U.S. sends delegate to Hiroshima observance after only 65 years.

Sixty-five years after a mushroom cloud rose over Hiroshima [and murdered 140,000 Japanese], the US will for the first time send an envoy this Friday to commemorate the bombing that rang in the nuclear age. (News24.com)
France and England will also send delegates for the first time. Ban Ke-Moon will be the first UN Secretary-General to attend the ceremony. It's only taken 65 ears.

65th Anniversary of Hiroshima/Nagasaki Bombings Commemoration

This week August 6 & 9 is the 65th anniversary of the worst terrorist acts in history - The Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima (8/6) and Nagasaki (8/9) - The world must never forget. I think that we have a special responsibility for those actions and we must both both commemorate what happened 65 years ago and, perhaps even more importantly, pledge ourselves to never allow anything like it to happen again. Here are some commemorative actions:

1) August 7, 2010, 1-6 pm

Hiroshima/Nagasaki Day Exhibit

Tompkins Square Park

For more information, please email WRL-NYC at nycwrl@att.net or
call 718-768-7306.


2)Sunday, August 8, 2010, 11:00 am

The Social Justice Committee of the Unitarian Church of Staten Island and Peace Action of Staten Island will co-sponsor
a commemoration of the bombings
as part of the annual Arthur Foise Summer Forum.

Unitarian Church of Staten Island
312 Fillmore Street
Staten Island

The event will feature readings and poetry as well as music by Staten Island pianist David Jones and members of the musical ensemble WaFoo, which blends the traditions of Japanese music with American jazz.

In addition, PASI's American Conscience Theater will present a short theatrical piece by Georgina Ohene commemorating the Hiroshima & Nagasaki bombings. The 25 minute presentation is a semi-dramatic combination of live music by Robert Ross; dance, readings and interactive re-enactments based upon John Hersey's book, HIROSHIMA.

The commemoration will conclude with a peace procession with banners and the lighting of lanterns.

3)Sunday, August 8, 2010, 2:30-4:45pm

Casserly Hall below St. Joseph’s Greenwich Village Church,
Washington Place and Sixth Avenue, one block north of West 4th St.

Pax Christi Metro New York invites you to Remember Hiroshima and Nagasaki and Oppose Nuclear Proliferation Today

~ View an exhibit of photos from Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
~ Pray.
~ Participate in a discussion facilitated by Sr. Jean Fallon, MM. Sr. Jean served in parish ministry in the Kyoto Diocese for 23 years and later worked in Tokyo with the Japan National Catholic Council for Justice and Peace. She led many people on experiential visits to Hiroshima and Nagasaki which inspired her to become a “pilgrim for peace.”
~ Join in a solemn procession.

August 8th, 2010
Doors open at 2:30 PM
Light refreshments served
Opening Prayer, Speaker, and Discussion start at 2:45 PM:

Aug. 6th & 9th: two the world's greatest acts of terrorism

On the 64th anniversary of August 6, 1945 when as Robert Scheer wrote:

[It was] a U.S. attack that deliberately took the lives of thousands of children on their way to school in the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

If terrorism is the murder of innocent people to get an enemy to act in the way you want them to, then Hiroshima and Nagasaki were two of the the greatest acts of terrorism in world history. We just can't keep playing the self-righteous victims.

Aug 6th and 9th: 63rd anniversaries of the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

August 6th and 9th will mark the 63rd anniversaries of the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.(I will post updates about upcoming events around these anniversaries as I learn about them)

Here is the call to action put out by United for Peace and Justice:

United for Peace and Justice has declared August “Nuclear-Free Future Month.” The specter of nuclear weapons in the hands of “rogue” states has become one of the 1 top U.S. excuses for waging war, yet the United States continues to rely on the threatened first use of nuclear weapons as the cornerstone of its national security policy. We call on groups to take action and raise awareness about the ever-increasing threat from nuclear weapons and the environmental and proliferation dangers posed by the global nuclear power “renaissance.”

Through popular education, video screenings, art exhibits, protests, vigils and more, we are working to put nuclear issues on the political agenda of the 2008 Presidential and Congressional elections and to build stronger ties between the nuclear abolition, anti-war, and climate justice movements. We are working in solidarity with these fundamentally connected movements to create a safe, just future.

August 6th and 9th will mark the 63rd anniversaries of the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Expanding the traditional anniversary period will allow more opportunities for groups to plan and organize events focusing on all aspects of the nuclear issue. We seek to reach a broad public and to inspire more people to participate in a wide variety of antinuclear activities, including efforts to encourage the Presidential candidates to make both the abolition of nuclear weapons and immediate steps to move in that direction a central campaign priority, as we demand clean, sustainable, non-nuclear energy alternatives.

Our main vehicle for coordinating activities and disseminating information will be the new website where you will find a variety of action ideas and educational resources. We encourage you to post your group’s planned activities to the calendar you will find there. Please help us spread the word!