On Sunday, August 6, marchers will commemorate the 72nd anniversary of the US atomic bombing of Hiroshima Japan by gathering at the top of Church St. (by First Unitarian Church) at 7 pm and walking and singing to the waterfront where lamps and candleboats will be launched at dusk. We invite all those who want world peace and an end to nuclear weapons to join in the march.
Our statement: We will be marching with a great sense of urgency. The world stands at a pivotal moment, one that can turn very suddenly toward a nuclear exchange and global devastation, or, towards nuclear weapons abolition. Under Trump, the U.S. is on a path to spend more than one trillion dollars over thirty years to upgrade its nuclear bombs, warheads and delivery systems. Russia, China, France, U.K., India, Israel and Pakistan have begun nuclear modernizations of their own, and North Korea is testing warheads and missiles to deliver them.
The world has never faced so many nuclear flashpoints simultaneously, as all of the nuclear-armed states are tangled up in conflicts and crises that could catastrophically escalate at any moment.
Yet the world could choose another way. On the other side of the fulcrum stands the Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty, adopted, at the United Nations, by 122 nations in July and opening for signatures this Sept. 20 at the UN. http://www.undocs.org/en/a/conf.229/2017/L.3 While the nuclear--‐armed states are not expected to sign in the near‐term, the treaty delegitimizes nuclear weapons globally and renders them unacceptable. It establishes both new law and a new norm, outlawing nuclear weapons development, testing, possession, use, transfer and/or any offer of assistance in a prohibited activity. Moreover, it bans the threat of use, which is the basis for “deterrence” policy. The treaty is an historic, giant step forward toward global abolition of these horrific weapons.
We will be launching a petition, calling on President Trump and the Senate to work with others to negotiate the elimination of nuclear weapons. Visit the website www.icanw.org and http://wilpf.org for more information.
Sponsored by the Peace & Justice Center (PJC) and the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF): 802-863-2345.
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