A webinar sponsored by the Sydney Hiroshima Day 鈥 鈥淔ighting the Bomb鈥 鈥 heard from prominent peace activists on August 6. It coincided with the 75th anniversary of the United States鈥 nuclear attack on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War II.
Chamoru woman from the US Pacific colony of Guam Dr Lisa Natividad led off saying that the US government鈥檚 67 nuclear tests in the Marshall Islands region, including nearby Guam between 1946 and 1958, had led to considerable clusters of cancer and birth聽defects among the island population.
Natividad is president of the Guahan Coalition for Peace and Justice, and associate professor in social work at the University of Guam. 鈥淐ontinued high levels of radiation remain in the Marshall Islands to this day,鈥 she said, adding that the campaign for compensation for the victims continues as a 鈥渇ight for our survival鈥.
Jo Vallentine, a Quaker who was elected to the Senate for the Nuclear Disarmament Party in 1984, and resigned in 1992, said: 鈥淭he Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings changed the world forever鈥. She criticised the federal government for being 鈥渦p to its eyeballs in collaboration with the nuclear states, US and Britain鈥. Australia ranks 13th in global military spending.
Vallentine said that the 鈥減erfect storm鈥 of the virus, climate and nuclear crisis 鈥減rovides an opportunity to win total nuclear disarmament鈥. 鈥淲e must join the worldwide campaign for more spending on health and welfare,鈥 said Vallentine who has remained active in peace and environment campaigns.
A video message from President of the Campaign for Peace, Disarmament and Common Security and vice-president of the International Peace Bureau Dr Joe Gerson, talked up the ever present danger of nuclear war.
鈥淲e urgently need to remove Trump, and campaign for a peaceful, just and sustainable聽world鈥 he said pointing to the US President鈥檚 dangerous 鈥渁ggressive provocation鈥澛燼gainst China and threats against Iran and North Korea.
Dave Sweeney,聽a founding member of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) and spokesperson for the Australian Conservation Foundation鈥檚 nuclear free campaign explained how ICAN, helped establish the campaign for a Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, for which it was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2017.
鈥淲e hope the treaty will be ratified officially soon鈥, he said. Australia must ratify the treaty to really be part of the 鈥渃ommunity of nations, or else be regarded as an enabler of rogue states鈥.
Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Sydney emeritus professor Stuart Rees, who helped establish the Sydney聽Peace Foundation, agreed with Sweeney about the urgency of ratifying the treaty. He discussed the international struggle for nuclear disarmament, and paid tribute to the seminal role of British peace campaigner Bertrand Russell.