Anti-monarchists hold demo in Japan

Protesters waving Japanese flags shout slogans in Tokyo.

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/164812.html

Japanese protestors have called for an end to the imperial system during holiday celebrations of the emperor system and the foundation of the nation.

For the more genteel sections of the society, it is a day for parades and brass bands. They march through the streets showing off their many years of practice. But on this day, all they needed to brave was the fierce cold and the heaviest snowfall of the year in Tokyo, the Press TV correspondent in the Japanese capital reported.

Across town, however, a more formidable scenario was unfolding, with protesters on the march to call for an end to Japan's imperial system.

The protesters declared that they are opposed to war and the stationing of US troops in Japan.

One of the protesters said he is worried about a new war breaking out in East Asia.

A woman told the Press TV correspondent that the imperial system lies at the root of discrimination in the Japanese society.

At one point, the protesters had a confrontation with riot police when they became annoyed with the police's efforts to videotape the protest march.

Shortly afterwards, Japanese ultranationalists appeared. Using powerful loudspeakers, they insulted the anti-war protestors and even threatened them with violence.

“Although these people talk about Japanese nationalism, they are not thinking about the problem of China and North Korea,” one of the ultranationalists said.

A nearby representative of a conservative political party gave a similar message, saying, “We believe that it's important to honor our nation on its birthday. As a political party, we also like to show our will and determination to defend our nation against political threats.”

National Foundation Day has thus become a political battlefield for left and right in Japan. Both sides say they want to establish lasting peace in East Asia, but they have very different ideas about how to achieve it.

Yemenis rally in solidarity with Palestinians

Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=121331§ionid=351020206


Thousands of people have rallied in Yemen in a show of solidarity with the Palestinian people amid serious violations committed by Israeli forces against the revered al-Aqsa Mosque and the city of Jerusalem (al-Quds).

Protestors chanted anti-Israel and pro-Palestine slogans, carried replicas of the al-Aqsa Mosque and waved Palestinian flags in a massive rally in the Yemeni capital.

Yemeni senior officials, religious figures and lawmakers took part in the demonstration.

During the rally, Sheikh Sadeq Abdullah al-Ahmar criticized Arab leaders for their inaction concerning ongoing Israeli raids of the third holiest place in Muslim faith, al-Aqsa Mosque.

“We hope that Arab leaders would break their silence on the Israeli aggressions against Palestinians. They should provide the necessary financial support for their brothers in Palestine,” he said.

Sheikh Sadeq made reference to resistance as the only promising and practical solution to liberate the occupied Palestinian territories from the Israeli occupation.

He also called on the international community to make Israel bring to a standstill the plans, which sully sanctity of the Islamic holy sites across Palestine, particularly in al-Quds.

Sheikh Abdul Majid al-Zindani also urged Palestinians to assert their rights, demand their usurped territories to be freed and to exercise resistance against the Israeli occupation.

He denounced the Israeli atrocities committed against the Palestinian people as well as the desecration of the al-Aqsa Mosque as a “blatant breach of human rights and international resolutions.”

The cleric also proposed that Arab and Islamic countries should establish a union with the aim of supporting the Palestinian cause.

Hundreds of Palestinians clashed with Israeli security forces in al-Quds on Tuesday due to plans for more Jewish housing in the predominantly Arab eastern sector of the volatile city and renovation of a synagogue in the Old City near the al-Aqsa Mosque compound.

Israeli riot police tried to disperse the demonstrators with rubber bullets and rear gas. Protesters hurled rocks at Israeli riot police in response

More than 100 Palestinians were injured, while about 60 protesters were arrested in the protests.

Thousands march in Jerusalem rally

Source: Al Jazeera
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/03/2010362141312196.html


At least 3,000 protesters, including Israelis and Palestinians, have rallied in an Arab quarter of east Jerusalem to protest the eviction of Palestinians from their homes there in favor of Jewish settlers.

The protesters waved red flags bearing the inscription "Shalom," or peace in Hebrew, during the demonstration in Sheikh Jarrah on Saturday.

They chanted slogans such as "No to ethnic cleansing," and "Sheikh Jarrah residents don't lose hope, we are blocking the road to settlement."

A large Israeli police contingent watched over the demonstration, the largest of its kind for several decades against Jewish settlements in Jerusalem.

Police had intended to ban the gathering, but it was finally approved by the supreme court on an appeal launched by the far-left movement.

Old City evictions

The demonstration came amid tensions in the Old City after days of clashes between Israeli riot police and Palestinian protesters in and around the Al-Aqsa mosque and several Arab neighbourhoods of Jerusalem.

Several Palestinian families of Sheikh Jarrah have been expelled in recent months in favour of Israeli settlers on the grounds their houses belonged to Jews before the creation of Israel in 1948.

The evictions led to demonstrations that were put down by the police who arrested Israeli peace activists and pro-Palestinian foreigners.

Israel annexed east Jerusalem after the 1967 Middle East war and built new quarters to house more than 200,000 Israelis.

The annexation has never been recognised by the international community. Palestinians denounce settlements in east Jerusalem, which they want to make the capital of their future state.

In early February, the daily Haaretz revealed Israeli authorities had given the green light to a project to build 600 homes in an area set aside for settlement in the eastern sector.