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CREATED:20071005T201400Z
DESCRIPTION:International Day Of Action To Defend Anti-War Japanese Teachers\nAll Out 
 On Friday October 5, 2007\nStop Firings and Repression Of\nJapanese 
 Teachers Who Oppose War\n\n\n\n\nOver 1700 Japanese teachers have been 
 punished and harassed for refusing to sing nationalist pro-war songs during 
 graduation ceremonies throughout Japan's schools. In Tokyo alone, 388 
 teachers were subject to heavy punishment after 2004.\nThe effort to censor 
 education books about the war crimes of Japan imperial government is part 
 and parcel of the effort to remililtarize the schools and eliminate Article 
 9 of the Japanese constitution which prohibits war.\nOctober 5 is 
 celebrated internationally every year as World Teachers Day to defend 
 teachers and oppose attacks on education and teachers. On this October 5, 
 2007, there will be delegations of teachers and community activists from 
 around the world who will go to Japanese consulates and embassies to call 
 for an end to the repression against Japanese anti-war teachers, against 
 censoring Japanese school books and also against changing Article 9 of the 
 Japanese constitution which prohibits war.\nThe US government has also 
 played a key role in encouraging Japan to send it’s troops to the Middle 
 East and also many US politicians go to Japan and urge it to militarize and 
 ignore Article 9. In fact, former Japanese prime minister Nakasone who also 
 privatized the railroads in order to break the militant rail unions in 
 Japan said he wanted Japan to be a "aircraft carrier" for the United 
 States.\nThe Tokyo Metropolitan Board of Education under pressure from the 
 racist and nationalist Tokyo governor Ishihara has moved toward firing 
 teachers Ms NEZU Kimiko and Ms KAWARAI Junko for their anti-war activity 
 unless people around the world stand up to this repression. This repression 
 and militarization is a threat to all people of the world and we urge 
 educators, unionists, people from all communities and anti-war activists to 
 join us on October 5, 2007.\n\nSan Francisco Picket and Delegation To 
 Japanese Consulate\nFriday October 5, 2007 4:00 PM\n50 Fremont St/Mission 
 San Francisco\n\nFor information or to endorse please contact\nCommittee To 
 Defend Japanese Anti-War Teachers (415)867-0628 lvpsf [at] 
 labornet.org\nEndorsed by AFT2121, San Franciso Labor Council, Doro-Chiba, 
 Transport Workers Solidarity Committee, Bob Mandel Member OEA Executive 
 Board, Labor Video Project,Bay Area Labor Committee For Peace&Justice, 
 Koreans Americans United For Peace KAUP, Rape of Nanking Redress 
 Coalition\nhttp://vpress.la.coocan.jp/ 
 http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20070717i1.html\nhttp://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20070720a7.html\nhttp://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-Japan-Forced-Suicide.html?_r=1&oref=slogin\n\nTo 
 the members of AFT 2121 and UTLA, workers, citizens and students who are 
 rising up for the International Teachers’ Day\nOctober 5, 
 2007\n\nBrothers and sisters rising up for the October 5 International 
 Teachers’ Day!\nMy name is SATO Etsuko, teacher of a public junior high 
 school in Yokosuka. I was punished two times for refusing to stand up to 
 honor Hinomaru and Kimigayo (Japanese national flag and anthem) in school 
 ceremonies.\nOn September 12, Japanese prime minister suddenly resigned, 
 giving up his administration. He was definitely cornered by the growing 
 anger of Japanese working class against expanding poverty and inequality, 
 and bankruptcy in the pension program through expending a large amount of 
 premiums and other pension fund in constructing military airports, nuclear 
 plants as well as rescuing banks and private companies. As a result he was 
 confronted with historic defeat in the recent Upper House election. Now it 
 is a great opportunity for us workers.\nWe know also in the US a large 
 amount of people have been driven into poverty by the Bush administration 
 that has been privatizing and selling out education, medical service and 
 social welfare to the corporations and depriving education, medical service 
 and pension of working people in favor of huge military expenditure in the 
 Iraq war. We shall never admit both Abe and Bush administrations that seek 
 to survive in sacrifice of their own working people and expand the war.\nIn 
 both countries, we, education workers, have actually been forced to play a 
 part of bringing up soldiers who go to the battlefields of aggressive wars 
 for the purpose of survival of dying imperialism.\nIn Japan, in 1999, the 
 National Flag and National Anthem Law were legislated and Hinomaru and 
 Kimigayo have forcefully been introduced in public school ceremonies. As a 
 result, in Okinawa and Hiroshima, to name typical examples, where no school 
 had raised Hinomaru or sung Kimigayo before the legislation, every public 
 school were compelled to accept the Hinomaru and Kimigayo ceremony. Freedom 
 of thought and conscience, stipulated by the constitution, is violated. Not 
 only teachers but also pupils and their parents are forced to stand up and 
 sing Kimigayo in front of Hinomaru to express worship to the rule of 
 Emperor and put faith to the state. Disobedient teachers are violently 
 disciplined. In Tokyo, where the Governor Ishihara openly declares 
 destruction of the current constitution and imposed upon our colleague, 
 sister NEZU Kimiko faced six-month suspension for disobedience in Hinomaru 
 and Kimigayo issue; she is now threatened to be discharged if she repeats 
 refusal on the next occasion. She is followed by 1700 teachers who have 
 been punished for not standing up in school ceremonies across the country 
 and tens of thousands of colleagues are continuing disobedience, although 
 without being disciplined. We education workers are firmly determined not 
 to bend our knees in front of enforcement and unjust disciplinary measures. 
 "We shall never send our children to the battlefields again", is our common 
 pledge. We are absolutely right and no one can defeat us.\nWe learned that 
 in the US children of poor families, whose personal data (for example, 
 unable to pay fees) are leaked by means of the NCLB, are sent to the 
 battlefields by military recruiters that intrude into schools. We learned 
 also that many teachers who are determined to oppose to war and defend 
 children are bravely fighting back this and succeeded in kicking off 
 military recruiters from schools in widening solidarity with pupils and 
 their parents.\nOur struggles not to send children to the battlefields and 
 your struggles to expel military recruiters from school and defend children 
 from being soldiers are identical in their essence and aspiration. On the 
 occasion of the recent National Convention of the NEA, almost all the 
 delegates, whom we addressed to, signed our petition to stop unjust 
 punishment on sister NEZU Kimiko. The news immensely encouraged us that AFT 
 2121 and SFLC adopted resolution of demanding to stop unjust dismissal on 
 sister NEZU. With these powerful push, we shall expand our activity of 
 gathering endorsement for our petition to defend sister NEZU among a large 
 amount of fighting unions and organizations to defend children, students 
 and workers against war and Japanese as well as US imperialism.\nWe 
 education workers categorically refuse cooperation with war. We refuse to 
 bring up children into tools of the state power. We shall do everything we 
 can do to carry out our determination.\nIn solidarity with you fighting in 
 the US, I will start a fresh struggle in my workplace. Let’s fight 
 together!\n\nSATO Etsuko, Ohtsu Junior High School Branch of Miura 
 Peninsula District Teachers Union, Japan Teachers Union\nSATO 
 Etsuko\n\n\nhttp://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20071003a1.html\n\nOkinawa 
 may defeat textbook censorship\n\nMinister hints references to 
 military-ordered mass suicides in '45 may stand\nKyodo News\n\nEducation 
 minister Kisaburo Tokai indicated Tuesday his ministry may let history 
 textbook publishers continue saying the army forced civilians to commit 
 mass suicide during the 1945 Battle of Okinawa.\n\n\nThe ministry had 
 issued orders in March to strike such references, prompting a massive 
 public outcry in Okinawa.\n\n"If textbook publishers apply for revisions 
 (to retain the references), we may screen them again," Tokai said, adding 
 he has ordered the ministry to deal with the issue and try to soothe 
 Okinawa's outrage.\n\nResponding to Tokai's statement, some publishers 
 already started preparing to revise their textbooks to reinsert the 
 references on the army's role in the mass suicides, sources said.\n\nThe 
 furor stems from the ministry's regular textbook screening process in 
 March, in which it told publishers of high school history texts to rewrite 
 references suggesting the embattled Imperial army forced or told civilians 
 to kill themselves and their loved ones with hand grenades supplied by the 
 military.\n\nOkinawa's anger spilled over Saturday when 110,000 people 
 staged a protest rally in Ginowan, demanding the ministry retract its 
 instruction to the publishers.\n\nA statement adopted at the rally said, 
 "It is an undeniable fact that the mass suicides would not have occurred 
 without the involvement of the Japanese military and any deletion or 
 revision of (the description) is a denial and distortion of testimony by 
 many people who survived the incidents."\n\nThe rally was the largest in 
 Okinawa since the prefecture was returned to Japan by the United States in 
 1972, according to organizers. Okinawa was the only inhabited part of Japan 
 that experienced ground fighting during World War II.\n\nGov. Hirokazu 
 Nakaima told reporters he will visit Tokyo on Wednesday and directly demand 
 that the government make the retraction.\n\n"The ministry appears to be 
 changing its attitude now," Nakaima said. "I want to visit Tokyo as soon as 
 possible and convey our stance to the government."\n\nAlthough Tokai said 
 he wants to quell Okinawa's anger, he earlier indicated it would be 
 difficult to retract the instruction because it would be perceived as 
 "intervention by politics into textbook screenings."\n\nBut he did not 
 comment on whether politics played a role in the ministry's March 
 instruction that publishers rewrite references on the mass suicides and 
 mass murder-suicides of civilians in Okinawa.\n\nThe solution is likely to 
 center on "voluntary steps" by textbook publishers to reinsert the 
 references in question — a face-saving solution for the education 
 ministry.\n\nSeveral publishers have begun consultations with textbook 
 authors and will file applications as early as this month to make revisions 
 once they have decided on the new descriptions, the sources said.\n\nThe 
 publishers said they are hoping to be able to begin work on printing the 
 new textbooks in November as they will be used in the academic year 
 starting next April.\n\nIn a related move, Tetsuo Saito, policy chief of 
 New Komeito, the ruling coalition ally of the Liberal Democratic Party, and 
 other lawmakers paid a call on Tokai on Tuesday to ask the education 
 ministry to retract its March instruction.\n\nFour opposition parties — 
 the Democratic Party of Japan, the Japanese Communist Party, the Social 
 Democratic Party and Kokumin Shinto (People's New Party) — agreed to 
 present a joint draft resolution to the Diet demanding a review of the 
 textbook screening process itself.\nThe Japan Times: Wednesday, Oct. 3, 
 2007\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPetitioning in Tokyo For JPN Anti-war teachers\nby 
 Committee To Defend Japanese Anti-War Teacher Friday Oct 5th, 2007 1:10 
 PM\npetitionsfor_jpn_teachers.jpg\npetitionsfor_jpn_teachers...\n\n\n 
 https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2007/10/05/18451950.php
SUMMARY:Protest In SF To Defend Japanese Anti-War Teachers & Against Militarism
LOCATION:50 Fremont St./Mission
URL:https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2007/10/05/18451950.php
DTSTART:20071005T230000Z
DTEND:20071006T000000Z
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