Peace and Planet & Jacqueline Cabasso, Joseph Gerson and Kevin Martin / Truthout – 2015-04-14 02:33:26
www.peaceandplanet.org
(April 12, 2015) — On April 26/27, people around the world will wave goodbye to nuclear weapons . Will you be among them?
The aim: raise public awareness and urge governments to agree to a diplomatic process to prohibit and eliminate nuclear weapons. Anyone can wave goodbye to nuclear weapons.
Here are just a few of the exciting wave actions already planned:
* Approximately 15,000 people will wave goodbye to nuclear weapons from the Peace and Planet rally in New York;
* Bethlehem Christmas Church will wave goodbye to nuclear weapons with a bell-ringing event;
* In Laos there will be a 16,000 metre run (one meter to run away each nuclear weapon) followed by a Wave goodbye to nuclear weapons and war at the Plain of Jars, the area in Laos most heavily bombed during the Vietnam War (See Laos Global Wave 2015: Run away the bombs!
* Mayors for Peace and Peace Boat are doing a “Goodbye, Nukes!”/”Bon Voyage, child-survivors!” as part of Global Wave 2015 and the “I was her age” Hibakusha Project ;
* Physicians for Social Responsibility (Los Angeles) is doing a Wave goodbye to nuclear weapons from the historic Chain Reaction sculpture in Santa Monica, USA.
Organise a simple Global Wave action. It could be yourself with just a few friends, or it could be larger with your workmates or school/university friends, or sports club, or church/mosque/synagogue/temple. Or more formal with your mayor at city hall, or with parliamentarians on the steps of your parliament.
Take a photo/video of your wave. Post it on your social media. Send it to us and we will present it to governments meeting at the United Nations for the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference.
The aim: raise public awareness and urge governments to agree to a diplomatic process to prohibit and eliminate nuclear weapons. Anyone can wave goodbye to nuclear weapons.
Global Wave events are listed on the world map of Global Wave events.
Read about some more of them on Global Wave 2015 News and Global Wave Facebook pages. Add your wave event to this exciting global activity.
Yours in peace
The Global Wave 2015 Team
Actions around the world on April 26-27 to wave goodbye to nuclear weapons
www.globalwave2015.org
www.facebook.com/globalwave2015
info@globalwave2015.org
A project of the Peace and Planet mobilisation for nuclear abolition
www.peaceandplanet.org
http://www.globalwave2015.org/news-2/2015/3/20/i-have-no-arms-but-i-wave-goodbye-to-nuclear-weapons
“I Have No Arms, but I Wave Goodbye to Nuclear Weapons”
Karipbek Kuyukov
Global Wave 1 from Global Wave 2015 on Vimeo.
(March 20, 2015) — Karipbek Kuyukov, a renowned Kazakh artist and nuclear abolition campaigner, joins Global Wave 2015.
Kuyukov ‘waves goodbye to nuclear weapons’ despite having no arms as a result of his parent’s exposure to radiation from nuclear testing. He encourages people all over the world, regardless of language, nationality, religion, politics or physical ability to join us in the Global Wave.
Kuyukov was born in the village of Yegyndybulak, which is located 100 kilometres away from the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site. Over 450 nuclear bombs were ‘tested’ (i.e. exploded) by the Soviet Union at this site.
‘This land is sacred to me not only because it is my motherland, but also because my forefathers were born here and lived there. For me, it is the most beautiful land in Kazakhstan,’ says Kuyukov. But nuclear testing has destroyed the land and people. ‘We were told, “radioactive substances do not affect flora.”
What a terrible lie! Overdoses of radiation cause human beings to suffer from cancer tumors, skin cancer and leukemia. These are death sentences! And, what’s more, according to the experts, the consequences of radiation can affect from five to six generations of people.’
Kuyukov has experienced extreme adversity, including his own health problems and the sicknesses and deaths of many friends and family members. However, through his art and as the Honorary Ambassador of the ATOM Project, he has been tireless in promoting nuclear abolition globally. He has numerous awards and has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for his bravery and commitment.
‘I took up art. I have loved to draw since my early childhood. I do not know why, but my soul was striving toward creating something beautiful. I did this without arms, but with my feet, legs and mouth. I have become an artist, because an artist’s soul cannot be diminished by a physical limitation.’
Kuyukov is optimistic that nuclear abolition is possible. He points to the example of Kazakhstan, which hosted thousands of Soviet nuclear weapons but abandoned the nuclear option and got rid of them all.
Kazakhstan, under the leadership of President Nazarbayev, has taken a number of other initiatives for a nuclear-weapon-free world including establishing the UN International Day Against Nuclear Tests, negotiating a Central Asian Nuclear Weapon Free Zone and hosting many international nuclear disarmament conferences including the 2012 PNND Assembly at which the ATOM Project was launched.
Despite his physical limitations, Kuykov travels widely to promote nuclear abolition. ‘I will continue to call on all the mankind to preserve security on the planet until my heart stops. I do not want the repeat of these events at any place or time, anywhere on the planet. I am happy to live at a time when the voice of one person can be heard and supported by millions living in the most distant places of the Earth — our voices can become one powerful voice!’
