Quakers take next steps for anti-nuclear ban
'Our voices must be heard in the changes needed for the wellbeing of the earth and all living things.’
A Yorkshire Quaker organised a local event last month to mark the anniversary of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW).
Veteran peace and justice campaigner Sylvia Boyes, from Keighley Meeting, organised a street stall and silent vigil in the town centre to raise awareness of the occasion.
Writing in the Keighley News, she said: ‘The refusal of all the nuclear weapons states to even acknowledge the existence of the treaty, which makes nuclear weapons illegal, illustrates their complete disregard for our real security… Our voices must be heard in the changes needed for the wellbeing of the earth and all living things.’
Phillip Austin, convenor of the Northern Friends Peace Board (NFPB), said some Friends have taken part in the ICAN Cities Appeal, encouraging civic bodies to make resolutions in support of the ban. NFPB members also hope to arrange a workshop for Friends and others to learn about the approaches that have been taken.
Writing on the NFPB website, he said: ‘Divestment from nuclear arms manufacture is another effective tool in changing perceptions of what is acceptable, and ICAN’s ‘Don’t Bank On The Bomb’ reports give useful information.’
In the meantime, Friends can ask their political representatives to sign the ICAN parliamentary pledge of support, and to consider attending the Vienna meeting.
Peace campaigners welcomed a rare joint pledge to reduce the risk of nuclear conflict made late last year by five powerful nations, but said it didn’t go far enough.
The pledge was signed by the US, Russia, China, the UK and France, who agreed that ‘a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought’.
The nations are the five nuclear weapons states recognised by the 1968 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) who are also the five permanent members of the UN security council.
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