Peaceful Tomorrows is a member organization of the International Network for Peace — ed.
On this day we, the members of The International Network for Peace, honor the Hibakusha and remember the suffering inflicted on them in 1945 when Atomic Bombs were dropped on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Their suffering has continued for survivors and successive generations for 64 years.
Members of the International Network for Peace are all civilian survivors of terrorism and violence of one sort or another and have, despite loss and suffering, resolved to work for justice and reconciliation through nonviolence. We look to the Japanese Hibakusha among us for guidance and inspiration. Nuclear weapons have caused grievous harm to not only the people who were in Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 & 9, 1945, but to indigenous people of the South Pacific, Canada, the United States, Russia, and Australia exposed to uranium mining and nuclear fallout.
On this day we also send a sincere message of gratitude to all the dedicated Japanese people who lead the way toward a nuclear free future. We are indebted to you for your prescience, your wisdom, your courage and your unwavering determination. We are grateful for The Mayors for Peace Campaign, the Hiroshima-Nagasaki Protocol, the Campaign to keep Article 9 in the Constitution, and the tireless efforts of the Hibakusha to educate people everywhere about the real human consequences of nuclear weapons.
It is very clear that the world’s people must insist that their governments wake up to the reality that continued nuclear armament is untenable if we are to survive. The good news is that more and more of us are listening to you.
We humbly bow to you .
Andrea LeBlanc
The International Network for Peace, Co-Chair
August 6, 2009
