2024.10.26
カテゴリ：English Editorial
Considering the Gaza Conflict ~ How to Utilize the Olympic Truce ~
The Olympic Truce of the Paris Olympics did not change Israeli politics, just as it failed to change Russian politics.
On October 17th, Israel announced that Hamas' top leader, Yahya Sinwar, was killed by the Israeli military. During the Hamas militant group’s attack on Israel on October 7 last year, about 1,200 people were killed, and 251 were taken hostage. With the death of Sinwar, who was believed to be the mastermind behind the attack, the Gaza conflict has reached a turning point, but the Israel-Palestine issue remains fundamentally chaotic.
In 1978, I traveled to Israel. It was my first trip abroad. The “Israel Journey” led by Yamamoto Shichihei, the owner of Yamamoto Bookstore and well-known philosopher, took us from Greece to Israel, concluding in Rome. It was also a kind of fieldwork for my graduation thesis, “Hebraism and Hellenism.”
The ruins of Israel communicated thousands of years of history as they were. The culture of stone and desert remained intact. The Jewish people living at the cutting edge of that history appeared vibrant. When I entered Rome from there, European history looked almost “shallow” in comparison.
Yamamoto's deep knowledge of Judaism and his intelligence of this land guided us from the Old Testament era to modern-day Israel, helping us to truly understand its soul. The Jewish people had returned to Zion, the “Promised Land” of the Old Testament, only to face attacks from the Arab nations that opposed them. At that time, Israel, which fought back, seemed heroic. Israel appeared shining, and I felt an immense energy throughout my body while on the bus heading from the airport to Jerusalem. It felt as if power surged from the holy land itself.
In 1998, the FIFA World Cup was held in France, and I flew to Paris. Before going to Paris, I stopped by Israel, visiting the Holy Land for the second time.
At that time, I had a plan to bring peace between Israel and Palestine through sports. The Oslo Accords of 1993 resulted in mutual recognition between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization, with a target of five years to realize the agreement’s terms.
In Israel, peace process meetings were held with the world’s media present, and I also participated. Although my secret ambition to meet Chairman Arafat and promote sports exchanges from the top down didn’t materialize, I did manage to meet with the Secretary General of the Israeli Olympic Committee and elicit a positive response from the Israeli side.
We were just one step away. By sheer luck, we found a British fixer on-site who could act as a negotiator. However, although the Palestinian Olympic Committee had been established in 1993, it wasn’t operational, and the peace process was halted in 2000 when the Camp David talks broke down, leading to the collapse of the Oslo Accords.
At that time, Jerusalem felt different from my first visit. I could no longer feel the energy from the holy land. It might have been a premonition of the 2000 breakdown of the accords. Walking along the walls of Jerusalem, it felt merely like a tourist attraction. The young German travelers I met on the bus from the airport were visiting as part of their graduation trip.
At some point, Israel became distant in my mind. With its highly developed intelligence services and rational politics for national survival, I believed Israel had no need for concern regarding attacks from terrorist organizations. The only reminder of Israel for me was the “Memorial Ceremony” organized by the Israeli Olympic Committee at every Olympics to honor the victims of the 1972 Munich Olympics terrorist attack. The Israeli Olympic Committee never forgot the attack by the Palestinian militant group “Black September” that killed members of the Israeli delegation. Each time the Olympics were held, this memory resurfaced for me as well.
The myth of Israel’s invincibility collapsed last year. Hamas attacked Israel, committing atrocities such as massacres and rape, and took Israelis hostage. While this exposed the brutal nature of Hamas, it also revealed the vulnerability of Israel's highly trusted intelligence services. In response to this crisis, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu adopted a “revenge” strategy to deflect public criticism of his government for failing to detect the Hamas raid. Israel’s retaliation has been relentless, and international media reports daily on the tragic deaths and injuries of ordinary Palestinians, which has shifted global sympathy from Israel to Palestine.
Israel is desperately trying to defeat not only Hamas but also Hezbollah, Jordan, and Iran. Hamas, like the PLO before it, has “the extermination of Jews” as its primary goal. It is only logical that Israel must respond. Both Prime Minister Netanyahu and U.S. President Biden have referred to “Israel’s self-defense.” However, when looking at international reports, it sometimes appears that Netanyahu is more focused on wiping out Palestinians than on defeating Hamas.
According to Sato Masaru, a former diplomat and famous writer, the reason for this perception is that only footage authorized by Hamas is circulated worldwide. Still, the fact that UN facilities, educational institutions, and medical centers are being bombed, with children covered in blood, remains a reality. Even if Hamas had set up bases there, bombing such facilities inevitably leads to tragic consequences, making Hamas' propaganda successful.
Netanyahu says, “We give civilians notice to flee before bombing.” But where are they supposed to flee? Wealthy people may be able to arrange transportation and lodging, but for many, such warnings are tantamount to death sentences.
I am not taking sides. I am protesting against the ideology and actions that claim killing is justice. The Japanese media's failure to mention Hamas’ atrocities while solely depicting the plight of Palestine obscures the core issue. At the same time, the Israeli government's actions based on the ideology of “revenge” should also be criticized.
Israel and Palestine are both committing massacres against each other due to the nature of their “enemy.” Killing others to survive. The Ten Commandments of Moses state, “Thou shalt not kill.” Both Judaism and Islam share this commandment. And yet, Israel and Palestine continue to kill each other.
In hindsight, I believe we should have used the Paris Olympic Truce to transcend this ideology.
We should include a provision in the Olympic Charter that Olympic Committees not agreeing to the Olympic Truce would be disqualified from participation.
Both the Israeli and Palestinian delegations must declare their support for the Olympic Truce to participate in the Paris Olympics. The same should apply to Russia and Ukraine. If the Israeli Olympic Committee does not declare its support for the Olympic Truce, Israel would be barred from sending a delegation to the Paris Olympics. Should they declare support for the truce, even if the Israeli government interferes with the Israeli Olympic Committee, this stance would apply pressure on the Israeli regime.
Similarly, if the Russian Olympic Committee declared support for the truce and could participate, they would have had to convince Putin to agree, even if only as a pretense, to observe the truce from seven days before the Paris Olympics until seven days after the Paralympics.
This is one way Olympism can contribute to building world peace.
By leveraging the dichotomy between the state and the National Olympic Committees, at least the Olympic Truce could have been realized, opening a diplomatic path toward a ceasefire agreement.
Although the Olympics claim to be a competition between individuals, not nations, the fact that delegations carry flags and anthems represents a contradiction. This contradiction is an ultimate means of using the Olympics as a way to pause war. In this sense, the Olympics can become a “lethal weapon” for preventing world war.
(No honorifics)
October 19, 2024
Ryoichi Kasuga
（Yo Aska)