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 nonviolent civil disobedience outside the UN missions of the 7 nuclear states.
On Tuesday, August 2, the second day of the month-long United Nations Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference, some of those 1982 protesters will take part, along with others, gathering at the Isaiah Wall on First Avenue and 43rd Street in Manhattan in NYC and then marching to the U.S. Mission to the United Nations at 45th Street where there will be a non-violent sit-in accompanied by protest and outreach by supporters.
When: Tuesday August 2 12:00 pm
Where: Isaiah Wall, First Avenue & 43rd Street, Manhattan
Alarmed by and opposed to heightened moves from the United States and Russian governments towards nuclear war, stemming right now around Russia, Ukraine and NATO, and the ever-increasing climate and ecological crises,
anti-war, peace and social justice organizations demand: No Nukes: for life and for planet.
Two of the repeat protesters explain why they will be there again.
Ed Hedemann: “For decades, those of us in the War Resisters League have urged the U.S. government to get rid of nuclear weapons. These weapons serve no peaceful purpose and have, in fact, recently contributed to escalating world tensions. This nuclear saber-rattling will ultimately end catastrophically if steps are not rapidly taken towards disarmament. But every president since Truman [except JFK’s last year] has chosen to ignore our pleas. Consequently, we feel the need for nonviolent direct action to, in the words of Martin Luther King, ‘dramatize the issue [so] that it can no longer be ignored.’”
Sally Jones, Chair of Peace Action Fund of New York State: “World leaders talk about the need for getting rid of nuclear weapons in endless meetings but those with nuclear weapons are modernizing and inventing new models. World leaders with nuclear weapons have been talking in public about their use on the battlefield in the war in Ukraine. This is against common sense for the survival of life on Earth. That is why I am protesting for a nuclear-free world with all my heart, mind and soul.”
Sponsors are:
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
