Terrorism at Tel Aviv Airport and a "New Left" Group in Japan

Abstract

On May 30, 1972, three young Japanese men who had boarded an Air France jetliner at Rome arrived at Lod International Airport at Tel Aviv, Israel. At about 10:30 p.m., they suddenly began to hurl grenades toward milling crowd in custom house and opened fire from submachine guns which they had calmly removed from their luggage and assembled. Twentysix persons, including one internationally renowned medical physicist, Aharon Katchalsky of University of California at Berkeley, were killed, and more than seventy were wounded in assault. Although two of terrorists perished, one of them shot by his comrade, third, later identified as Kozo Okamoto, 24 year old agriculture student at Kagoshima University, was arrested by Israeli police. The incident, according to reports from Tel Aviv, was perpetrated by members of extreme leftist group in Japan known as Reng5 Sekigun (the United Red or URA). Okamoto testified before Israeli military tribunal at Rishon le Zion that the attack was carried out in partnership between Red of Japan and Popular Front for Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). And that Japanese collaboration with Arab organization was a means of propelling ourselves on world stage, in order to prepare for the creation of world Red Army which would then implement world revolution.' Okamoto's justification for collaboration with PFLP clearly reflects ideology of Red Army, which I will examine later. Although Japanese police have found no evidence that Okamoto was member of Red Army, Okamoto was evidently influenced by his two brothers, both of whom were members of extremist groups. One of them, as leader of Red Faction (one of two groups composing URA), was among highj ackers who successfully forced Japan airlines pilot to go to Pyongyang, North Korea, in March 1970. Furthermore, Okamoto had arranged for showing of film on Red Army-PFLP World War Declaration when activists of Red came to Kagoshima University in November 1971.2 Therefore it is clear that Okamoto was at least psychologically and