New York vigil to mark 80th anniversary of Hiroshima & Nagasaki

Statue of St Agnes from Nagasaki Catholic Cathedral destroyed by the bomb - displayed at UN Headquarters. Image: Marcelo Schneider/WCC

A peace gathering to commemorate the 80th Anniversary of Hiroshima and Nagasaki will take place on Tuesday, 5 August from 11.50am-1pm, in front of the Consulate General of Japan in New York, 299 Park Avenue, New York, NY (Between 49th and 48th Street).

Eighty years have passed since the US dropped atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It is estimated that the bombs killed 210,000 citizens by the end of 1945 and, over the years, have ruined the health of many of the survivors. The average age of the hibakusha, or atomic bomb survivors, is now 86 years old, and many of them are still suffering from terrible health issues. To honour the memory of those who lost their lives to the atomic bombings, a coalition of citizens and peace activists will gather in front of the Japan Consulate General on Tuesday, August 5th, at 11.50am.

There we will join our voices to express our sincere regrets and apologies for our nations' atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

We will also express our solidarity with all peoples and nations across the globe who say NO to any and all nuclear weapons, NO to mining for radioactive fuel, NO to manufacturing them, NO to upgrading them, NO to storing them, NO to proliferating them, NO to threatening their use, simply NO! And we will say a resounding YES to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), calling for both the US and Japan to sign and ratify it along with the 73 countries and states that have already done so.

Our urgent message comes because, 80 years since the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, we are closer to nuclear annihilation than ever before. Russia has threatened the use of nuclear weapons against Ukraine. Nuclear-armed Israel and the nuclear-armed US have attacked Iran supposedly to stop any nuclear ambitions Iran may have, rather than abolishing their own nuclear arsenals. In addition, the Trump administration has ordered a 29% increase in the US National Nuclear Security Administration and has signed multiple executive orders to re-establish the US "as the global leader in nuclear energy." Simultaneously, the other eight nuclear-armed states are modernizing their nuclear weapon programs. And New York State Governor Hochul is looking to add at least a new nuclear-power generation to New York State's energy supply. We know these actions make us neither safer nor more secure, but rather put our environment, our economy, our very lives at enormous risk.

Consequently, we demand that all uranium mining and other uranium activities be halted, nuclear weapons manufacturing sites be shut down, all nuclear weapons be abolished, and focus our efforts and resources to provide assistance for nuclear victims and to safely store radioactive waste. The future of our world is at stake if we don't.

The Co-organizers are Veterans for Peace - NYC Chapter 34, the Manhattan Project, Pax Christi New York State, Peace Action New York State and NYC War Resisters League.

Veterans for Peace is a global organization of Military Veterans and allies whose collective efforts are to build a culture of peace by using our experiences and lifting our voices. We inform the public of the true causes of war and the enormous costs of wars, with an obligation to heal the wounds of wars.

LINKS

The Manhattan Project for a Nuclear-Free World: https://mp-nuclear-free.com/

Pax Christi New York State: https://paxchristinys.org/

Peace Action New York State: www.panys.org/

NYC War Resisters League: https://nycwarresisters.org/

Veterans for Peace: www.veteransforpeace.org/