“To work for a nuclear weapons-free world”

Written on: July 17, 2014

This is an invitation to Join us on the anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima, Wednesday, August 6, 2014 at 3pm EDT to learn what can be done, so we may be proud of the legacy we leave to the future. The “us” referred to, is Women’s Action for New Directions, WAND. This was an on-going project of Sister Rosalie Bertell, GNSH.  She went to the Marshall Islands to evaluate and advocate for the people of those islands. In her spirit, we know she would want us to be well informed about the catastrophic effects of all the nuclear testing that has taken place there and to support the Marshallese in their efforts to hold the nine nuclear powers accountable for having failed to comply with their obligations under the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty. Please click on the links in the article below for important information. Remember that this action directly supports the Grey Nun Corporate Stand: “To work for a nuclear weapons-free world.”

Pace e bene,

Sister Diane

From WAND:

Wednesday, July 16, 2014 marks 69 years of the nuclear age. On this day in 1945 the first nuclear weapons test, code-named Trinity, shook the desert of New Mexico and changed the world forever. The Trinity test has come to be considered the beginning of the nuclear age. Several short weeks later two atomic weapons would be dropped on Hiroshima, Japan on August 6 and Nagasaki, Japan on August 9. Nearly 50 years of atmospheric, ocean, and underground testing would follow.

The Marshall Islands, then governed as a territory of the United States, provided unfortunate host to most of the Pacific Proving Grounds nuclear tests. On one terrible day in 1954, Bikini Atoll, one of the Marshall Islands, was slammed by the Castle Bravo thermonuclear test. This particular explosion stands out among the many conducted here as it was the largest atmospheric test the U.S. ever undertook and it proved a catastrophe for the islands. Its fallout poisoned the island and the people living there. Winds spread the fallout beyond the island. The people had to be moved from their homes. The island remains poisoned to this day. Read more on this issue here.

In the spring of 2014 the Marshall Islands, which gained self-government in 1979 and sovereignty in 1986, has taken the nine remaining nuclear powers to task for not standing by their word to work for complete nuclear abolition. In April, they filed landmark cases in the International Court of Justice and U.S. Federal District Court claiming that the nine nuclear-armed nations have failed to comply with their obligations, under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation treaty and customary international law, to pursue negotiations for the worldwide elimination of nuclear weapons.

WAND wants you to hear the story of the Marshall Islands from the source and learn about these lawsuits from one of the leaders of this new movement.

Join us on the anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima, Wednesday, August 6, 2014 at 3pm EDT to learn what can be done, so we may be proud of the legacy we leave to the future.

Peace,

The WAND Team

This entry was posted in With a Heart for Justice and tagged: 1945, August 6, Dr. Rosalie Bertell, Hiroshima Japan, International Court of Justice, July 16, Marshall Islands, Nagasaki Japan, nuclear catastroph, Nuclear Free World, Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty, Nuclear test, U.S. Federal District Court, Women Actions for New Directions (WAND)