(Media Line) Melanie Takefman - "The Japanese...do much more than is known on the surface," said Ben-Ami Shillony, a professor of East Asian studies at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Yet Israel and the PA have lost priority since 2000, according to Akifumi Ikeda, professor of international relations at Toyo Eiwa University in Yokohama. "You can't really make a partnership with people who are threatened with explosions or terrorist attacks on a daily basis...you just don't have a stable setting." Japan donated approximately $80 million per year to the Palestinians throughout the mid-1990s, but this dropped to $16.3 million in 2001. The entire Middle East represents approximately 7% of Japan's total foreign assistance.
2004-03-12 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive