Nagasaki mayor claimed that excluding the Israeli representative while inviting the Palestinian representative to the annual Nagasaki atomic bomb peace memorial ceremony was not political, the Japanese news outlet The Asahi Shimbun reported on Thursday morning.
Nagasaki's Mayor Shiro Suzuki argued that “the true meaning (for not inviting Israel) has not been conveyed,” Suzuki told reporters. “We want to hold the ceremony in a peaceful and solemn atmosphere.”
“This decision is not a political one but is based on our hope to hold the ceremony peacefully, solemnly, and smoothly,” Suzuki further emphasized.