Milwaukee, WI – On the evening of August 9, over 50 anti-war activists, peace advocates and community members gathered at the Urban Ecology Center in Washington Park on Milwaukee’s north side to remember the victims of the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima (August 6) and Nagasaki (August 9) in 1945. Additionally, victims of recent and prior mass shootings across the U.S. were honored.

The program began with an opportunity for attendees to create their own Japanese lanterns, including drawing or writing messages or images on the wrappings. Many custom designs feature messages such as “No more war!” and “Denuclearization 4 our future!” The lanterns were released into the park’s lagoon at the conclusion of the remembrance.

While the lanterns were being made, people listened to a reading of Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes, a story about the death of a young Japanese girl who died in 1955 at the age of 12 due to a specific type of leukemia that became commonly known as ‘atomic bomb disease.’ The story is meant to highlight the innocent victims who are the unavoidable casualties of nuclear weapons.

Several speakers took the stage next, all calling in some form for a shift away from war toward peace. The messages ranged in content from discussing the need for love in times of great despair to reports of indigenous resistance to continued violations of their sovereignty regarding the mining of uranium on their lands.

“Colonizers have been inflicting intergenerational trauma, and collective healing is imperative for ourselves and our future generations,” said Michele Gilbert, an educator in Milwaukee Public Schools and a member of the Milwaukee Teachers’ Education Association.

The thread through most points the speakers made was clear: nuclear weapons and the various processes that go into producing them are harmful to all manner of people and the planet. The demand was put forward for what amounted to a ‘people’s budget’ in place of the endless funding given to war.

“Continually, the U.S. funds war more than peace,” said Kiva Carman-Frank, a participant in the gathering. “Hiroshima and Nagasaki illustrate this; conflicts around the world illustrate this; occupation in the Middle East illustrates this; domestic conflicts illustrate this.”

“We need to prioritize funding active peace over war,” she concluded.

All those in attendance made a commitment to themselves and one another to continue the fight for a world without nuclear weapons.

#MilwaukeeWI #International #AntiwarMovement #OppressedNationalities #Asia #PeoplesStruggles #AsianNationalities #Japan #Nagasaki #Hiroshima #remembrance

Minneapolis, MN – A coalition of Minneapolis/Saint Paul area groups will hold a protest this Saturday, Aug. 6. The protest was called to mark the 71st anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki with a call for an end to the endless series of U.S. wars and military interventions.

The protest will come just days after the start of what appears to be a new campaign of U.S. airstrikes in Libya.

The protest will be held 1 p.m., at Mayday Plaza, at the intersection of 3rd Street and Cedar Avenue in the West Bank neighborhood of Minneapolis.

At 2 p.m. there will be a program at Mayday Books with Sami Rasouli, an Iraqi-American peace activist who works in Iraq with the Muslim Peacemaker Teams. Mayday Books is located at 301 Cedar Avenue S in Minneapolis.

The protest is being organized under the calls “Say no to endless war. Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Libya, Somalia, Yemen: End U.S. wars, interventions & drone strikes. Funds for human needs, not wars & nuclear weapons. Say NO to racism & Islamophobia.”

A statement issued by organizers says in part, “As the U.S. launches a new wave of airstrikes, this time in Libya, the U.S. is involved in wars and interventions across the Middle East. In recent weeks the U.S. has announced plans to send more troops to Iraq and has announced that a large contingent of troops will be kept in Afghanistan.”

The statement continues, “This is all being done in the name of fighting terrorism. But, after years of U.S. bombs, troops, weapons and meddling, does anyone believe more of the same will make things better for the people of the region?”

The statement continues, “We will mark the 71st anniversary of the atomic bombings with a call for an end to U.S. wars and interventions.”

The new U.S. bombing of targets in Libya started on Aug. 1. Aircraft and drones struck targets in the port city of Sirte.

Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) said Monday that she was “deeply concerned about the expansion of U.S. airstrikes in Libya. The U.S. military continues to become more engaged in the Middle East, despite the lack of a Congressional debate or specific authorization.”

The Minnesota Peace Action Coalition (MPAC) called the Aug. 6 protest.

The protest is endorsed by Anti-War Committee, Freedom Road Socialist Organization, Mayday Bookstore, Military Families Speak Out (MN Chapter), Minnesota Cuba Committee, Minnesotans Against Islamophobia, St. Joan of Arc Peacemakers, St. Paul Eastsiders for Peace, Twin Cities Peace Campaign, Socialist Action, Veterans for Peace, Welfare Rights Committee, Women Against Military Madness, Workers International League

For more information 612 275-2720 or 612 827-5364.

#MinneapolisMN #AntiwarMovement #Nagasaki #Hiroshima #Libya

Berkeley, CA – Long time antiwar activist Iwao Lewis Suzuki was awarded the Clifford I. Uyeda Peace and Humanitarian award at the Day of Remembrance program in San Francisco, California on February 19, 2012. Dr. Clifford Uyeda was a long-time Japanese American community activist who championed redress and reparations for Japanese Americans incarcerated in U.S. concentration camps during World War II. He also publicized the almost 300 Japanese Americans who refused the military draft during World War II because their families were in concentration camps and spent on average two years in prison each for their courageous stand. Dr. Uyeda also worked to educate people about the atrocities committed by the Japanese Imperial Army during their occupation of China, including the Rape of Nanking. Fight Back! interviewed Mr. Suzuki at his home in Berkeley after the Day of Remembrance program.

Fight Back!: Would you like to tell our readers what you told the audience at the Day of Remembrance event in San Francisco when you received the Clifford Uyeda Peace and Humanitarian award?

Iwao Lewis Suzuki: I tried to say three things. First, that our country, the United States, is the only country that has used atomic weapons. We need to raise our voices to say that atomic bombs should never be used again. No More Hiroshimas! No More Nagasakis! (1)

Second, the United States should withdraw our military from Iraq and Afghanistan. U.S. troops are not there to liberate people, they are an occupying force.

Third, the Okinawan people’s movement to have U.S. military bases withdrawn from Okinawa is very strong. The United States should withdraw all of its military bases from Okinawa.(2)

Editors notes:

(1) The United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6th and August 9th, 1945. Hundreds of thousand of civilians were massacred, mainly women, children, and the elderly. Under the U.S. military occupation of Japan, it was against the law to give out information about the atomic bombings.

(2) The United States has a number of military bases on the island nation of Okinawa, which is part of Japan. Over two-thirds of all U.S. military forces in Japan are on these islands, which have only 1% of Japan’s population and ½ of 1% of Japan’s land area.

#BerkeleyCA #AntiwarMovement #AsianNationalities #JapaneseAmericanInternment #DayOfRemembrance #NuclearWeapons #Nagasaki #Hiroshima #IwaoLewisSuzuki #ExecutiveOrder9066

While the U.S. government claims that the atomic bombs were necessary to end the war, in fact Japan was already seeking to surrender. A month before the bombs were dropped, General MacArthur, supreme commander of the Allied forces in the Pacific, heard that Japan was seeking to negotiate a surrender. He then told his staff to hold work on the invasion of Japan to focus on the occupation.

The reality is that the U.S. government decided to drop the atomic bombs as an opening shot of the Cold War. The bombs were to send a message to the Soviet Union that the United States had a new weapon of terror in its effort to replace the old colonial powers of Europe and Japan with an American empire. This sparked an arms race between the United States and the Soviet Union, leading to the more powerful hydrogen bombs, intercontinental bombers and missiles and submarine launched missiles.

Worldwide protests and calls for nuclear disarmament led to the 1968 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NNPT). Nuclear powers, including the United States, the Soviet Union, France, Britain and China pledged to reduce their nuclear stockpiles, while over 100 other countries promised not to develop nuclear weapons.

While the mainstream media in the United States raises a big fuss about the possible development of nuclear weapons in the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea [ North Korea] and Iran, it ignores the development of atomic bombs by U.S. allies Israel and Pakistan. Even less is said about the huge U.S. stockpile of over 6000 atomic weapons, almost as much as the rest of the world combined.

Given the military might of the United States, and its willingness to exercise that strength, it is not surprising that small countries, like Democratic Korea, find the development of nuclear weapons crucial to their national defense.

The Bush administration is working hard to undermine the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty even though the U.S. signed and ratified the treaty in 1970. Rather than reducing the number of atomic weapons that the United States has, Bush wants to develop new atomic weapons that are designed to be used against non-nuclear enemies. While the U.S. is supposed to restrict the export of nuclear technology, Bush just signed an agreement with India, a new U.S. ally in the ‘war on terror,’ to provide India with U.S. nuclear technology despite India’s development of atomic weapons. No wonder the recent NNPT conference deadlocked after non-nuclear countries faced off with the United States over its government’s refusal to live up to its commitment to disarm.

The 1960s and 1980s saw the development of grassroots movements for nuclear disarmament. Such a movement, that would target the United States, is badly needed today. We need to demand that the U.S. government promise to never be the first to use nuclear weapons, to cut off military and nuclear aid to new nations who develop atomic weapons such as Israel, Pakistan and India, to withdraw all U.S. atomic weapons from other countries and to cut its own nuclear stockpile. These acts would start a path for the other nuclear powers to begin their own disarmament, with the goal of the total abolition of all nuclear weapons.

#UnitedStates #Commentary #Editorials #Japan #Nagasaki #Hiroshima #NuclearDisarmament