of the Israeli Embassy

The students with white helmets all rush out at once and clash with the riot police. They push through and try to break through. The police panicked and got behind the iron fence. The workers also pushed forward, pushing the police. The ranks overflowed onto the roadway, throwing the area around the embassy into chaos. The police were forced to retreat. As the battle continued on both sides of the iron fence, General Secretary of Zengakuren Haruki Saito denounced the situation, saying, “How can we allow the Israeli embassy, which massacred 40,000 people in Gaza and spread the flames of war throughout the Middle East with its airstrikes on Lebanon, to continue its business as usual?” Other students and workers also spoke one after another, demonstrating their determination to fight to the end without backing down in solidarity with the Palestinian people. President Yajima declared, “Let’s use force to overthrow the Japanese police and state power that are complicit in the genocide, and stop the war.”

6:00 p.m.

Students, young people, and foreigners joined in one after another, and a large rally was held in front of the east exit of Shinjuku Station, downtown Tokyo. Attorney Shunkichi Takayama from the Grand March, appealed, “We will never forgive the Ishiba Cabinet, which is pushing for a war of aggression against China. Let’s fight like hell!.”

President Yajima urged in her keynote speech that everyone should join the rally and march on November 3 in Hibiya, that would the largest and the most important protest.

The long march circling Shinjuku Station unleashed anger at the Gaza genocide on the streets. The cheers of people passing by never ceased, and people joined the demonstration one after another from the roadside.

The struggle on this day was a real struggle like the “8/6 Hiroshima” in the heart of the capital, and was broadcast to the whole world, including the fighting people of the Middle East.