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ABSTRACT
As East-West Asia relations expand and diversify, cross-regional non-state relations develop as well. Surprisingly though, this development has so far been largely overlooked. Attempting to fill this void, this article focuses on the involvement of Japan’s and South Korea’s civil societies in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. More specifically, it argues that the intensification of cross-regional connections between East Asia and the Middle East generates involvement of the civil society in this conflict, whose specific shape is influenced by the attributes of each state. To test this supposition, the article comparatively examines the civilian protests in Japan and South Korea against Israel and their impact. The article’s contribution is fourfold: it examines the important yet inadequately studied growing civil society participation in East-West Asia relations; it indicates the relatively new interaction between state and non-state actors in East Asia concerning the Middle East; it explores for the first time protest movements against Israel in East Asia; and it enriches existing knowledge about civil society participation in South Korea’s and Japan’s foreign relations with an intriguing yet so far overlooked case.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank Evgenia Rozenfeld, Hikari Muraoka and Anat Haina for their superb research assistance. They are also indebted to Rotem Kowner, Alon Levkowitz, and Guy Podoler for their valuable comments on earlier drafts of the article.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1. Ehteshami and Miyagi, The Emerging Middle East; Kemp, The East Moves West; and Reardon-Anderson, The Red Star.
2. Josselin and Wallace, “Non-State Actors”; and Kruck and Schneiker, “Introduction: Researching Non-State.”
3. The involvement of ethnic/religious players in East-West Asia foreign relations is an exceptional case, as they have already attracted some scholarly attention. See e.g. Al-Sudairi, “Hajjis, Refugees, Salafi Preachers.”
4. Carter-Hallward, Transnational Activism; and Feldman, Boycotts Past and Present.
5. According to common definitions, by the term East Asia we refer, politically, to Greater China, Japan, the two Koreas and Mongolia.
6. Green, “The Intersectionality of Fools,” 35-6.
7. Jamjoun, “The Global Campaign,” 137.
8. Jamjoun, “The Global Campaign,” 138; and Nelson, Dreams Deferred.
9. Bakan and Abu-Laban, “Palestinian Resistance,” 44.
10. Ibid., 44.
11. Wright et al., The Limits of Hostility, 15; and Bahar and Sachs, “How Much Does BDS.”
12. European Commission, Fact Sheet.
13. Nasr and Alkousaa, “Germany Designates BDS.”
14. Lee, “Transitional Politics,” 355-60.
15. Moon, “Carving out Space,” 485; and Sarfati and Chung, “Affective Protest Symbols.”
16. Moon, “Carving out Space,” 484-85.
17. Paik, “South Korea’s Candlelight,” 4.
18. According to a survey dated 2010-2014, percentage participation in protest activity in Japan and South Korea is quite low. Only 1.4% participated in boycotts in Japan and 5.4% in South Korea (compared with 12.9% in Germany or 15.5% in the US). In Japan, 3.6% participated in a peaceful demonstration, compared with 9.5% in South Korea. It also shows that 1.7% of Japanese and 4% of South Koreans took part in another type of protest in those years, World Value Survey website, “Online Data Analysis.”
19. Chun, “The Role of Japan’s,” 94-6; and Weathers and North, “Overtime Activists.”
20. Sasaki-Uemura, Organising the Spontaneous, 15.
21. Cassegård, “Lovable Anarchism,” 379.
22. Chiavacci and Obinger, “Towards a New Protest,” 20.
23. Cassegård, “Lovable Anarchism,” 365.
24. Ibid., 375.
25. Lewis, Koreans and Jews; Kessler, “The Seoulful Jews”; and Kowner, “The Imitation Game?” 73.
26. Kowner, “East Asia and Antisemitism.”
27. Shillony, The Jews and the Japanese, 164-70; and Goodman and Miyazwa, Jews in the Japanese, 16-105.
28. Shillony, The Jews and the Japanese, 221.
29. Kowner, “The Imitation Game?” 86.
30. Yegar, Hamasa Ha’aroch, 303.
31. Ibid., 299.
32. Udasin, “Israel, Japan Sign Economic.”
33. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, “Japan’s assistance.”
34. Amir, “From Jerusalem,” 32-3.
35. Podoler, “A South Korean Progressive,” 238-42; and Worldpublicopinion.Org., “World Public Opinion.”
36. Israeli diplomats and officials, interview by authors, Jerusalem, June 25, 2018. All interviews were conducted in confidentiality, and the names of interviewees are withheld by mutual agreement; and The State of Israel and The State of Japan, “Israeli-Japanese Investment.”
37. BDS Japan, “Yukusada Isao Kantoku”; and Hatena Blog, “Digest of 43-day.”
38. Palestine Forum Japan, “Paresuchina no heiwa.”
39. On ATTAC Kansai (Association for the Taxation of the Financial Transactions to Aid Citizens) see Mastaka, “Tobin Tax,” 69-70.
40. See note 38 above.
41. Israeli diplomats and officials, personal communication, Jerusalem, June 25, 2018.
42. See note 42 above.
43. For MUJI’s News Release see their website: http://ryohin-keikaku.jp/news/2010_1201.html.
44. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, “State of Israel.”
45. See note 42 above. For the campaign, see Hatena Blog, “Ginza Mitsukoshi Store”; and Palestine Forum Japan, “BDS Victory.”
46. See note 42 above.
47. Andrews, “Activists in Japan”; and BDS Japan, “Do Not Hold.”
48. The small discrepancies in the figures and calculations presented here are the result of conversion rates’ gaps and rounding off. Palestine Peace Alliance, “2018 nyŏn 1-3 wŏl”; and Palestine Peace Alliance, “2018 nyŏn 4 wŏl.”
49. As indicated in Palestine Peace Alliance webpage “Wuri tanch’ae sogae” [About Us], http://pal.or.kr/wp/?page_id=2.
50. The activists’ age is speculated from photos and interviews published on various websites and media reports quoted in this article.
51. Ahn, “P’allest’ain kwa yŏndaehanŭn.”
52. Lee, “Korea Should Commiserate.”
53. Ibid.
54. The event’s details are available online at http://withgonggam.tistory.com/m/1929.
55. Personal email and phone communication with three students who attended the event, June 2018.
56. The Palestinian Information Centre, “Seoul Human Rights Film.”
57. Palestine Peace & Solidarity in S. Korea, “Boycott Hyundai.”
58. Ahn, “P’allest’ain kwa yŏndaehanŭn”; and Palestine Monitor, “BDS: South Korea’s Palestine.”
59. See note 50 above.
60. See note 53 above.
61. See note 59 above.
62. A de-legitimisation expert at the Institute for National Security Studies, personal communication, Tel Aviv, June 6, 2018; Israeli diplomats and officials, personal communication, Jerusalem, June 25, 2018.
63. Palestine Peace and Solidarity in S. Korea, “Why I learn Korean.”
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Michal Zelcer-Lavid
Michal Zelcer-Lavid is a Lecturer in the Asian Studies Program at the Multidisciplinary B.A. at Bar-Ilan University, Israel.
Yoram Evron
Yoram Evron is Senior Lecturer at the Department of Asian Studies, University of Haifa.