Remembering Hiroshima in Wimbledon

Sue Jones reports on the Wimbledon Disarmament Coalition/CND event commemorating the 76th anniversary of the nuclear bombing in Hiroshima.

‘We met, as we have done for many years, at Rushmere Pond on Wimbledon Common.  We were so lucky that the rain passed and it stayed dry, though windy.

Gill McCall set up our Peace Table near the pond, and conducted a Masterclass in making origami paper boats, with adults and children queueing up to make their own, each with a nightlight, for floating on the pond after the short ceremony.  Despite the wind, the candles on some of the boats stayed alight and they reached the far side of the pond.

‘Group member William Rhind led the proceedings. The Rev. Alison Judge, a local vicar, read from the Beatitudes -  'Blessed are the Peacemakers' was particularly relevant, and ended with the poem 'Let us be Midwives', by Sadako Kurihara.  Kevin O'Brien from Merton & Sutton Trades Council, and himself a former nurse, spoke about the obscene waste of money on Trident, and the increase in nuclear warheads, especially when NHS workers are being offered so little. 

Alison Williams read 'Chernobyl' by Fay Roberts, and William Rhind read ‘I come and Stand at every Door’ by Nazim Hikmet Ran, on behalf of our Chair, Maisie Carter. We were delighted that Maisie was able to be present. Having just celebrated her 94th birthday, she's our shining light!’

How to watch the London CND Hiroshima commemorations live

The event will be hosted by London CND co-chair Hannah Kemp-Welsh.

With...
Sabrina Francis, Mayor of Camden
Benali Hamdache, Green Party
Carol Turner, London CND co-chair
Jeremy Corbyn MP

And cultural programme including...
Rev Nagase, chant and drumming
Hugh Goodacre, songs
Raised Voices, choir

For those who can't attend the commemoration physically, we'll be broadcasting the full event live on London CND's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/LRCND. You won't need a Facebook account: just open the page by clicking on this link at 12pm and the live video will appear when the commemoration begins.

Please get in touch with Julie at info@londoncnd.org if you have any queries.

'Japanese Against Nuclear' protest

Japanese Against Nuclear-UK, Kick Nuclear and CND members held protests at the Japanese Embassy in London and the Tokyo Electric Power Company's London Office on 30 July, to condemn the Japanese government's announcement that it will discharge Fukushima contaminated water into the Pacific.

Government-controlled TEPCO runs the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, the site of what is widely regarded as the worst ever nuclear disaster in 2011, after an earthquake resulted in permanent damage to the plant’s reactors. Radioactive materials leaked into the air, soil, and sea, and around 156,000 people were displaced from a 30-kilometre exclusion zone around the power plant.

JAN organiser and London CND committee member, Shigeo Kobayashi said the decision 'ignores human rights and international maritime law’. The following statement was read out, in solidarity with the anti-nuclear movement in Japan and across the world:

‘The Japanese government has once again failed the people of Fukushima. The government has taken the wholly unjustified decision to deliberately contaminate the Pacific Ocean with radioactive wastes. It has discounted the radiation risks and turned its back on the clear evidence that sufficient storage capacity is available on the nuclear site as well as in surrounding districts. Rather than using the best available technology to minimize radiation hazards by storing and processing the water over the long term, they have opted for the cheapest option dumping the water into the Pacific Ocean.

‘Additionally, the nationwide federation of Japan Fisheries Cooperatives has continued to express its complete opposition to ocean discharge.

‘United Nations human rights special rapporteurs warned the Japanese government in June 2020 and again in March 2121 that discharging the water into the environment breaches the rights of Japanese citizens and its neighbours including Korea. They called on the Japanese government to delay any decision on discharging the contaminated water into the sea until the crisis of COVID-19 is over and appropriate international consultations are held.

‘Though the decision has been announced, it will take around two years before these discharges commence at the Fukushima Daiichi plant.

‘Jennifer Morgan, Executive Director at Greenpeace International, said: “In the 21st century, when the planet and in particular the world's oceans are facing so many challenges and threats, it is an outrage that the Japanese government and TEPCO think they can justify the deliberate dumping of nuclear waste into the Pacific Ocean. The decision is a violation of Japan's legal obligations under the United Nations Convention on the law of the Sea, (UNCLOS), and will be strongly resisted over the coming months”.’