PORTRAIT OF A TERRORIST - AN INTERVIEW WITH KOZO OKAMOTO

• NCJ Number: 57908
• Journal: Asian Survey Volume: 16 Issue: 9 Dated: (SEPTEMBER 1976) Pages: 830-845
• Author(s): P G STEINHOFF
• Date Published: 1976
• Length: 17 pages
• Corporate Author: University of California Press
• Publication Format: Article
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

THE BACKGROUND AND MOTIVES OF ONE OF THREE JAPANESE STUDENTS WHO KILLED 26 AND WOUNDED 80 UNARMED PERSONS IN A TERRORIST ATTACK ON AN ISRAELI AIRPORT IN MAY 1972 ARE EXAMINED.

Abstract

THE DISCUSSION IS BASED ON INTERVIEWS WITH KOZO OKAMOTO, THE SOLE SURVIVING MEMBER OF THE TRIO WHO COMMITTED THE SUBMACHINE GUN/HAND GRENADE ATTACK AT LOD AIRPORT IN TEL AVIV. THE ATTACK WAS SPONSORED JOINTLY BY THE RED ARMY FACTION, A RADICAL JAPANESE GROUP, AND THE POPULAR FRONT FOR THE LIBERATION OF PALESTINE (PFLP) AN ARAB GUERRILLA ORGANIZATION. THE INCIDENT IS INDICATIVE OF THE GLOBAL SCALE OF CONTEMPORARY TERRORISM, NOT ONLY BECAUSE IT WAS THE PRODUCT OF COOPERATION BETWEEN JAPANESE AND ARAB TERRORISTS, BUT BECAUSE THE JAPANESE STUDENTS INVOLVED WERE MOTIVATED BY THEIR DESIRE FOR WORLDWIDE REVOLUTION. THE BACKGROUND AND ACTIVITIES OF THE JAPANESE RED ARMY FACTION, INCLUDING ITS CONTACTS WITH THE PFLF, ARE TRACED, TOGETHER WITH OKAMOTO'S FAMILY BACKGROUND AND TIES TO THE RED ARMY. A DETAILED ACCOUNT IS PRESENTED OF THE CIRCUMSTANCES THAT BROUGHT OKAMOTO TO BEIRUT, HIS GUERRILLA TRAINING. THERE, THE AIRPORT ATTACK, AND THE AFTERMATH OF THE ATTACK, PARTICULARLY OKAMOTO'S EFFORTS PUBLICIZE HIS CAUSE AND TO BE FOUND GUILTY AND EXECUTED. OKAMOTO'S ESSENTIALLY SUICIDAL MISSION WAS MADE POSSIBLE IN PART BY HIS JAPANESE BUDDHIST VIEW OF LIFE AND DEATH AS WAY STATIONS IN A CONTINUUM OF HUMAN EXISTENCE. FOR HIM, LIFE HAS MEANING ONLY IN A SOCIAL CONTEXT, NOT AS AN ISOLATED INDIVIDUAL EXPERIENCE. HE VIEWS VIOLENT REVOLUTION AS A NATURAL PHENOMENON IN WHICH DEATHS ARE RANDOM, NATURAL EVENTS. THE DEATH OF A BYSTANDER IS THE SAME AS THE DEATH OF AN ENEMY OR A FRIEND. IN ADDITION, THERE ARE NO CONSTRAINTS ON HOW HIS REVOLUTION MAY BE FOUGHT, BECAUSE THE EVOLUTION IS NOT FOUGHT IN THE NAME OF ANY SPECIFIC VALUES. THE FOCUS IS ON THE IMMEDIATE NEED TO OVERTHROW THE EXISTING ORDER BY VIOLENCE, NOT ON THE KIND OF SOCIETY THAT SHOULD FOLLOW. (LKM)