Western ambassadors shun Nagasaki ceremony over Israel snub
www.bbc.co.uk
The Japanese city's mayor says the decision to exclude Israel was not political, but will not change.

WARNING: PSYCHIC DAMAGE AWAITS. LIBERALISM ON 12 COUNTS. BBC JOURNALISM MOMENTS AHEAD.

BBC’s headline: Western ambassadors shun Nagasaki ceremony over Israel snub - BBC News.

Highlights:

  • "The mayor of the south-western Japanese city, Shiro Suzuki, said on Thursday that Israel not being invited to attend was not politically motivated but added there would be no change to the decision.

Nothing is political. Repeat. Nothing is political.

  • The remarks come a day after it was revealed that the ambassadors of the UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the US and the European Union had sent a letter to Nagasaki in mid-July saying “it would become difficult for us to have high-level participation” in the event if Israel was excluded.

The usual culprits.

  • “It is unfortunate that they have communicated to us that their ambassadors are not able to attend,” he said. British Ambassador Longbottom (who would not be attending) had said that the decision not to invite Israel created an unfortunate and misleading equivalency with Russia and Belarus (the only other countries not invited to this year’s ceremony.)

Liberal moment.

  • Mr Suzuki said security reasons, including potential demonstrations, were behind his decision not to invite Israel to the commemoration ceremony. But he said he regretted the ambassadors’ decision.

This bits interesting. I actually think Suzuki might be trying to cover his tracks and appeal to liberalism/security while truly believing in his decision to boycott Israel. I don’t know much about him, but as you’ll see later in the article he did call for a ceasefire.

  • US Ambassador Rahm Emanuel will also not attend. An embassy statement said the mayor of Nagasaki politicised the event by snubbing Israel.

POLITICIANS. STOP BEING POLITICAL. THE NUKING OF NAGASAKI WAS NOT POLITICAL. ISRAEL IS NOT POLITICAL. STOP BEING POLITICAL, OR I WILL HAVE TO POLITICISE YOU.

  • A spokesperson told the BBC the ambassador would instead go to a peace ceremony at a temple in Tokyo. Israel’s ambassador to Japan, Gilad Cohen, who was invited to and attended a memorial ceremony in Hiroshima on Tuesday, said Nagasaki’s decision “sends a wrong message to the world”.

Does it now, Cohen.

  • In June, Mr Suzuki said Nagasaki had sent a letter to the Israeli embassy calling for an “immediate ceasefire” in Gaza.

Gottem. Ish.

  • Israel’s massive military offensive in Gaza has led to the deaths of almost 40,000 Palestinians, Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry says.

So they say, those Hamas terrorists. By the way, Israel doesn’t kill. It leads to the deaths of persons.

  • It was triggered by the 7 October Hamas attacks on Israel, in which 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken back to Gaza as hostages.

Had to get that one in. It’s like the liberal version of getting the stone island badge in. Definitely no history before that point. Nothing to see here. No politics or history to be had here. Just good and bad. 👍