Nuclear threats escalate as 122 nations gather to back abolition
Burlington area groups to celebrate historic UN peace initiative

Despite all the nuclear saber rattling between President Trump and Korea’s Kim Jong-un, 122 nations around the world are moving in the opposite direction — toward a nuclear weapons free future. On Sept. 20, these diverse nations — two-thirds of all UN members — will gather at UN headquarters to make their commitment official by signing a 10-page treaty aimed at ultimately destroying all nuclear weapons and prohibiting the creation of new ones.
In recognition and support of this extraordinary step toward world peace, the VT Stands for a World Beyond War coalition will hold a celebration on the same day. We will rejoice over the growing global support for the elimination of nuclear weapons, despite the irresponsible belligerence of a few backward leaders. We’ll gather from noon to 2 p.m. on Church St., in front of the Burlington City Arts Gallery, 135 Church St, on Wednesday, Sept. 20th giving out cake to all who pass. We will also gather on the 2nd floor of the BCA Center to hear music that celebrates peace and nonviolent resistance/action.
Background: On 7 July 2017 – following a decade of advocacy by civil society organizations – an overwhelming majority of the world’s nations, meeting together at the United Nations General Assembly, adopted a landmark global agreement to ban nuclear weapons, known officially as the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. It will enter into legal force once 50 nations have signed and ratified it.

Full text of the treaty: http://www.icanw.org/treaty-on-the-prohibition-of-nuclear-weapons/
Government positions: http://www.icanw.org/why-a-ban/positions/
Photos of the negotiations: http://www.icanw.org/photos-of-the-negotiations/

Prior to the treaty’s adoption, nuclear weapons were the only weapons of mass destruction not subject to a comprehensive ban, despite their catastrophic, widespread and persistent humanitarian and environmental consequences. The new agreement fills a significant gap in international law.
It prohibits nations from developing, testing, producing, manufacturing, transferring, possessing, stockpiling, using or threatening to use nuclear weapons, or allowing nuclear weapons to be stationed on their territory. It also prohibits them from assisting, encouraging or inducing anyone to engage in any of these activities. For more information, consult www.icanw.org.
The treaty was negotiated at the United Nations headquarters in New York in March, June and July 2017, with the participation of more than 135 nations, as well as members of civil society. It will open for signature on 20 September 2017. It is permanent in nature, and will be legally binding on those nations that join it.
Free cake will be provided for all!!! (In case of rain: 2nd floor BCA Center). Sponsored by the VT Stands for a World Beyond War Coalition.
The VT Stands for a World Beyond War Coalition, formed in 2017, is composted of groups working on interconnected issues that have a shared goal in revitalizing the Vermont peace movement that highlights the financial, social, and environmental costs of war and militarism in our state. Some of the groups in this coalition include, the Peace & Justice Center, Women’s International League for Peace & Freedom (Burlington Chapter), Kunsi Keya Tomakoce, Kids4Peace, Will Miller Chapter of the Green Mountain Veterans for Peace, Justice for All, Vermont Action for Peace, Stop the F35s Coalition, Greater Burlington Multicultural Resource Center, the Global Unity and Solidarity Club, and Physicians for Social Responsibility.
https://www.facebook.com/events/1937246483195737