[E-rundbrief] Info 576 - Faslane Protests against nuclear weapons.

[Matthias Reichl]

E-Rundbrief - Info 576 - Craig Brown (New 
Scotsman, UK): Japanese atomic bomb survivors 
arrested during Faslane protest (against Faslane 
naval base and plans to renew the Trident nuclear 
weapon system); Ban All Nukes generation Europe: 
8 Young people arrested campaigning for an anti-nuclear future (at Faslane).

Bad Ischl, 29.7.2007

Begegnungszentrum für aktive Gewaltlosigkeit

www.begegnungszentrum.at

============================================================

Japanese atomic bomb survivors arrested during Faslane protest

CRAIG BROWN

(crbrown at scotsman.com)

26 July 2007

http://news.scotsman.com/scotland.cfm?id=1164442007

SURVIVORS of the Nagasaki atomic bomb attack were 
among those arrested at Faslane naval base 
yesterday during a protest at plans to renew the Trident nuclear weapon system.

The five men, two of whom are A-bomb survivors, 
linked themselves together with bamboo sticks and 
sat in the road in front of the base, near Helensburgh in Argyll.

A local woman who joined the protest was also 
arrested, police said. Five Japanese women were 
detained during the protest but freed later.

The protesters are part of a 12-strong group from 
Nagasaki, where 74,000 people died and 75,000 
were injured after an atomic bomb was dropped on 
the city at the end of the Second World War.

They held a ceremony at the gates of the base, 
where they sprinkled water brought from the Peace 
Park in Nagasaki, the site where the bomb was 
dropped, and left origami cranes and other symbols of life and peace.

The group hopes their visit will remind 
politicians in Scotland and the rest of the UK 
about the dangers they see in renewing Trident.

Shinya Moriguchi, 30, said: "My relatives 
survived the bomb and against this background I 
cannot be indifferent to nuclear weapons.

"The UK stands at the crossroads of which way to 
go and I felt we should not miss this good 
opportunity to persuade the UK to go down the route of nuclear disarmament."

Noboru Tasaki, 63, who has worked all his life 
for world peace and nuclear disarmament, said: 
"Our people know and experienced nuclear weapons 
and we know they are terrible for all humanity.

"We hope that the UK government will change its 
decision and will go for disarmament of nuclear 
weapons. I hope that today's demonstration will 
contribute to nuclear disarmament."

He added that if Britain was to opt to scrap its 
nuclear arsenal, it would have a profound effect 
on the campaign for global disarmament.

There were also several professors, scientists 
and teachers among the delegation. Their protest 
is part of Faslane 365, a year-long peaceful 
blockade of the base which started last October.

A Faslane 365 spokesman said: "Today has been 
very powerful and special because of the number of bomb survivors here.

"It is part of a bigger effort to disrupt this 
horrible place and press for change and it is a 
necessary part of a very necessary change."

Strathclyde Police said that reports would be 
sent to the procurator- fiscal on the five arrests made.

Nagasaki was the target of the world's second 
atomic bomb attack at 11:02am on 9 August, 1945, 
when the north of the city was destroyed.

According to statistics kept at the Nagasaki 
Peace Park, the dead totalled 73,884, injured 
74,909. Several hundred more also suffered 
diseases related to radiation from the bomb.

'A TERRIBLE SMELL OF BURNING'

MITSUGU Moriguchi, 70, a retired elementary 
school teacher, was only nine years old when 
Nagasaki was bombed: "Luckily, I had been 
evacuated to the countryside at the time, but I 
remember the bomb going off. I was playing 
outside with two of my brothers at the time when 
there was a massive sound, followed by a gale 
created by the blast wave and the mushroom cloud rising into the sky.

"We waited a week before returning to my original 
home in the city, which had been three kilometres from the blast centre.

"There are so many terrible images of the 
devastation that I remember, but one that sticks 
out was the sight of all the burned bodies 
scattered at the roadside. Some of them were 
still smouldering, but the sight was accompanied 
by a terrible smell of burning, not just from the 
human bodies, but all the buildings around. It's something I will never forget.

"A decade later, one of my four sisters died of 
cancer caused by the radiation, and the three 
other died shortly after, all from the effects of the bomb."

'WE WERE SO FORTUNATE'

NOBORU Tasaki, 63, a lecturer at Nagasaki 
University and a former director of the city's 
Office of Peace Promotion, was 14 months old at the time of the blast.

"Fortunately, the farm where my parents worked 
was five kilometres from the blast, so even 
though I had been outside when it happened, I was not hurt.

"My parents told me that I had been bathing in a 
river at the time, and that I had started crying because of the noise.

"Even though we were quite far from the centre of 
the city and sheltered from its effects by a 
hill, my home still suffered damage. My father 
thought the blast had hit us because tiles from the farm had been blown off.

"We were so fortunate, as my whole family escaped 
without fatalities, but it's impossible to 
calculate the impact the bomb had on Nagaski, not 
just physically but spiritually and psychologically.

"Once I learned about the devastating effects 
atomic bombs have, I worked with the city's 
Office of Peace Promotion and its Atomic Bomb 
Museum, until my retirement three years ago."

Related topic

Faslane
/topics.cfm?tid=1174

Last updated: 25-Jul-07 00:10 BST


8 Young people arrested campaigning for an anti-nuclear future.

Press release by "Ban All Nukes generation Europe"

28. July 2007

www.faslane365.org/

Faslane, 28th July 2007 - eight young people from 
Wales, Germany and Belgium have been arrested 
this morning, blockading the gate at Faslane 
Nuclear Base in a protest against the renewal of 
the British Trident Nuclear weapons system. The 
blockade came amongst lively and colourful 
actions carried out by young people from many 
countries, from Wales and Germany to Japan and 
the US. The action takes the number of arrests 
during the ”Faslane 365” year long blockade of Faslane naval base to over 900.

The group decided to take action after having met 
at an ‘academy’ in Glasgow where they discussed 
the issue of Trident nuclear weapons in the 
context of Europe and the rest of the world. They 
decided that Trident Replacement, which the 
British Parliament voted for this spring, is not 
only a current British issue but will also affect 
and endanger the next generation across the world.

They made a human knot in the road at the North 
Gate entrance to the base and stuck their hands 
together with super glue to make it as difficult 
as possible for the police to remove them. They 
were supported by action from an international 
clown army, a simultaneous teddy blockade, 
dancing and music from Japanese students and the 
poignant speech of a Hibakusha (Hiroshima 
survivor). Some of the protesters dedicated their 
action to Ilya, the 21-year old Russian 
anti-nuclear activist who was killed on the 21st 
July during a right-wing attack.

The blockaders included five people from Wales 
(Pembrokeshire), Hannah Chester (15), Naomi 
Proszynska (15), Georgia Coles-Riley (16) 
Alexander Ferraro (19) and Craig Wilkinson (18). 
For some this is their second arrest as they have 
already been active in the Faslane365 campaign 
which has been running since October 2006. There 
were also two blockaders from Germany, Stefan 
Hittmeyer (21) and Tobias Bollinger (22) and one 
from Belgium, Andy Vermaut (30).

Naomi Proszynska from Wales said:
”Blockading at Faslane changed the way I look at 
things. The reason why young people are not 
active on these issues is not because they don’t 
care about them, it’s because they don’t know about them.”

The young people decided to take action to raise 
awareness among all young people that any nuclear 
weapons are a danger to everyone. They also 
planned an awareness-raising media campaign, a 
European Postcard competition on nuclear weapons 
and have been keeping a blog at 
www.bang-europe.org. This will be continued by 
five girls who will travel with Japanese Peace Boat to New York.

It is almost impossible for the youth of today to 
imagine a world without nuclear weapons, let alone a future.

ENDS

•       Interviews are available in English, Welsh and German.
Please contact Emily Freeman in the first 
instance (+44) 01436850047 or emfreeman at hotmail.co.uk
[Alternatively (+44) 07828 658 628]

Photographs available, free from copyright:
http://www.faslane365.org/photos

•       More information:
         BANg :  www.bang-europe.org
Faslane 365: www.faslane365.org
Peace Boat: www.peaceboat.org

•       The ”action academy” being held between 
26th ­ 30th July was attended by young people, 
from Germany, Wales, Belgium, Austria, France, 
the US, Japan and many other European countries. 
They have been joined by students from the 
Japanese Global University who arrived on the 
Peace Boat as it travels between Japan and New York.

•       An international postcard design 
competition is being held to raise awareness of 
nuclear issues among young people. There will be 
an award ceremony at the event and the winning 
designs will be distributed as postcards on Nagasaki day (9th August).

•       The protest aims point out to the British 
Government, and other governments across Europe 
and the world, that nuclear weapons and, 
specifically, Trident replacement, are an 
international issue, and already affects people 
across the world. The consequences of nuclear 
weapons know no boundaries and pollute and 
destroy huge areas of the planet for ever.

•       Peace Boat:

Following the actions, five of the participants, 
two from Wales, two from Austria and one from 
Germany, will be joining the Global university 
onboard Peace Boat to take part in their summer 
programme on Peace and Nuclear Weapons as they 
voyage from Dublin to New York (31st July ­ 9th 
August). The participants will be sharing 
information and learning about US, French and 
British nuclear weapons in Europe and examining 
cultural and personal issues around the nuclear 
threat, with students of the Global University. 
Hiroshima Day will be commemorated on board Peace 
Boat on 6th August and Nagasaki Day on arrival in New York on 9th August.

Since the 1950s studies have shown that the 
threat of nuclear war has damaged the 
psychological health of young people and society 
in general. Over 6o years later, since the first 
use of nuclear by the US in 1945, that damage 
continues.  The awareness of the possibility of 
nuclear war awareness has a negative impact on 
the feelings, emotions, perception of life, and 
plans for the future of young people. The younger 
generation constantly lives with consciousness of 
the tremendous danger of nuclear war and 
perceives it more acutely than adults. Fear, 
anxiety, helplessness, and lack of confidence in 
the future leave an ominous imprint on the 
personality of the youth worldwide. Many are 
already victims of a war which has not yet started.

===========================================================

Matthias Reichl, Pressesprecher/ press speaker,
     Begegnungszentrum fuer aktive Gewaltlosigkeit
     Center for Encounter and active Non-Violence
     Wolfgangerstr. 26, A-4820 Bad Ischl, Austria,
     fon: +43 6132 24590, Informationen/ informations,
     Impressum in: http://www.begegnungszentrum.at
Spenden-Konto Nr. 0600-970305 (Blz. 20314) 
Sparkasse Bad Ischl, Geschäftsstelle Pfandl
IBAN: AT922031400600970305    BIC: SKBIAT21XXX