Petition update#freepalestine Hiroshima City must disinvite Israel to annual Peace Memorial Ceremony!IMPORTANT!! 25,372 Signatures Submitted to Hiroshima City on May 15 / Petition Reopened!!
広島パレスチナともしび連帯共同体 Hiroshima-Palestine Vigil Community広島市, Japan
May 21, 2024

Hello everyone! On Tuesday, May 15, we submitted 25,372 signatures and comments to the City of Hiroshima on the occasion of Nakba Day. Thank you very much!
Also, we apologize for the delay in reporting the results. We are very sorry.

We submitted the signatures on the 15th because we first wanted to recall the Nakba Day, the great disaster that the Palestinian people experienced and the absurdity that has not ended yet, and to show that we will not forget. At the same time, since it is expected that within the next few days the City of Hiroshima will send invitations to countries to attend the Peace Memorial Ceremony on August 6 this year, we decided to submit the petition on that day in order to give our voices one last chance to be heard in order to create a stir in the City of Hiroshima. On the 16th, the day after we submitted our signatures, the mayor of Hiroshima held a press conference. The following is part of what he said.

  • Regarding Israel and Gaza, we will continue to ask them to come to Hiroshima and think about it, as we have done in the past, in order to calm down the situation.
  • As for the discussion on if it's double standard on whether to invite or not to invite, I do not evaluate it and I do not have any criteria.
  • I am in the position of conducting the ceremony properly, and I just want to do it in a setting that conveys the message of Hiroshima's wishes.
  • I would be very bothered if I were to be perceived as evaluating or not evaluating the current situation, so I would like to stick to this response.

Hearing these words of Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui, we have decided to resume our petition asking the City of Hiroshima not to invite Israel to the Peace Memorial Ceremony.

The mayor of Hiroshima, who calls it an International City of Peace and Culture, not only does not oppose the genocide that is now being committed and does not call for an immediate ceasefire, but he has admitted that he has no standards by which to judge the City of Hiroshima's stance. We strongly protest the Mayor's attitude. We believe that the City of Hiroshima will soon make an official call for an invitation to the Peace Memorial Ceremony, but we would like to show through our signatures that civil society will not tolerate this situation.

To everyone who has supported our petition so far, Please help us spread the word to show the City of Hiroshima that our appeal is not over - it's only going to draw even more attention and outrage.


Press Coverage of Signature Submission

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