On Jan. 22 Ban the Bomb is coming to a town, city, state or country near you. This is a momentous occasion in relation to protecting the world from the disaster of nuclear weapons.
Since the dropping of the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki 75 years ago, countries throughout the world have been advocating for a ban on nuclear weapons. It is 51 years since the UN General Assembly passed a resolution called the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons signed by 191 states. The treaty is reviewed and renewed every five years. It does not ban nuclear weapons.
Under the nonproliferation treaty, the non-nuclear countries agreed never to acquire nuclear weapons. The nuclear weapons-owning countries agreed to share the benefits of peaceful nuclear technology and to pursue nuclear disarmament and the elimination of their nuclear arsenals. Although nuclear arsenals worldwide have decreased, as of 2019,there are an estimated 13,440 nuclear warheads threatening the world’s population with 5,800 in the U.S.
To understand the importance of the new Ban the Bomb plan, you may have to familiarize yourself the alphabet soup of acronyms surrounding nuclear disarmament. The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons is a coalition of nongovernmental, international organizations whose goal is to “stigmatize, prohibit and eliminate nuclear weapons.”
ICAN won the Noble Prize for Peace in 2017 for work on helping the world come to terms with the “catastrophic harm and existential threat of the most inhumane and indiscriminate weapons ever created.” The group focuses on mobilizing civil society around the specific objective of “achieving, entering into force, and implementing a global nuclear weapons abolition.”
The organization’s work includes inspiring countries to adhere to and implement the new United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which was signed by 122 nations in July 2017. In order for the treaty to become official, it had to be ratified by 50 states. Honduras was that 50th state to sign on Oct. 24, 2020. The date for implementing the agreement, the first international treaty banning nuclear weapons, is Jan. 22.
Ban the Bomb is a worldwide effort to support the Treaty on the Prohibition Nuclear Weapons. As part of that effort local activists from the LEPOCO Peace Center will be visiting mayors and councils in the Lehigh Valley to ask them to sign the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Consider asking your religious group or school to sign on.
The commitment for the U.S. to disarm is questionable as we know that current planning includes at least $1.7 billion to rebuild the U.S. nuclear arsenal.
The United States and the eight other nuclear weapon states, Russia, the United Kingdom, China, France, India, Pakistan, North Korea and Israel have refused to sign the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. The U.S. discourages its allies from signing the treaty and demands that countries it protects through NATO also not sign it.
The challenge to those dedicated to the abolition of nuclear weapons is to keep disarmament in the public eye. We need to be aware of the investments our groups, corporations and organizations make in the nuclear industry, especially indirectly. Countries, cities, universities, banks, pension funds can also divest from any of the companies that produce nuclear weapons and/or support nuclear weapons research.
To mark the day that nuclear weapons become illegal under international law, anti-nuclear activists around the world will be hosting a range of actions and activities, including an online ban nuclear weapons watch party.
To join the effort or find out more go to https://www.icanw.org/ or lepoco@fast.net
Mimi Lang, who lives in Bethlehem, is a member of Lehigh-Pocono Committee of Concern.