Statement of Mourning for a Great Comrade and Revolutionary Internationalist
♦️ The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine Mourns the Great Revolutionary Internationalist Comrade Kōzō Okamoto (Ahmad the Japanese), One of the Heroes of the Immortal Lod Airport Operation
With the highest sense of pride and honor, and with the deepest commitment to loyalty and internationalist struggle, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, on behalf of its Secretary-General, Deputy Secretary-General, Political Bureau, Central Committee, and all of its members and supporters in the homeland and the diaspora, mourns before our heroic Palestinian people, our Arab nation, and all the free and revolutionary people of the world, the passing of the internationalist fighter who never stood in any trench other than that of truth and freedom: the revolutionary internationalist comrade Kōzō Okamoto (Ahmad the Japanese).
He passed away today, Thursday, 23 July 2026, in the suburb of dignity and honor, Lebanon’s capital, Beirut, steadfast in his principles after a life filled with revolutionary glory and immense sacrifices that spanned decades on the frontlines of struggle alongside the Palestinian cause. He neither compromised nor surrendered, but remained firmly committed to his principles until his very last breath.
A Life of Glory and Defiance… From the Far East to the Heart of Palestine
- Comrade Kōzō Okamoto was born on 7 December 1947 in the city of Kumamoto, southern Japan, into a middle-class family, the youngest of seven siblings.
- He was distinguished by his sharp intellect and exceptional abilities. He studied Botany and mastered several languages—including English, Hebrew, Arabic, Chinese, and Russian—with remarkable speed, dedicating his scientific knowledge and intellectual abilities to the cause he embraced.
- He was one of the heroes of the historic Lod Airport Operation on 30 May 1972, in which Comrade Okamoto and his comrades etched, through their blood and determination, one of the boldest and most innovative fedayeen operations in the history of the struggle against the Zionist entity. The operation was carried out by members of the Japanese Red Army, in coordination with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, in retaliation for the occupation’s attack on Beirut Airport in 1968.
- This operation shook the foundations of the Zionist entity, inspired resistance movements with extraordinary methods of confronting Zionist aggression, and led the martyred leader and writer Ghassan Kanafani, then spokesperson of the Front, to publicly claim responsibility for it. Kanafani himself was assassinated in July 1972 in a treacherous Zionist attack.
- Comrade Okamoto endured thirteen harsh years in the prisons of the occupation, most of them spent in solitary confinement designed to break his will, mind, and body. The world witnessed the brutality of his jailers, who forced him to eat while his hands were shackled behind his back. Yet the internationalist’s iron will defied his captors, and he remained as steadfast as a mountain.
- On 20 May 1985, he was released as part of the Galilee prisoner exchange operation, carried out by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command. He remained a living symbol of resistance until the Lebanese state granted him political asylum in 2000, in recognition of his lifelong struggle, allowing him to continue living as a resistance fighter until his passing in proud Beirut.
- In 2016, the Popular Front honored him in recognition of his enduring legacy and tremendous sacrifices alongside the Palestinian cause.
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, as it bids farewell today to a courageous vanguard comrade who crossed thousands of miles, leaving behind the comforts of his homeland to shoulder the burden of the Palestinian cause, affirms that “Ahmad the Japanese” was an integral part of the Palestinian revolutionary movement and a symbol of genuine internationalism—an internationalism founded on the belief in worldwide resistance against imperialism. Born in Japan, he carried his life in the palm of his hand to Palestine, and ultimately gave it in the suburb of dignity in Beirut, standing proud, never surrendering it to the enemy.
The Front further renews its pledge before his memory and before the entire history of internationalist struggle to remain faithful to this path, keeping the sword of resistance raised and its banners held high until the liberation of all of Palestine, from the river to the sea, with Jerusalem as its capital.
Let the passing of Comrade Kōzō Okamoto become a moment to strengthen revolutionary internationalist unity in the face of imperialism and global Zionism.
Glory to the soul of this great fighter, and to all free revolutionaries.
Freedom for the prisoners.
Victory shall surely be ours.
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
23 July 2026
