ACTION ALERT: Stand with the
Hibakusha and Abolish Nuclear Weapons
Susan Mirsky / Massachusetts Peace Action & EveryAction

(October 11, 2024) We salute the tireless advocacy of the Hibakusha, the survivors of the US’ 1945 nuclear bomb attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Their organization, Nihon Hidankyo, the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, is the winner of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize.

“It would be a great force to appeal to the world that the abolition of nuclear weapons can be achieved,” Nihon Hidankyo’s co-leader Toshiyuki Mimaki said. “Nuclear weapons should absolutely be abolished.”

As the Nobel committee wrote, “No nuclear weapon has been used in war in nearly 80 years. The extraordinary efforts of Nihon Hidankyo and other representatives of the Hibakusha have contributed greatly to the establishment of the nuclear taboo.”

Unfortunately, this taboo is now being challenged by the nuclear powers, led by the United States. The US is building a new Intercontinental ballistic missile, the Sentinel; new submarine-launched missiles and gravity bombs; and new nuclear weapon delivery bombers, submarines, and cruise missiles. The US has withdrawn from its nuclear arms limitation treaties with Russia and there are no negotiations underway to establish new ones. The US is involved in regional conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, and in severe tensions in East Asia, any of which could lead to a nuclear war.

The situation for children in Gaza is similar to the situation in Japan at the end of World War II, Toshiyuki Mimaki said today. “In Gaza, children in blood are being held. It’s like in Japan 80 years ago,” AFP reported

ACTION: Tell Congress to Honor
The Hibakusha and Stand with Humanity

THE LETTER

Congratulations to the Hibakusha, the survivors of the US’ 1945 nuclear bomb attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Their organization, Nihon Hidankyo, the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, is the winner of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize.

But today, the United States is leading a new nuclear arms race. The US is building a new Intercontinental ballistic missile, the Sentinel; new submarine-launched missiles and gravity bombs; and new nuclear weapon delivery bombers, submarines, and cruise missiles. The US has withdrawn from its nuclear arms limitation treaties with Russia and there are no negotiations underway to establish new ones.

The US is involved in regional conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, and in severe tensions in east Asia, any of which could lead to a nuclear war.
I call on Congress to support legislation to de-alert nuclear weapons, establish a No First use policy, embrace the Treaty on Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, and cancel the new Sentinel missile and other nuclear weapons “modernization” programs.

Congress should pass Rep. Jim McGovern’s H. Res. 77, Embracing the goals and provisions of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, and Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton’s H.R. 2775, the Nuclear Weapons Abolition and Conversion Act of 2023. Congress should support ceasefires and urgent peace talks to end the Middle East crisis, the Ukraine war, and the dangerous standoffs in East Asia.

Call on Congress to support legislation to de-alert nuclear weapons, establish a No First use policy, embrace the Treaty on Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, and cancel the new Sentinel missile and other nuclear weapons “modernization” programs.

Susan Mirsky is Nuclear Disarmament chair at MAPA