Okinawa Accord

This is an Article written by Jim Suriano. A young American man from N.Y.

He met Okinawan people in U.S. in this March. And heard a strugle aginst U.S. military bases there.

He decided to come to Okinawa with his friends and stayed for 2 month.

It's also his story in Okinawa.

On Friday, January 20th, 2017, I woke up in a nation that elected a corporate property and media executive billionaire to the office of President. I watched the unraveling and breakdown of integrity in the national campaign process, as millions of other Americans witnessed. Everything I understood to be wrong with the United States had been brought to the surface. Many things have gone wrong, and I could not live to just watch injustice unfolding anymore. I had to do something.

I quit my jobs in February to join a Peace Walk, Water Walk for Life. This peace walk was held in solidarity with the Water Protectors of the Standing Rock and Ramapough Lenape nations. Although the situation in the Dakota Access Pipeline Resistance seemed grim at this point, there was still a spirit in the hearts of people that would never give up. This walk for peace also represented the struggles of Indigenous people globally. The spirit that would never give up, I came to learn, was strong in the people of Okinawa. I learned of a serious struggle that oppresses the people and water of Okinawa on this Peace Walk: the Henoko Base Construction.

On May 4th, 2017, I flew with 3 other Peace Walkers to Okinawa to learn more of the Henoko Base Construction and the history of the People of Okinawa. I also came with the idea to support the people in their struggle, staying open to whatever support could mean. As Americans, building our understanding and knowledge of Okinawan History became a very important way to support the people.

To understand the History of Okinawa is to understand why the people go to the gates every day. We visited the Prefectural Peace Memorial Museum in Itoman the first weekend of our journey. The realities of war that this island faced in the past were difficult to hear without tears and sadness. The Battle of Okinawa was full of atrocities. The tremendous pain and loss that people faced as a result of governments and war will never be forgotten. 72 years later, the United States Military and the Japanese Central Government are still contributing to the culture of global warfare, and it is still at the misfortune of the Okinawan people.

Direct action took place every day at the gates of Camp Schwab, U.S. Marine Military base occupying Henoko and the location of the new construction zone. These actions include: gate sit-ins, kayak demonstrations, daily speakers, rally marches, blocking trucks, praying, holding signs, singing songs, and maintaining a camp occupying the roadside across from the base. The group I came to Okinawa with became involved in all of these actions.

Most days began at 5:00 am and we would either walk or drive to the base between 8:00 and 9:00 in the morning. We tried to be there for what we called “Crash Time”, when the riot squad police would swarm the construction gate to move people from their sit-in for the arriving construction trucks to enter. At first, the police seemed scary. I am accustomed to police in the United States, that are significantly more violent and militant. But we came to learn that the police in Okinawa were very different. They did not have guns or batons. The riot squad did not have helmets and pepper spray. They would just move us, which I feel is very purposefully done by the Japanese government. If the police became violent, it would draw more media attention. In a sense, the passiveness of the police was very manipulative and oppressive. The officers, at times, would break down and show tears or lash out in frustration. This was every day, day upon day, and it is impossible for the officers to not see as those who come to resist the base construction see. The police are not robots, they are human. Humans that work for a paycheck.

One day, a riot squad officer spoke English to me. As I was drumming and sitting with my arms linked to another man, he spoke “Excuse me, please get up.” I was surprised. I looked at him and shook my head, saying “Daijobu Desu”. The officer laughed and asked me to get up again before lifting me up with another officer. I kept drumming and he asked if the drum were mine and if I knew what the symbols meant. I told him “Yes, it means Na Mu Myo Ho Ren Ge Kyo”. Then I asked him if he understands why we are here. He replied “Thank You” as he brought me to the holding pen.

We called this holding pen for people partaking in the sit-ins “Jail”. When we got picked up, we were being brought to “Jail” until the trucks were finished entering the gates. At times, it was difficult to believe this whole process was real. As if it was just a false reality or bizarre world where the police went insane and kept doing the same thing every single day without a genuine purpose. There is no heart in what they are doing. It is all for the benefit of military expansion, for the perpetuation of war and violence. It is insanity to me.

One major thing we all noticed going to the gate each day was that there was a distinct group of people missing from the direct actions: young adults. I am 27 years old and was the youngest at the gate, as far as I knew. This was alarming at first, but as time went on we came to understand how complex it can be for young Okinawans and Japanese to come to the demonstrations at the gate. These reasons include: cultural expectations, fear for their career future, fear for being on camera, not being able to show their faces, the sit-ins being too aggressive, the language being too aggressive, having friends in the military, having friends that work on the base, apathy, and caring but being too busy with personal life.

Even some of the college students and young people we became friends with did not come to the gate. They could speak of the construction and the problems with military overreach that impacts their lives, but this did not drive their passion to want to be at the gate regularly. Many I met are busy, with work and school, paying bills and trying to enjoy life between all the stress they face in everyday life. Maybe they just want to feel normal, and facing the reality of the military occupation challenges that sense of “life as normal” too much for young people. Young people are still learning about themselves in many ways too. To commit to the major issue that comes as a result of U.S. Military Occupation may be too much for most that are in their own personal process of growing and learning. I feel they can be reached, but we can not blame someone who needs or wants to get a handle of their own life. It is important for the people at the gate each day to understand this, and that they must keep reaching out to young people despite any hopeless feelings about them. It is difficult to generalize a group of people, but if one person changes their mind about the military bases, that is still progress. That is still changing the world.

Some people come and go from the gate demonstrations daily, some on occasion. Some may only come once to experience it and share the story. Considering the 1.4 million people that live on the Island of Okinawa, most people do not come to the gate. Some days there are 40 people. Some days there are 200. But it is going to take the people united to truly stop the But it is going to that the people united to truly stop the Henoko Base Construction.

Considering the many people I met and also my personal experience, I found it is not easy to go to the gate every day. It is not easy to face the harsh realities that have built up to this moment of deeply ingrained oppression that the people of Okinawa face constantly. I was in Okinawa for just about 2 months. In this time, we also held a peace walk from the northern tip to the southern tip, to remember the victims of the Battle of Okinawa and pray for the water.

The peace walk came at a good time, as my group was feeling the effects of going to the gate almost every day. This peace walk was a movement for the people, the earth and the water. We called it a water walk, similar to those being held in the United States with the Spirit of the Water Protectors in mind. It was also a great opportunity to begin reflecting on my experience in Okinawa and remember the people I met. At times, difficult with several days of rain and the hot sun, we completed the walk on Remembrance Day and shared our prayers with many others to continue our commitment to a peaceful world. For this, we will never give up.

I am as grateful as I can be for this experience, to learn and share my time with amazing people that commit to the greatest of causes: peace. Moving forward, I will never forget this experience and what I have learned. It has changed me and helped me grow in many ways, ways that were unforeseen before coming to Okinawa. I will bring these lessons and the story of Okinawa’s struggle with me everywhere I go, to share and teach others of this difficult reality that continues to this very moment. With the awful and unstable state of the federal government in the United States, the American people deserve to understand what their military is doing. I will help them understand. I will also help them understand that the people of Okinawa deserve to be free. It is timeBut it is going to that the people united to truly stop the Henoko Base Construction.