Before traveling to Japan to attend ceremonies and events in Hiroshima and Nagasaki a consideration regarding Peace and Nonviolence arose. Attending the memorial ceremonies regarding the atomic bombs of 1945, led me to ask: what would be the first and most radical priority of a pacifist today?
To find an answer I started by the extreme opposite: what would be the most brutal violence against human beings? Immediately, the image of the detonation of a nuclear bomb over a population living in any city around the world came to mind. I always listen to those who do not believe in this possibility, but the nuclear threat is more alarming today than ever before, even more than during the Cold War during the 70’s and 80’s. If tensions were bipolar between North-Americans and Soviets before, today conflicts are multi-polar.
Access to atomic destruction technology has spread. There are over 25 thousand nuclear arsenals today. Even though most are concentrated in the USA and Russia, they have spread to different countries such as Pakistan, India, North Korea, without mentioning other military powers. We believe today that these weapons may even fall in the hands of paramilitary or terrorist groups.
Faced with the threat of conflicts using nuclear weapons, the priority of pacifism would be to eliminate these weapons. With this answer in mind, I prepared myself to come to Japan, where I will participate, together with a delegation of the World March for Peace and Nonviolence to the ceremonies in Hiroshima and the conference of Mayors for Peace in Nagasaki, from August 5 to 10. Besides remembering past tragedies, the agenda will include mainly be the abolition of nuclear weapons during the next decade.
*Pressenza editor, Alexandre Sammogini was invited by the Hiroshima City Council to pay homage to the victims of the atomic bomb. On August 5, the journalist will officially launch the Pressenza Press Agency from Hiroshima with the symbolic lighting of a torch for the World March for Peace and Nonviolence.*
