Arab News Japan

TOKYO: A leftist Zengakuren Students’ League member was arrested near the Israeli embassy in Tokyo on Friday, October 20, during a demonstration denouncing Israel’s bombing of Gaza.

Demonstrators shouted at the police to allow them access to the sidewalk facing the embassy building, but the police pushed them back.

During the demonstration, a plainclothes security officer clashed verbally with the protestors several times. The anti-riot squad was standing by at the scene.

As many protestors gathered at the checkpoint of the blocked narrow road leading to the embassy, a scuffle erupted, and the police gave on-the-spot dispersal orders.

One active protestor, however, insisted on staying his ground, leading several officers to grab and immobilize him. They moved the student to the other side of the road and pushed him into a van that transported him to an unknown location.

Demonstrators watching on the other side of the street chanted slogans calling for the release of their comrade.

Demonstrations have been active against the Israeli embassy in Tokyo by various Japanese groups denouncing the “killing of the Palestinian children by the Israeli military occupation.”