From Hiroshima/Nagasaki to New York: Campaigning for a Nuclear-Free Future!
Published on August, 47 2019
On August 5, 2019, Nuri Ronaghy and Alan Shorb of Ojai, California, and Ellen Thomas from western North Carolina, had a joyful lunch in Hiroshima, Japan, with eight Hiroshima WILPF members during a rare break in the busy conference schedule of plenaries and workshops. Photo taken on Ellen Thomas’s iPhone by waitress.
By Ellen Thomas
Co-chair, DISARM/End Wars Issue Committee
On August 2-10, 2019, three WILPF US members (Ellen Thomas, Nuri Ronaghy, and Alan Shorb) joined thousands of Japanese activists in Hiroshima and Nagasaki during the 74th anniversary 2019 World Conference against A & H Bombs, and then visited Nuclear Free Kobe.
On August 6th, after the formal 74th anniversary commemoration of the bombing in Hiroshima Peace Park, there was a conference plenary in the Hiroshima Prefectural Gymnasium, where Ellen spoke to an estimated 1,500 people and announced that WILPF US members had gathered over 7,500 signatures on a petition to the US President and the US Senate asking for ratification of the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
On August 7th, Ellen handed a thumb drive with scans of 559 petitions to three atomic bomb survivors in Nagasaki, along with letters from Darien De Lu, President of WILPF US, and David Swanson of World Beyond War, as well as dozens of notes of support gathered at recent Nuclear-Free-Future events in California and via email.
Photo: Kido Sueichi, secretary-general of Nihon Hidankyo (Japan Confederation of A-and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations); Tanaka Terumi, co-chair of Nihon Hidankyo; Tanaka Shigemitsu, co-chair of Nihon Hidankyo and president of Nagasaki A-Bomb Survivors Council, receive WILPF US petitions and letters of support from Ellen Thomas in Nagasaki on August 7. Dr. Manisha Gaur (in green sari) also presented petitions from India. Other people on the stage are displaying how many “Hibakusha Appeal” signatures they and their friends have collected. Photo credit: Hayato Koga.
It was announced that the next World Conference against A & H Bombs would be held in April 2020 in New York City during the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review at the United Nations, at which time atomic bomb survivors and a host of other Japanese antinuclear activists will march. The activists will meet at the Riverside Church, and will deliver their Hibakusha Appeal, which has around 10 million signatures so far supporting the UN nuclear weapons ban treaty and calling for no more Hiroshimas or Nagasakis. Let's hope that there will be many WILPF members participating in this event!
California Tour
Before arriving in Japan on August 1, Nuri, Alan, and Ellen toured California, speaking at Nuclear-Free-Future events hosted by WILPF and Peace Action in Sacramento, by WILPF in Palo Alto and Fresno, and by Mothers for Peace in San Luis Obispo. Nuri spoke passionately about her experiences as an Iranian/American. Ellen recorded all the presentations and hopes to have the best of them posted on YouTube and Facebook soon.
Photo: Nuri Ronaghy speaking in Palo Alto, California, on July 17, 2019. Photo by Ellen Thomas.
The travelers also joined local constituents on visits with staff members of seven Representatives: Doris Matsui (Sacramento), John Garamendi (Davis), Zoe Lofgren (San Jose), Ro Khanna (Santa Clara), Jackie Speier (San Mateo), Anna Eshoo (Palo Alto), and Jim Costa (Fresno) - to ask for co-sponsorship of the Nuclear Weapons Abolition and Economic and Energy Conversion Act of 2019. They also met with Kristina Solberg in Senator Dianne Feinstein’s Fresno office to ask that a companion bill be introduced into the Senate.
The legislators were in D.C., but returning home in August. The staff members said they would immediately inform the DC office. Ellen reminded her companions that it is important to arrange personal meetings with the legislators while they are home, because they make the decisions, and suggested that people also attend candidates’ forums to ask if they will support the UN nuclear ban treaty and if they will co-sponsor HR-2419. Three questions can be found at the bottom of page 2 of Good People Doing Great Things in 2019 for a Nuclear-Free Future, a handout prepared for this 2019 tour.
Much more detail on this amazing five-week tour will be available in the October eNews. Currently, Nuri, Alan, and I are recuperating at our homes, but we are planning to head to DC and New York to continue the Nuclear-Free Future campaign. We hope you will work with us now, where you are, and next April you will join us in New York!
Please Support These Upcoming Events
Extinction Rebellion: Sept. 20-27 Week of Action
International Day of Peace: Sept. 21
Keep Space for Peace Week: Oct. 5 – 12, sponsored by the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space.
For more information, contact:
Ellen Thomas et@prop1.org
Nuri Ronaghy nurironaghy@gmail.com
Alan Shorb alan.shorb@mindspring.com
