- Staff
Protest at the US Mission: No Nukes – for Life & for Planet
August 2, 2022
Protestors march outside the US Mission to the United Nations on August 2, 2022, the second day of the 2022 NPT Review Conference.
New York City – 40 years ago, in the summer of 1982, one million people marched and rallied in NYC demanding an end to nuclear weapons and nuclear war. About 1,700 people were arrested during acts of non-violent civil disobedience outside the UN missions of the 7 nuclear states. Now, on August 2, 2022 – the second day of the month-long United Nations Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference – some of those 1982 protesters, along with others, staged a civil disobedience action outside the U.S. Mission to the United Nations.
Their demands were simple: No Nuclear War; No Nukes – for Life & for Planet. They acted to call attention to the alarming possibility that the United States, Russia, or another nuclear-armed state actor could provoke by intention, or accident, a nuclear exchange. They acted to demand that the US and other nuclear states fulfill their obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty to engage in good faith negotations toward the ultimate objective of global nuclear disarmament.
After watching a performance by the Rising Together Guerrillla Theater and songs by Raging Grannies and Filthy Rotten System, some 100+ protesters marched from the Isaiah Wall to the U.S. Mission to the United Nations in NYC. They were joined in vigil by Japanese survivors of the U.S. atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and were led by Buddhist drumming and the Rude Mechanical Orchestra.
11 people were arrested blocking the doors to the U.S. Mission and charged with disorderly conduct. See more coverage of the protest here.
Stephanie Rugoff, from World Can’t Wait who was at the massive 1982 march and rally, said today, “The Doomsday Clock for the possibility of nuclear war is now at 100 seconds to midnight. Fueled by the US/NATO/Russia/Ukraine war, the use of nuclear weapons is being proposed as a contingency while life on our planet is threatened by climate and ecological catastrophe. I feel obligated to be here to say no to nuclear weapons and no to nuclear war.” Alice Sutter, a retired family nurse practitioner and member of NYC Metro Raging Grannies said, “Sharing the planet with nuclear weapons leaves me continually traumatized, heartbroken and outraged. Our silence is insanity. Thanks to the hard work of so many, we have The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, and now a UN conference on this issue. I’m honored to join others in action to help reawaken a loud cry for the abolition of all nuclear weapons.”
The action was co-sponsored by peace and anti-nuclear organizations including NYC War Resisters League, World Can’t Wait, Pax Christi NY State, Peace Action New York State, Brooklyn For Peace, Catholic Worker, Manhattan Project for a Nuclear-Free World, NY Metro Raging Grannies, Code Pink, Kairos Community, The Nuclear Resister, XR Peace, Uptown Progressive Action, Nukewatch, Veterans for Peace/Chapter 34, Rise & Resist, Brandywine Peace Community, and Granny Peace Brigade NYC.
If you’d like to stay informed about actions and events surrounding the NPT Review Conference ongoing now through August 26th, please check Peace Action New York State’s Current Actions Calendar and sign up for email alerts.