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News Archive |
LAST UPDATE
September 30, 2007
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| August 9, 2007 |
Third Annual People Building Peace Concert |
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| photo: JT Boehm |
Nearly 2,000 people gathered across from the United Nations for the Third Annual People Building Peace Concert during Peace Boat’s visit to New York. Organized by Peace Boat and the International Institute on Peace Education (IIPE), the Concert was held on 9 August 9, the 62nd commemoration of Nagasaki Day. The event celebrated initiatives calling for a nuclear free world. Co-sponsored by a coalition of ten anti-nuclear NGOs, the event was a collaboration of testimonies from A-bomb survivors, speeches from leaders of the nuclear disarmament movement and the deputy Ambassador of Japan to the United Nations, and international music and dance. Twenty local and international civil society organizations held booths offering suggestions for public actions. |
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| photo: Philip Tuson |
On this day, calling for the abolition of nuclear weapons and war, it was appropriate that the musical highlight was a special guest performance by Pete Seeger, legendary folk singer and peace activist. Pete Seeger and his Walkabout Clearwater Chorus had the entire crowd singing the famous peace song, “Last night I had the strangest dream… I dreamed the world had all agreed to put an end to war.” The Peace Boat participants and New York locals then danced to Afro-Cuban Salsa by Yuca Seca Band and Nigerian Afrobeats by ASIKO. Absolute Bhangra Dancers with their Punjabi dance moves and the Peace Boat dancers with their impeccable traditional Nanchu Soran, fisherman’s dance also awed the crowd. |
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| photo: JT Boehm |
Between performances, leaders of the anti-nuclear movement encouraged the crowd to “get active” and join at least one of the initiatives presented at the various NGO booths. Cora Weiss, President of The Hague Appeal for Peace gave the opening remarks, stressing the importance of civil society’s role in the struggle for nuclear disarmament and stated, “humanity abolished slavery and apartheid, why not war?” Rhianna Tyson from the Global Security Institute passionately declared to the crowd that “the tide is turning. This is a moment of profound hope. Our colleagues in Washington are increasingly responding to our calls for abolition and the signs of change are everywhere.” Michimasa Hirata, Hiroshima atomic bomb survivor spoke passionately about his life as a peace activist and the importance for us to never forget the message of the Hibakusha (A-bomb survivors.) |
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| photo: Philip Tuson |
Youth from Japan and Europe also joined to call for nuclear disarmament. The group of twenty Peace Boat Global University Students and youth activists from Germany, Austria, and United Kingdom representing BANg! (Ban All Nukes Generation: European Youth Network for Nuclear Disarmament) presented a statement to Japanese Ambassador Takahiro Shinyo, as a culmination of their onboard intensive disarmament studies programme. Ambassador Shinyo accepted the statement after giving a speech, boldly calling for nuclear disarmament to be the ninth MDG (Millennium Development Goal). |
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| photo: Philip Tuson |
The Nagasaki Day Third Annual People Building Peace Concert was the opening event of the Peace Boat’s 58th Voyage’s visit to New York City, and energized the Peace Boat participants for the rest of their stay. In the spirit of “People Building Peace,” participants joined programmes all over the city, from visiting the United Nations to learning about multicultural and immigration issues. |
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