Aug. 6: Solemn Procession to Commemorate 60TH Anniversary of Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima & Nagasaki

SOLEMN PROCESSION TO COMMEMORATE 60TH ANNIVERSARY OF ATOMIC BOMBINGS OF HIROSHIMA AND NAGASAKI

The New York City War Resisters League (WRL) is sponsoring a Hiroshima/Nagasaki exhibit at Tompkins Square Park on Saturday, August 6, 2005, the 60th anniversary of the destruction of these cities by nuclear weapons. War Resisters will be on hand at the exhibit to answer questions and give out educational materials.
The informational exhibit will be open to the public from 1PM.

The WRL exhibit will close with a solemn procession from Tompkins Square to Christopher Street.
Participants in the procession will gather at Tompkins Square Park at 8:30 pm and step off on the unpermitted march at 9 pm.

All participants are being asked to wear white, the color of mourning in Asian cultures. The WRL will have signs, leaflets and candles available for marchers who may also bring their own materials.
The procession will silently wind its way through the Village, bearing its message of peace, until the march culminates in a ceremony on the Hudson River where it meets Christopher Street.

Among the participating organizations are the War Resisters League, the Socialist Party USA, the Catholic Worker and the Kairos Community.

Organizations and individuals involved felt a need to have a visually moving ceremony as this is an historic anniversary - and one that is occurring during yet another unnecessary war.

Thomas Good, a War Resisters League activist and Socialist Party
member, argues

The bloodshed in Japan yesterday, and that taking
place in Iraq today, is a terrible tragedy and the result of criminal
behavior and depraved indifference on the part of the US government.
We felt a need to draw attention to these crimes in a respectful
manner.

Frida Berrigan, a longtime member of the War Resisters
League noted,

The horrific loss of life that is the result of US
foreign policy harms all of us: vast sums of money vitally needed
for healthcare and other essential services is being wasted on weapons
of mass destruction. Hiroshima and Nagasaki prove that if the weapons
are produced they will be used.

Contacts:
Thomas Good (347.524.5631)
Matt Daloisio (201.264.4424)
Frida Berrigan (347.683.4928)