Iowa Peace Network Endorses Int'l. Conference "Stop the New Nuclear Arms Race"

By Christine Sheller

"Those who say a world without nuclear weapons is impossible need to get out of the way of those who are making it happen.” - Beatrice Fihn, ICAN

Iowa Peace Network recently endorsed the “Stop the New Nuclear Arms Race” scheduled for May 22-25, 2020 in Knoxville, Tennessee.  Nukewatch, the Nuclear Resister, and the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance (OREPA), were planners for the event. 

You may view endorsers and sponsors on their website:  http://nukewatchinfo.org/stop_new_nuclear_arms_race/

.From their website:  “Organizers of Stop the New Nuclear Arms Race are closely monitoring developments with COVID-19.

With the luxury of time, we are taking a wait-and-see attitude. As we reach a decision point, we will consider a number of factors: travel restrictions, the resilience of the virus, the success (or not) of containment efforts, and additional information about risks. In the end, health and safety will be our primary guiding factors.

We will post further updates (on our website) and on Facebook.”

Quoting the invitation to endorse, the planners write, “Seventy-five years after Trinity, Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the start of the nuclear age, the hands of the Doomsday Clock are 100 seconds from midnight, and the nuclear powers are engaged in a new nuclear arms race.

But the movement for abolition is reviving, with new tools, new energy, and renewed commitment.

Join us May 22-25, 2020 at Maryville College near Knoxville, Tennessee as we strategize how to use the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons to achieve nuclear disarmament.

Speakers, music, banner making, workshops, networking, community,

celebration of the 40th anniversaries of Nukewatch, the Nuclear Resister and the Plowshares movement culminating with a nonviolent demonstration at the Y-12 nuclear weapons complex in nearby Oak Ridge, where OREPA has sustained a nonviolent campaign for over 30 years

People are working in many ways for nuclear disarmament, with the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and the great work of ICAN helping to generate grassroots activity across the globe. As of late January 2020, thirty-five countries have ratified the Treaty - only 15 more are needed for it to enter into force! At this critical time in the movement for a future free of nuclear weapons, we are coming together to learn about global efforts to abolish nukes and to meet our colleagues from across the U.S. and around the world to network, strategize and collaborate as we move forward.

Talks and workshops will focus on the Ban Treaty, Don’t Bank on the Bomb, Resistance, Mayors for Peace/Cities Appeal, and University Connections to The Bomb. The list of presenters and participants already includes campaigners from the U.S., Germany, Australia, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Kazakhstan and more, including speakers and workshop leaders Susi Snyder (PAX, Don’t Bank on the Bomb), Alicia Sanders-Zakre (ICAN), K.A. Garlick (Conservation Council of Western Australia), Marion Küpker (Büchel ist Uberall), Susan Crane, Hideko Tamura, hibakusha (via Skype), John Schuchardt (House of Peace), Sr. Ardeth Platte and Sr. Carol Gilbert.

For more information about registration, Next Generation scholarships (for those under 30), childcare, sponsorship and more, email actionfortheban@gmail.com or visit nukewatchinfo.org/stop_new_nuclear_arms_race

LOGISTICS

The conference will be held at Maryville College in Maryville, Tennessee, 30 miles from the Y-12 Nuclear Weapons Complex where the U.S. makes thermonuclear secondaries for the W76-2 warhead……”

Writers of the info above are listed below, signing off with, “Peace, and with thanks for your work to help build a better world,

Ralph Hutchison, OREPA

Bonnie Urfer, Nukewatch

John LaForge, Nukewatch

Kelly Lundeen, Nukewatch

Jack and Felice Cohen-Joppa, The Nuclear Resister"


Christine Sheller is coordinator and editor at Iowa Peace Network