Thousands rally in Tahiti over nuke legacy--French atmospheric testing since going on in 1974--US stopped in 1963

Message from Ellen Thomas of the Proposition One Committee and WILPF:

From 1960 to 1996, France carried out 210 nuclear tests, 17 in the Algerian Sahara and 193 in French Polynesia in the South Pacific.

On 17 July 1974, a test exposed Tahiti to 500 times the maximum allowed level of plutonium fallout.

Best report on French testing:

www.sea.edu › french_nuclear_testing_in_polynesiaFrench Nuclear Testing in Polynesia - SEA Semester

 

The United States continued to put pressure on France to end its testing, and from 1992 to 1995 there was an informal non-testing period. However President Jaques Chirac announced plans to

www.theguardian.com › world › 2013French nuclear tests 'showered vast area of Polynesia with ...

 

Jul 03, 2013 · It said papers showed that on 17 July 1974, a test exposed Tahiti to 500 times the maximum allowed level of plutonium fallout.

https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/447170/thousands-rally-in-tahiti-over-nuke-legacy

PACIFIC FRENCH POLYNESIA

6:26 am today

Thousands rally in Tahiti over nuke legacy

6:26 am today 

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Several thousand people in French Polynesia have joined a march demanding France own up to the damage caused by its nuclear weapons tests.

https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/447170/thousands-rally-in-tahiti-over-nuke-legacy from RNZ.

The rally was organised by nuclear veterans group and the pro-independence opposition to mark the day in 1974 when fallout from an atmospheric nuclear test covered all of French Polynesia.

The protest under the banner Maohi Lives Matter came a week before the French president Emmanuel Macron is due for his delayed first official visit to the territory.

A pro-independence parliamentarian Moetai Brotherson said over the years the French tests had contributed to the death of thousands of people yet France refused to apologise for that.

France has ruled out an apology and its government told a roundtable on the nuclear legacy in Paris earlier this month that it never told lies about the testing programme.

The pro-independence leader Oscar Temaru said France had denied the reality for decades, adding that he fought against France's lies which he likened to terrorism.

In 2018, Mr Temaru's Tavini Huiraatira Party and the dominant Maohi Protestant Church alleged that the weapons testing amounted to a crime against humanity and referred all living French presidents to the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

Live Screening: The War Game at Arlington's Regent Theater!

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The Arlington Premiere of The War Game at the Regent Theatre

Friday August 6th: Screening @ 7:00, Doors @ 6:00

Mass. Peace Action and Physicians for Social Responsibility are sponsoring a special live, in-person screening of Peter Watkins’ Academy-award winning film The War Game 7 pm ET August 6th at the Regent Theatre in Arlington. This 1966 docudrama depicting a hypothetical nuclear attack on Great Britain was so provocative that it was banned from broadcast by the BBC. After the screening, internationally renowned nuclear disarmament expert Dr. Ira Helfand will take questions and discuss practical steps for engagement. Afterwards, attendees are welcome to attend a candlelight vigil at Spy Pond, a short distance from the theater. If your group would like to join the growing list of cosponsors please write to info@masspeaceaction.org. $10 suggested donation.

Join a Hiroshima-Nagasaki Event, or Organize your own

This August marks the 76 years since the United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and 51 years of inexcusable inaction by the five original nuclear powers that have failed to honor the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. Massachusetts Peace Action is calling on all peace activists to plan or join commemorative events in their communities for Hiroshima-Nagasaki week, August 2nd to 9th. For a list of events click here. To list your own, click here!

All events will be held in conjunction with global “Peace Wave 2021” initiated by Japan Council against A and H Bombs (Gensuikyo). Here in the United States, these vital steps need to be taken right now:

• Halt the current nuclear “modernization” plan, with a special focus on defunding the ICBM “Money Pit” Missile     
• Adopt a “No First Use” doctrine: the U.S. must never be the first to use nuclear weapons
• Eliminate the president’s “sole, unchecked authority” to initiate nuclear war
• Remove U.S. nuclear weapons off “hair-trigger” alert
• Support for the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons that entered into force on January 22nd of this year     

Over a dozen events from Pittsfield to Marthas’ Vineyard have been scheduled.

Add yours to our list! No matter the size of your event register your information with us so that we can promote and include it in our calendar. 

This is a solemn and urgent moment, but one filled with the possibility of action to insure a future free of nuclear weapons. We are counting on you to take the first steps with us. Please join us!

In peace and solidarity, Maryellen Kurkulos Massachusetts Peace Action Board PS: Get your ticket for the War Game at Arlington's Regent Theater Join the Peace Wave, buy attending a Hiroshima and Nagasaki event!

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76 Years after A-Bomb, Youth Can Lead on Reducing Nuke Danger

Opinion piece in Newsweek.

NUCLEAR WEAPONS CLEANUP -- "Big and Bold Action" Needed

President Biden is poised to nominate the next Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management (EM-1) at the U.S. Department of Energy. Alliance for Nuclear Accountability (ANA) has written the Energy Secretary, Jennifer Granholm, about this. See ANA's press release.

Marylia Kelley, ANA Board President, summed up the network’s demands: “Business as usual at EM will not get the job done!” She continued, “As one measure of the priority the Biden administration puts on public health and environmental justice, the nominee for EM-1 should be someone with a proven commitment to Environmental Justice in cleanup of DOE sites.” The Post & Courier has reported on this story. Beyond Nuclear is one of more than 30 ANA member groups.

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HIROSHIMA + NAGASAKI: Bombing commemorations worldwide

August 6 and 9 are fast approaching, and numerous organizations and coalitions have planned annual atomic bombing commemoration events and activities. We have listed all those we know of at our Nuclear Weapons website section homepage, and will add more as we learn of them. Currently, events in the Washington, D.C. area (a celebration of the Hiroshima Nagasaki Peace Committee's 40th anniversary, scheduled for July 16), San Francisco Bay area; the Seattle area's "From Hiroshima to Hope" and Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action; New York City; Boston; Atlanta; and Japan, are listed. So too are book studies. Please look for Hiroshima-Nagasaki events near you, take part, and spread the word on these solemn annual commemorations.

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