HIBAKUSHA
Gabino Zavala, JPIC Director
As tensions spiral in the Middle East, we must be aware that this is only one area in which war and the threat of war are upending the international order. In Ukraine, a war continues to rage and in Asia a new dynamic is at work. We are in a dangerous period in our history. During the war in Ukraine, the Russians have been rattling the sabers of nuclear weapons. On the Korean peninsula, tensions between the North and South are getting worse as North Korea takes a threatening posture and has worked to upgrade its nuclear arsenal. Kim Jong Un has now called South Korea his principal enemy; Iran, supported by Russia, has escalated tensions in the Middle East as it gets closer to nuclear capacity. There seems to be a new quartet of power that is supporting one another with weapons and technology. The U.S. estimates that 90% of Russia’s microchips and 70% of its machine tools come from China. Both of those products can be used to make weapons. The four nations have become an alliance of hostile powers.
Within the above context, the good news is that a grassroots Japanese group, Nihon Hidankyo, recognized for its efforts to rid the world of nuclear weapons, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize this year. The group’s grass roots movement of atomic bomb survivors from Hiroshima and Nagasaki, known as Hibakusha, received the prize for its efforts to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons and for demonstrating through their witness testimony that nuclear weapons must never be used again.
The group emerged in the aftermath of the 1945 U. S. nuclear attacks in Japan and proved indispensable in establishing an international prohibition on the use of nuclear weapons. The Nobel Committee said, “These historical witnesses have helped to generate and consolidate widespread opposition to nuclear weapons around the world by drawing on personal stories, creating educational campaigns based on their own experience, and issuing urgent warnings against spread and use of nuclear weapons.”
The committee continued, “The Hibakusha helps to describe the indescribable, to think the unthinkable, and to somehow grasp the incomprehensible pain and suffering caused by nuclear weapons.”
The award comes in the context of the nuclear saber rattling, as well as that nuclear powers around the world are modernizing and upgrading their arsenals, as new nations work to acquire the weaponry. While Vladimir Putin has not only raised the prospect of using nuclear weapons in Ukraine, he has also rejected U.S. efforts to reopen arms control talks.
Only the U.S. had nuclear capabilities in 1945. Now, eight nations have nuclear weapons. Even a limited nuclear conflict could result in millions of deaths.
The Nobel Committee said that this year—a year before the 80th anniversary of the attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki—is a timely moment to recognize the survivors and their efforts to warn the world of the devastation of nuclear war. “One day, the Hibakusha will no longer be among us as witnesses to history. But new generations in Japan will continue the experiences and message of the witness.”
October is Respect for Life Month. As a Precious Blood family, we advocate for life from conception to natural death and every life issue in between. One of the serious realities that threatens the sacredness of life is the growing threat of using nuclear weapons in any of our conflicts. Let us work to raise the awareness of that threat and stop the use of nuclear weapons.