A Roundup of Events Commemorating the Entry into Force of the Nuclear Ban Treaty on January 22nd
We are living in an auspicious moment –
Prospects for the global anti-nuclear movement during the Biden administration: The Nuclear Ban Treaty entered into force on the heels of the inauguration of President Joe Biden. In his first days as President, Biden has taken swift, bold steps on climate change and for peace: the U.S. is rejoining the Paris climate accord, and Russia and the U.S. have officially agreed to a full five-year extension of the New START arms control agreement that was about to expire. Together with Biden’s announcement this week that the US will no longer support offensive operations against Yemen, these decisions bode well for peace and anti-nuclear activists. Propitiously, several arms control experts in the Biden administration have ambitious nuclear policy goals, plan on negotiating new arms control treaties, appear to support a “No First Use” policy for nuclear weapons and seem open to steps that would scale back the nuclear arsenal. These are welcome changes after the reckless policies of his predecessor that left the global arms control treaties in tatters.
Still, in contrast to Biden’s previous assurances that the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) also known as the Iran Nuclear Deal would be resumed without preconditions for Iran, some requirements are being considered threatening to derail the negotiations.
Email President Biden and tell him to restore the global arms treaties that Trump abandoned and insist that the Iran Nuclear Deal be reinstituted with no preconditions!
Entry into Force Events across the Commonwealth…
Beginning on Friday, January 22nd, peace activists around the state held a number of events in concert with over 170 celebrations across the globe of the Entry Into Force coordinated by ICANW.org.
They were held in Pittsfield, Northampton, Worcester, Newton, Arlington, Cambridge and Boston. Among the marches, and demonstrations, banners and placards, protesters in Bridgewater rang bells, and Worcesterites in Lincoln Square banged pots. Church bells chimed in Bridgewater, East Bridgewater, Worcester, Bedford and Cambridge, from Boyd’s Hall at Bridgewater State and at St. Joseph’s Abbey in Spencer.
March for Nuclear Disarmament from Park St. Station to the Statehouse…
Activists from Veterans for Peace, Brandeis University Students’ No War on Iran Campaign, and Food Not Bombs assembled at Park Street to hear speakers and later formed a procession to the the Statehouse. After listening to the poignant testimony of peace activist and Hibakusha Setsuko Thurlow, survivor of the nuclear attack on Hiroshima, the crowd observed a moment of silence for the hundreds of thousands of victims of these immoral weapons of mass destruction. More images are in our Nuclear Ban Treaty album on Facebook.
Statehouse rally and march for nuclear disarmament
Direct Action: Dispatching Treaty Compliance Units…
At the General Dynamics factory in Pittsfield, L3Harris Technologies in Northampton and Raytheon headquarters in Cambridge, activists wearing white “Treaty Compliance Unit” jumpsuits from the Resistance Center and NuclearBan US delivered official treaty booklets along with letters explaining the legal ramifications of the treaty to employees. As of this writing, the treaty has been signed by 86 countries, 52 of which have also ratified or acceded to it.
These are such uncertain, challenging times that simultaneously hold great possibility. The peace movement must step up and redouble our efforts! Call on Joe Biden to prioritize diplomatic relations with all nations and return to the JCPOA with no preconditions.
And thanks to those of you who have already contacted your legislators to urge them to sign the ICAN Legislative Pledge and commit to work for a nuclear-free future in support of this treaty. If you haven’t already done so, it’s never to late to ask them to sign the ICAN Legislative Pledge – thank you!