FIND YOUR EVENT: Hiroshima/Nagasaki commemorations

As featured in Beyond Nuclear's weekly e-bulletin:

As the August 6 and August 9 commemorations of the U.S. atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki approach, Physicians for Social Responsibility is providing a list of events in the U.S. Visit their compilation to find an event near you.

The 2021 Hiroshima A-bomb peace ceremony will go ahead in that city, albeit with COVID restrictions in place, given Japan’s low vaccination rate. Envoys from 93 countries are expected to attend the ceremony which begins at 8 am Japan time on August 6, just 16 minutes before the time the bomb fell on that city in 1945. Three days later, the U.S. bombed Nagasaki. The two bombs killed at least 226,000 people and likely far more, almost all of them civilians.

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Honor Hiroshima & Nagasaki Anniversaries with Action!

As the 76th anniversaries of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki approach, we hope you will join us in honoring these solemn days and in remembering the unprecedented devastation inflicted on the people living in these two cities. The destruction and death caused by nuclear weapons is unconscionable, and we are reminded once again that we must do all that we can to make sure these weapons are never used again. At Back from the Brink we are honoring these solemn anniversaries with action, and we hope you will join us for the following: War on Thursday August 5th at 1pm ET / 10am PT.  During these Action Hours, we have been making phone calls to state and local elected officials encouraging them to sign on to our letter to the Biden Administration and Congress urging them to take concrete action toward the goal of nuclear abolition. So far, we have gotten over 160 elected officials to make their voices heard, and we’d like to get at least 100 more before we send the letter.  If you can join us, we will provide you with a training, phone numbers, and a script, and will be on hand to answer any questions that come up. Join us for our third Action Hour: Calling to Prevent Nuclear Email your local officials and state legislators on the anniversaries of the bombings (on August 6th and 9th), and encourage them to sign on to our letter.  A sample script of the email can be found here, and you can use this tool to identify your representatives.  (If you need help or want to verify your officials, feel free to email Alex @ info@preventnuclearwar.org) The Biden Administration is currently working on their updated Nuclear Posture Review, which will dictate the country’s nuclear weapons strategy for the next few years, and unfortunately, it’s looking like a continuation of the status quo. The Administration is hearing from defense contractors who want to continue to sell expensive, dangerous, and unnecessary weapons. However, constituents hold significant and unique power to influence elected officials.  That’s why we need your help to demonstrate the enormous grassroots support for nuclear abolition! If you are unable to participate in either of these events, you can also support this effort with a donation to the Back from the Brink campaign, which can be made here. As always, thank you for your continued support of this campaign, and we hope to see you soon! Sincerely, Back from the Brink Organizers

MA Peace Action (Boston): August 6th: Live Screening of The War Game at Arlington's Regent Theater!

Friday August 6th: Screening @ 7:00, Doors @ 6:00, Arlington's Regent Theater

Dear Friends,

What would a nuclear attack look like? That's what filmmaker Peter Watkins explored in The War Game. It won him the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature and scared the BBC so much that they banned the film!

Join us the evening of Friday, August 6th at Arlington's Historic Regent Theater! $10 suggested donation.

At the recommendation of healthcare professionals masks will be required, and provided. Maximum capacity will be set at 150/475 seats, and a virtual option has been added. After the film and a question and answer session, audience members are encouraged to participate in a candlelight vigil. The vigil will take place by the Civil War memorial in Arlington Center around 8:45 pm, one block from the theater at the corner of Broadway and Massachusetts Ave.

The screening is presented by Massachusetts Peace Action and Greater Boston Physicians for Social Responsibility and is cosponsored by:

• Campaign for Peace, Disarmament, and Common Security
• Watertown Citizens for Peace, Justice, and the Environment
• Smedley Butler Brigade, Chapter 9 of Veterans For Peace
• Arlington United for Justice with Peace
• Soko Gakkai International – USA
• Peace Abbey / Pacifist Memorial
• Pax Christi MA
• Pax Christi St. Susanna
• Cambridge Health Alliance
• 350Mass
• Union of Concerned Scientists
• Bikes Not Bombs
• Arlington Human Rights Commission
• Community Church of Boston
• Massachusetts Poor People’s Campaign

For information on more

events during Hiroshima

and Nagasaki week

click here!

Following the film, Nobel Laureate Dr. Ira Helfand

will take questions and discuss steps you can take

to help rid the world of nuclear weapons! 

Ira Helfand, MD is a member of the International

Steering Group of the International Campaign to

Abolish Nuclear Weapon, ICAN, the recipient of

the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize, and Immediate Past

President of the International Physicians for the

Prevention of Nuclear War, the founding partner

of ICAN and itself the recipient of the 1985 Nobel

Peace Prize. 

Brian Garvey

Assistant Director

Massachusetts Peace Action

PS: Buy your tickets to The War Game now!

Chesapeake PSR: Hiroshima & Nagasaki commemoration events

CPSR is co-sponsoring  events on the anniversary of the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Please join us in person in Baltimore August 6 and August 9:

BALTIMORE HOLDS 37th ANNUAL HIROSHIMA & NAGASAKI COMMEMORATIONS.

Under the umbrella of the Hiroshima-Nagasaki Commemoration Committee, members of several organizations -- the Baltimore Club of the CPUSA, the Baltimore Nonviolence Center, Chesapeake Physicians for Social Responsibility, Homewood Friends Meeting, Maryland Peace Action and Prevent Nuclear War Maryland – have planned two events to remember what took place on August 6, 1945 in Hiroshima and three days later in Nagasaki. The atom bomb survivors, the Hibakusha, have always stated NEVER AGAIN. Contact Max at 410-323-1607 or mobuszewski2001 at Comcast dot net.

On August 6 from 6:30 to 7 PM ET, gather outside Homewood Friends Meetinghouse, 3107 N. Charles St. to call for an end to Johns Hopkins University's weapons contracts. The university is the #1 School of Mass Destruction as it receives the largest amount of research dollars for nuclear weapons contracts.

Inside Homewood, you must wear a mask and do social distancing. Charlie Cooper, with Get Money Out – Maryland, will make the point that money has corrupted many legislators. This makes it very difficult for advocates trying to convince their legislators to vote to cut back on bloated military spending and new nuclear weapons.

Greta Zarro, the organizing director of World Beyond War, will expound on the connection between U.S. militarism and climate chaos. She will appear by Zoom.

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On August 9 from 5:30 to 6:30 PM ET, there will be a vigil to commemorate the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, again outside Homewood Friends Meetinghouse. Afterwards, the assembled will go into the meetinghouse.

Dr. Gwen DuBois, with Chesapeake Physicians for Social Responsibility and Prevent Nuclear War/Maryland, will do a presentation on the Back from the Brink campaign, five steps towards the abolition of nuclear weapons. Baltimore was the first large city to pass a Back from the Brink resolution on August 6, 2018.

Then testimonials and statements condemning nuclear weapons will be read. These statements will challenge Johns Hopkins University to renounce its nuclear weapons contracts. Finally, some participants will go to Busboys and Poets, 33rd and St. Paul Streets, to break bread and enjoy a community meal. This is an opportunity to come together and commit to the task of eventually abolishing nuclear weapons.

On July 12, 2021, JHU was awarded a $530,000,000 contract for research and development services in support of the nuclear enterprise. Another contract received was for research and development services for $23 million to support the Ground Based Strategic Deterrent weapon system. These contracts are for services in support of the two intercontinental ballistic missile systems.

Charlie Cooper with Get Money Out – Maryland is working very hard to pass the For the People Act, the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, and D.C. Statehood. His group also wants to End gerrymandering, Stop dark money spending, Protect elections by requiring voting machines made in U.S. and with a paper trail and Make Election Day a holiday.

Greta Zarro has a background in issue-based community organizing. Her experience includes volunteer recruitment and engagement, event organizing, coalition building, legislative and media outreach, and public speaking. Greta graduated as valedictorian from St. Michael's College with a bachelor's degree in Sociology/Anthropology. She previously worked as New York Organizer for leading non-profit Food & Water Watch. There, she campaigned on issues related to fracking, genetically engineered foods, climate change, and the corporate control of our common resources. Greta and her partner run Unadilla Community Farm, a non-profit organic farm and permaculture education center in Upstate New York. Greta can be reached at greta@worldbeyondwar.org.

SLOW MOTION NUCLEAR HOLOCAUST

As Tom Engelhardt wrote, "...climate change should really be reimagined as the equivalent of a slow-motion nuclear holocaust. Hiroshima took place in literally seconds, a single blinding flash of heat. Global warming will prove to be a matter of years, decades, even centuries of heat."

Back from the Brink calls on the government to 1] Actively pursuing a verifiable agreement among nuclear-armed states to eliminate their nuclear arsenals; 2] Renouncing the option of using nuclear weapons first; 3] Ending the sole, unchecked authority of any U.S. President to launch a nuclear attack; 4] Taking U.S. nuclear weapons off hair-trigger alert and 5] Cancelling the plan to replace the entire U.S. nuclear arsenal with enhanced weapons.

Dr. Gwen will also speak about The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, the first legally binding international agreement to comprehensively prohibit nuclear weapons with the ultimate goal being their total elimination. It became effective on January 22, 2021 in countries which ratified the Treaty. A copy of the Treaty was delivered to the residence of JHU president Ron Daniels on January 22, 2021.

As the Olympic Games Begin, “Nuclear Games,” a New Education Platform, Counters Pro-Nuclear Messages with a Fresh Look at Nuclear Issues

Source:  Basel Peace Office, baselpeaceoffice.org

NEWS RELEASE

For immediate release

Contacts:  

In New York, USA:  Stephen Kent, skent@kentcom.com +1 914 589 5988

In Prague, Czech Republic: Vanda Proskova, vanda@pnnd.org +420 728 407 661

In Basel, Switzerland: Dr. Andreas  Nidecker, anidecker@bluewin.ch, +41 76 557 37 12

As the Olympic Games Begin, “Nuclear Games,” a New Education Platform, Counters Pro-Nuclear Messages with a Fresh Look at Nuclear Issues

[Basel, Switzerland – July 23, 2021]  Today, coinciding with the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympic Games, a coalition of NGOs and youth leaders are launching “Nuclear Games,” an innovative film and online platform addressing our nuclear history and the risks and impacts of nuclear weapons and energy. 

“Nuclear Games” was developed by interactive videobooks pioneer Docmine, a Swiss-based creative studio, with support from Basel Peace Office, Youth Fusion , Physicians for Social Responsibility Switzerland and the World Future Council. It’s offered in English and German, and aimed at non-usual suspects: people who don’t typically watch political documentaries or engage in anti-nuclear advocacy work. It will have particular resonance with younger viewers, many of whom are unfamiliar with the history it conveys of nuclear disasters, near misses, and ongoing threats and impacts.

It shines a light on nuclear issues which are deliberately downplayed by governments, including by Japan as it presents  the Tokyo Olympics.  Japan experienced nuclear bombings in 1945 and one of the world’s most devastating nuclear power accidents in 2011, and remains deeply affected by them.

“Nuclear Games” tells the stories of the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Chernobyl disaster, the victims of uranium mining and nuclear testing and the North Korean nuclear program, using a unique combination of manga, historical footage, and interactive online content designed to engage younger audiences.  The package consists of five short manga stories about real people in the center of these historical events, an hour-long animated feature film, and a “web documentary” platform which serves up the interactive content.  A trailer for the feature film is posted here.  Screener links for the film, the manga stories and the web documentary will be provided to journalists on request.

Today’s launch of “Nuclear Games” in connection with the opening of the Olympic Games contrasts the Olympic ideals of peace and humanity with the continuing violence and harms of nuclear energy, nuclear energy, and the resurgent arms race.

It also counters the Japanese government’s framing of the Olympics as the “recovery games.”  Protests by Japanese citizens against holding the games despite the surge in COVID in Tokyo are in the headlines now.  But in 2019, before the pandemic hit, Japan’s then prime minister Shinzo Abe declared that the Tokyo Olympics would be the “recovery games,” designed to “showcase” Fukushima’s recovery from the catastrophic 2011 meltdown of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. 

In the runup to today’s Olympic opening ceremony, the Olympic torch relay was deliberately routed through Fukushima Prefecture, including the towns where the plant is located, and others nearby that were long abandoned in the wake of the disaster.  Olympic baseball and softball competitions are also being held in a stadium in Fukushima Prefecture.

“This is government spin, deliberately minimizing and normalizing the disaster, and ignoring Fukushima’s ongoing impacts and threats to public safety,” said Dr. Andreas  Nidecker, MD, Basel Peace Office president and the originator of the “Nuclear Games” concept.  “Billions will watch the Olympics and get the carefully crafted message that everything in Fukushima is fine, and that nuclear meltdowns are quickly lived down.  But that’s dangerous denialism.  We need a global education effort to promote basic literacy about nuclear dangers in order to make future nuclear disasters less likely.”

In fact, nuclear dangers and tensions  are rising today.  According to the Pentagon, the risk of nuclear war is growing. The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists’ Doomsday Clock advanced this year to 100 seconds to midnight – closer to nuclear war even than during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

“But many young people aren’t even aware of the Cuban missile crisis, let alone the fact that nuclear dangers are worse now than in 1962,” said Vanda Proskova, a Youth Fusion convener and a graduate student in international law who is active on nuclear issues. She serves as the Vice Chair of PragueVision Institute for Sustainable Security and Co-Director of the Gender, Peace and Security program at Parliamentarians for Nuclear Nonproliferation and Disarmament. “That’s why nuclear education efforts like this are so important.  When they learn the facts and the history, many young people want to do something about it. ‘Nuclear Games’ is a wonderful tool for engaging more of them in the nuclear disarmament movement.”

As “Nuclear Games” points out, less than two years after the Cuban Missile Crisis, Japan also used the 1964 Tokyo Olympics to convey an upbeat message to the world about Japan’s recovery from the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.  It sought to showcase Japan as a modern nation with its own nuclear program, enjoying normalcy and benefitting from nuclear technology despite the bombings. 

But that’s not how survivors and residents of Hiroshima see it.  Last week, when International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach visited Hiroshima on the anniversary of the Trinity nuclear tests, he was met with large protests and accused of trying to use Hiroshima’s history to justify holding the Olympics despite the pandemic, against the will of Japan’s people.  Local citizens groups called Bach’s gesture “blasphemy to atomic bombing survivors,” and said it harmed nuclear abolition efforts.

Through innovative storytelling and education techniques, “Nuclear Games” aims to highlight the human side of nuclear issues, engage and inspire more people to get involved, counter the pro-nuclear spin of the Tokyo Olympics, and teach essential nuclear literacy to a new generation.

NOTE TO EDITORS AND PRODUCERS:  Screener links journalists can use to explore “Nuclear Games” are available on request.  Sources quoted in this release and other expert sources are also available for interviews.  To request links, arrange interviews, or for further information, please contact Stephen Kent, skent@kentcom.com +1 914 589 5988.

Update on July 29, 2021 by admin

As reported by The Nation:

Tokyo’s Games Are Harming the Nuclear Weapons Ban Movement

By paying lip service to the Fukushima disaster and the nuclear bombs dropped on Japan, these games are downplaying the growing danger of nuclear catastrophe.

By Alyn Ware

Update on August 2, 2021 by admin

As reported by the UK Express:

Olympics row: Tokyo dubbed 'nuclear games' as Fukushima disaster overshadows sport

JAPAN has been accused of recklessly using the Tokyo Olympics as part of a propaganda strategy aimed at downplaying the seriousness of 2011's Fukushima nuclear disaster.