Anti-Nuclear War Protests at U.S. Mission to United Nations August 2nd

Image Courtesy of Ellen Davidson

NO Nuclear War; NO Nukes – for life and for planet

Protest Today, Aug. 2, at U.S. Mission to United Nations

40 years ago in 1982, one million people marched and rallied in NYC demanding an end to nuclear weapons and nuclear war and 1700 people were arrested during acts of non-violent civil disobedience outside the UN missions of the 7 nuclear states.

Todaythe second day of the month-long United Nations Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference, some of those 1982 protesters, along with others, staged a civil disobedience action outside the U.S. Mission to the United Nations.

Their demands were simple: No Nuclear War; No Nukes – for Life & for Planet. They acted to call attention to the alarming possibility that the United States, Russia, or another nuclear-armed state actor could provoke by intention, or accident, a nuclear exchange.

After watching a performance by the Rising Together Guerrillla Theater and songs by Raging Grannies and Filthy Rotten System, some 100+ protesters marched, holding signs, from the Isaiah Wall to the U.S. Mission led by Buddhist drumming and the Rude Mechanical Orchestra. They were joined in vigil by Japanese survivors of the U.S. atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Image via Ellen Davidson

11 people were arrested blocking the doors to the U.S. Mission and charged with disorderly conduct.

Stephanie Rugoff, from World Can’t Wait who was at the massive 1982 march and rally, said today, “The Doomsday Clock for the possibility of nuclear war is now at 100 seconds to midnight. Fueled by the US/NATO/Russia/Ukraine war, the use of nuclear weapons is being proposed as a contingency while life on our planet is threatened by climate and ecological catastrophe. I feel obligated to be here to say no to nuclear weapons and no to nuclear war.”

Alice Sutter, a retired family nurse practitioner and member of NYC Metro Raging Grannies said, “Sharing the planet with nuclear weapons leaves me continually traumatized, heartbroken and outraged. Our silence is insanity. Thanks to the hard work of so many, we have The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, and now a UN conference on this issue. I’m honored to join others in action to help reawaken a loud cry for the abolition of all nuclear weapons.”

Sponsors were: NYC War Resisters League, World Can’t Wait, Pax Christi NY State, Peace Action NYS, Brooklyn For Peace, Catholic Worker, Manhattan Project for a Nuclear-Free World, NY Metro Raging Grannies, Code Pink, Kairos Community, The Nuclear Resister, XR Peace, Uptown Progressive Action, Nukewatch, Veterans for Peace/Chapter 34, Rise & Resist, Brandywine Peace Community, Granny Peace Brigade NYC

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