Four A-bomb survivors from Hiroshima are this week making a historic visit to Israel. They want to share their stories from the day of the bombing and life after the bomb, and to issue an urgent appeal for “no more Hiroshimas, no more Nagasakis”. They hope to stimulate greater debate regarding global nuclear disarmament.
The visit is being coordinated by the Israeli Disarmament Movement in cooperation with the Japanese Peace Boat and ICAN. While in Israel, the four survivors will visit Yad Vashem for a tour and meeting with Holocaust survivors, and the Western Wall in Jerusalem. They will participate in events open to the public, where they will offer their personal testimony.
ICAN campaigner Sharon Dolev said: “I have met survivors from Hiroshima and Nagasaki in many events abroad, and I am always most touched by their dedication, their modesty, and their clear and simple message: no more Hiroshimas, no more Nagasakis. They have devoted their lives to this work because they are not willing to see what happened to them happen to anyone else in any country, regardless of religion, ethnicity or nationality.”
Dolev added: “While we are constantly hearing the drums of war here and the standard line of our leaders – that all options are on the table – somehow there is no discussion of the talks that are to take place in Helsinki at the end of this year, the purpose of which is to open a regional dialogue with international support towards the disarmament of the Middle East from weapons of mass destruction.”
10 September 2012