Thursday, May 6, 2010

On Eve of UN NPT, Thousands March for Nuclear Weapons Abolition

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 30, 2010
8:28 AM

CONTACT: Peace Action
Paul Kawika Martin, Peace Action, 951-217-7285, pmartin@peace-action.org
Dave Kunes, Peace Action, 585-474-2614,dkunes@peace-action.org

On Eve of UN NPT, Thousands March for Nuclear Weapons Abolition

NEW YORK - April 30 - On the eve of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference at the UN, more than ten thousand nuclear abolitionists from the U.S., Japan, Europe and other nations will rally, march and join a peace festival at the UN on Sunday May 2, urging the world’s leaders to start talks to eliminate the world’s nuclear arsenals immediately.

The mass demonstrations follow a historic conference, “For A Nuclear-Free, Peaceful, Just and Sustainable World,” which begins Friday, April 30, 2010. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will speak Saturday May 1 at Riverside Church.

“Besides the more than ten thousand people in the streets, we have over seven million petition signatures (100,000 from the US) from around the world calling for a world free of nuclear weapons in our lifetime. We want the U.S. to start negotiations at the Non-Proliferation Review conference,” said Judith Le Blanc, Field Organizer for Peace Action and a conference organizer.

WHAT: More than ten thousand people from around the word will participate in an interfaith convocation, rally, march and peace festival at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza demanding a world free of nuclear weapons More information at available at:
http://peaceandjusticenow.org

WHEN & WHERE:
Sunday May 2
12:00 – 1:00 p.m. Interfaith Convocation (Church Center for the United Nations)
Church Center for the United Nations, 777 UN Plaza (corner of 1st Avenue and 44th Street, Manhattan)
1:30 p.m. Assembly (7th Ave South of 41st St)
2:00 – 3:30 p.m. Rally
3:30 p.m. March across 42nd Street, North on 3rd Ave, East on 47th Street into Dag Hammarskjold Plaza (between 1st and 2nd Avenues)
4:00 – 6:00 p.m. International Peace & Music Festival in Dag Hammarskjold Plaza

WHO: Rally speakers include the mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki – Mayor Akiba and Mayor Taue; Nadine Padilla, activist addressing uranium mining in Native American communities; Kimura Hisako, survivor of the atomic bomb in Hiroshima; Michael Kinnamon, General Secretary of the National Council of Churches; Raed Jarrar, Iraqi blogger and political analyst; Maryam Shansab, Afghan-American activist; Pierre Djédji Amondji, Governor of the district of Abidjan in Ivory Coast; Kristin Blom, Campaigns Manager, International Confederation of Trade Unionists; and performances by The Recipe, spoken word duo from Kansas City, MO; Stephan Said, Iraqi-American musician known for his anti-war song, “The Bell;” and Emma’s Revolution, known for their beautiful songs of peace.

Performances at International Peace & Music Festival include:

Earthdriver – a New York City based world funk band
Matters – an international group of musicians from the US, France, Japan, Italy and India that bring a message of peace and hope.
Cacibajagua Taino Cultural Society – an inter-Tribal, inter-generational community of indigenous Caribbean singers, musicians, and artists
The Drummers for Peace of Japan – a renowned group from cities all over Japan to perform who inspire all efforts for Peace and Nuclear Disarmament.
Utagoe Chorus of Japan – spread peace songs at grass-roots, contributing the struggles for peace.
Catherine Lecoq – a renowned actress and singer from France
Deux Ex Machina (Divine Intervention) – an International group, featuring SahjKaya, whose music is a mix of Reggae music, African percussion & rhythms with song and Spoken Word

The event is organized by the 2010 NPT Review Organizing Committee, a network of 25 U.S., Japanese, European and Israeli nuclear weapons abolition and peace organizations. For more information, visit www.peaceandjusticenow.org

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Founded in 1957, Peace Action, the United States' largest peace and disarmament organization with over 100,000 members and nearly 100 chapters in 34 states, works to achieve the abolition of nuclear weapons, promote government spending priorities that support human needs and encourage real security through international cooperation and human rights.

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