The Coalition for Peace Action will commemorate the 77th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki 7 to 8:30 p.m.Tuesday, Aug. 9 at Hinds Plaza adjacent to the Princeton Public Library at 65 Witherspoon St.
Princeton University physicists Frank von Hippel and Rob Goldston will address such issues as restoring the Iran Nuclear Agreement, the nuclear danger in the Ukraine War, and the Nuclear Ban and Nonproliferation Treaties having review conferences this summer.
“For me, this meeting will have three aspects,” said von Hippel. “First, commemorating the one to two hundred thousand lives lost in Hiroshima and Nagasaki 77 years ago, including those of at least a dozen U.S. prisoners of war. Second, celebrating that, since Nagasaki, not one additional nuclear weapon has been used in war. This is in part due to the educational efforts of activists like us, including, locally, Albert Einstein. Third, recommitting to the mission of abolishing nuclear weapons and to educating another generation of activists committed to that mission.”
“I will speak specifically about what the U.S. can do now to ameliorate the current crises in Ukraine and with Iran,” said Goldston. “We can make peace in Ukraine more feasible by proposing steps towards strategic stability between NATO and Russia that will greatly benefit both sides. We can show more flexibility with Iran on the issues that are blocking return to the original nuclear deal and/or we can propose confidence-building steps to reduce the risk in the near future of both Iran’s building a nuclear weapon and of military attack.”
The program will include music from the Solidarity Singers of the New Jersey State Industrial Union Council and origami crane folding instruction for children. The commemoration will close with a candlelight ceremony.
In the event of rain, the program will be held indoors at the Arts Council of Princeton, 102 Witherspoon St. The Arts Council is an event co-sponsor.
For more information, phone 609-924-5022 or visit peacecoalition.org.
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