U.S. Says Israel Should Be Invited to Nagasaki Peace Ceremony

   Washington, Aug. 8 (Jiji Press)--The United States thinks that Israel should be invited to an annual peace ceremony in the atomic-bombed city of Nagasaki, southwestern Japan, a State Department spokesperson said Thursday.
   Nagasaki has not invited Israel, which is engaged in fighting with Palestinian militant group Hamas in the Gaza Strip, to this year's ceremony Friday, prompting the ambassadors to Japan of all of Tokyo's Group of Seven partners, including U.S. Ambassador Rahm Emanuel, to decide to skip the event.
   "We thought it was important that the Israeli ambassador be invited as the ambassadors of other countries have been invited...and that's why the (U.S.) ambassador took the step that he did," the spokesperson, Matthew Miller, said at a press conference.
   Nagasaki was flattened by a U.S. atomic bomb on Aug. 9, 1945, in the closing days of World War II.
   Asked about the United States' historic responsibility of the atomic bombing, Miller responded: "Obviously multiple different presidents of the United States have spoken to this, have attended events commemorating that solemn event. And I think our position on it and our respect for Japan when it comes to this anniversary is well documented and goes beyond--far beyond the ambassador not attending one event."

(2024/08/09-12:21)

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