Tri-Valley CAREs
Communities Against a Radioactive Environment
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Updated, Wednesday, August 16, 2016
Posted by Marylia Kelley
Approximately 200 anti-nuclear activists gathered outside the Livermore Nuclear Weapons Lab on August 9 to commemorate the 71st anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing of Nagasaki - and to stand with survivors of nuclear weapons from Hiroshima to the Marshall Islands.
Keynote speakers included famed whistleblower and nuclear weapons analyst, Daniel Ellsberg, atomic-bomb survivor, Nobuaki Hanaoka, and Executive Director of Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy, John Burroughs. Tara Dorabji with Tri-Valley CAREs gave the group a sense of place with her description of current nuclear weapons work at Livermore Lab, while Chizu Hamada drew links between the nuclear bomb and nuclear power. Jackie Cabasso, from Western States Legal Foundation, updated the crowd on the "Growing Dangers of Wars Among Nuclear-Armed States."
The rally was followed by a march to the Livermore Lab main gate where peace advocates then staged a "die in" and had their bodies chalked on the roadway to symbolize the victims vaporized in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. 45 peaceful protesters, including Ellsberg, chose to risk arrest for blocking the roadway at both the West and Main East Ave. Gates to the Lab.
Links to photos, news articles, video and radio broadcasts can be found below. We will continue to add links as additional materials become available.
East Bay Times Op-Ed "Must demand that the nuclear arms states disarm" by Jacqueline Cabasso, Marylia Kelley and Tom Webb.
Click here to read the text of John Burrough's speech from the rally.
Click here to read the text of Jackie Cabasso's speech from the rally.
Click here to read the text of Tara Dorabji's speech from the rally.
Click here to read the text of Chizu Hamada's speech from the rally.
Click here for the Pacifica Radio Evening News segment and article about the event.
Listen to Marylia Kelley's live interview on KPFA Radio's "The Talkies" with Kris Welch. (Her interview begins at minute 4)
Click here to read an article about the event in Akahata newspaper (in Japanese)...
Click here for an article and video from the Central Valley Business Times.
NOBUAKI HANAOKA, a Nagasaki A-bomb survivor, will share his experience and insights with us on Tuesday, August 9 at 8 am just outside the gates of Livermore Lab at the corner of Vasco & Patterson Pass Roads. International lawyer, John Burroughs, will discuss the U.S. nuclear bomb tests detonated in the Marshall Islands and the Pacific Island nation’s courageous “Nuclear Zero” lawsuits against the U.S. and 8 other nuclear weapons states for their failure to disarm. Tri-Valley CAREs' Tara Dorabji will speak about Livermore Lab's nuclear programs. Additional speakers, music and drummers will be followed by a short march to the West Gate for a Japanese Bon dance and nonviolent direct action.
We are sorry to announce that Amb. Tony de Brum is ill and will not be able to join us on August 9. His daughter, Doreen de Brum wrote to us today, "It is with sincere regrets that my dad cannot come... Please extend his most sincere apologies to all who had counted on him and those who had looked forward to seeing him. This is one of those things we have no control over." We who know Tony deBrum personally understand how ill he must be. He is not a man who cancels lightly. We are sending him our best wishes for a full recovery. We will have a get-well card for participants to sign at the Lab on August 9. See you there!
On Tuesday, August 9, 2016 at 8 AM there will be a major rally and march at Livermore Lab. We will gather at the corner of Vasco & Patterson Pass Roads in Livermore. Carpools are encouraged, and there will be plenty of free parking. Call us at (925) 443-7148.
The theme for this year’s commemoration of the U.S. atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan is “Disarm Now: We Stand with Nuclear Survivors for Global Justice.”
Wonderful musicians and drummers will be there, and friends from No Nukes Action will lead us in a traditional Japanese Bon dance at the Lab’s West Gate.
Livermore Lab is one of two facilities that have designed every nuclear weapon in the U.S. stockpile. Weapons scientists at Livermore are developing a new Long-Range Stand Off warhead for a new cruise missile to launch a radar-evading, sneak nuclear attack. By definition, this is a potential first-use warhead. Livermore Lab has also initiated other proliferation-provocative programs, including by conducting plutonium shots at its National Ignition Facility.
Peace Camp, held the night before the action, will take place on August 8th at the Del Valle Regional Park and Reservoir on Livermore. An RSVP to Tri-Valley CAREs is necessary to hold your reservation at the group campsite.