Japanese Red Army kills 26 in Lod Operation in 1972

BEIRUT - Alternative staff

The Palestinian armed struggle against the Israel has taken on many forms, ranging from routine military operations against conventional targets to inventive missions that left Israelis both puzzled and stricken.

The events that took place in the Lod Airport in Tel Aviv in 1972 was a major blow to the Israeli homeland security and a triumph which the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) could add to their trophy cabinet.

The Israelis had taken all the security precautions to insure that their airport security system would remain intact but the Palestinian resistance had other plans in mind as they surprised the Israelis by using irregular methods of warfare which was in the case of the Lod airport attack, the Japanese element.

On May 30, 1972, a three-man hit squad from the Japanese Red Army (JRA) arrived at the Lod Airport, via Air France Flight 132. They were dressed in business suits and carried what appeared to be violin cases. The operation was planned and supported by the General Command of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP-General Command).

The General command which was headed by the renowned Ahmad Jibril (Abu Jihad) was able to establish and coordinate with the Japanese Red Army this successful task.

Abu Jihad, a former captain in the Syrian army, would soon acquire a reputation for being a staunch and efficient warrior whose imagination would stop at nothing to inflict damage on the Israelis.

A fighter who fought alongside Jibrili but insisted on aninomity told Alternative that “the fighters of the PFLP-GC were famous for their dedication and commitment and their respect to their leader.”

After the three Japanese musicians/fighters checked out from the ticket counter they accessed their automatic weapons and started implementing their plan, which consisted of wrecking as much havoc as possible and causing Israeli casualties.

As they changed magazines in their weapons, the men threw hand grenades into the mass of sprawling bodies. The three men shortly ran out of ammunition and they were no longer able to hold off airport security.

Yasuyuki Yasuda, was the first who ran out of ammunition and was cut down by his companions.  Tsuyoshi Okudaira, committed suicide by pulling the pin on a grenade and detonating it against his body.  Kozo Okamoto was unable to committ suicide as his almost fatal wounds prevented him from committing suicide and avoiding being captured. The result of this attack was the killing of twenty-six people and 78 injuries and an entire Israeli government left out to dry.

Okamoto is the younger brother of Takedia Okamoto, one of the JRA members who hijacked a Japan Airlines flight to North Korea in 1970. Kozo was trailed by an Israeli military court which sentenced him to life imprisonment.

The three Japanese where accused of carrying out this mission under the effect of drugs. To this, Kozo responded   that “the only drugs for us are Marxism-Leninism. The world of Che Guevara is the only stimulus we need.”

Fusako Shigenobu, a Japanese woman, who founded the JRA, commented on the Lod Operation by saying, “it is time to show the imperialists that armed struggle is the only humanistic way to advance the cause of oppressed people.”

Kozo would pay dearly for the courageous act he performed as the Israelis tortured him and inflicted on him physical and mental injuries during his stay in Israeli prisons.

People who later met Kozo in Lebanon told Alternative “Kozo is not normal because of the beating and torture he went through, and although he is a very pleasant character who constantly smiles and nods his head, it is obvious that the years have gotten to him.”

Jibril whose image was boasted by the success of this mission would pay Kozo back by forcing his release nine years later. Jibril whose men were able to capture an Israeli tank crew (in the Bekaa) during the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon  would start a long and monotonous negotiation process  with the Israelis who would end in the release of over a thousand prisoner among them was Kozo.

After his release Kozo virtually disappeared only to re-surface in Lebanon after he was arrested along side members of the JRA for illegal entry into the country. Japan demanded the expedition of these ‘prisoners’ to be trailed in Japan but Lebanon gave Kozo political refugee card number one.