New York, NY — At a vigil on November 30, 2023 outside The United States Mission to the United Nations, members of the Atlantic Life Community, Nukewatch, NYC War Resisters League, Catholic Worker and allies called on the U.S. to be the first nuclear armed state to respond to the global demand for nuclear disarmament and sign the Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty by staging an act of civil disobedience, blocking all doors at the U.S. Mission to the U.N resulting in 18 anti-nuclear activists arrested.
The U.S. signing the Treaty would push the other 8 nuclear powers to do the same, then all could ratify the Treaty together and implement a warhead disarmament regimen, backing humankind away from 78 years teetering at the edge of the nuclear abyss.
From Monday, November 27 to Friday, December 1, the 69 nations party to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons will meet at the United Nations. They, along with representatives from 24 signatory nations as well as observers from other interested countries, will attend this Second Meeting of States Parties to take next steps to implement the Treaty and expand its reach.
None of the nine nuclear armed states has expressed interest in the Treaty. The United States, the key to getting those nations on board, won’t even send an observer to the historic gathering though the U.S. Mission to the United Nations is just across the street.
© Erik McGregor – erikrivas@hotmail.com – 917-225-8963