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August 06, 2005
Loved Ones of 9/11 Victims Apologize to Victims of Hiroshima and Nagasaki Atomic Bombings
To be read in Hiroshima on August 6th, in closing ceremonies of Stonewalk, 2005. [Stonewalk 2005 was a 34-day walk from Nagasaki to Hiroshima where Japanese atomic bomb survivors [Hibakusha] joined family members of those killed on September 11th in pulling a two-ton granite memorial stone dedicated to the unknown victims of war everywhere.]
Pulling the granite stone from Nagasaki to Hiroshima
Statement of apology to the Hibakusha from September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows:
We Americans today apologize for the atrocities of August 6th and 9th, 1945, committed against the civilians of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. We express our great sorrow and great remorse for the sufferings caused by these nuclear holocausts. We know that we cannot experience the exact feelings of those who have lived through those events, but we must remember that history teaches us to understand, as much as we are able, how horrible, how tragic, how devastating those events were. You, the Hibakusha, are that history, standing before us.
Crimes against humanity are not new. We grieve for all victims of war and violence inflicted by nations upon other nations, individuals upon other individuals, societies upon other societies. But the unique cruelty of the nuclear devastation which you endured, and from which you have suffered since those days 60 years ago, must be acknowledged. As the countrymen and women of those who endorsed and committed such acts, the grief and the remorse we carry with us is a special sorrow, and therefore the apology we extend to you for those acts must be unique in its sincerity and in its expression.
The evil which brought about the decisions to bomb Hiroshima and Nagasaki must be prevented from re-emerging, and causing such terrible catastrophes to be repeated in the future. Already, in the 60 years since the bombings, the world has learned of the many terrible threats that come with the development and proliferation of nuclear arms. You Hibakusha, who are victims of the effects of nuclear weapons, already know the most personal and direct effect of nations continuing to rely on these weapons of evil. As the citizens of a nation that continues to pursue this evil path, we must acknowledge our personal sorrow that we have not been able to stop this tragedy, and we must apologize as best we can for our failure to change the hearts and minds of those who continue to lead us in this terrible direction.
The foolishness of pursuing the development and deployment of nuclear arms has other less direct effects which we all, as citizens of the world, are suffering daily. The continuing fear of the threat of nuclear attack from the growing number of nations and organizations which are already -- or are seeking to be -- nuclear entities places a burden upon the nations and peoples of the world which cannot be counted. The costs are counted not only in dollars spent on weapons research and deployment instead of humanitarian concerns, but also in the true currency of human and international relations -- compassion and cooperation -- which comes from understanding, instead of the evil currency of hatred and violence which come from fear.
Whether each of our hearts is filled with the understanding that the pursuit of peace can only come with the abandonment of the tools of violence and war -- that is something that only each one of us can know. But we stand before you, the Hibakusha, reminded that your powerful presence is testimony to that fact. We thank you for your continuing role in changing the course of history, and we are grateful for each step we can take with you toward that day when nuclear weapons -- indeed, all weapons -- will be a thing of the past.
Sincerely, September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, 2005
The inscription on the stone
The stone covered with peace cranes, earth and peace flags flying over it.
[I received this text from a man who lost his only child on United Flight 93 on September 11, 2001. Why isn't he, or someone like him who represents the best face of our nation, our ambassador to the United Nations?]
Posted by zeynep at August 6, 2005 12:49 AM
Comments
[Zeynep said: Why isn't he, or someone like him who represents the best face of our nation, our ambassador to the United Nations?]
Because those in power have a slightly different way of looking at things: http://www.socioeconomics.com/archives/2005/08/between_life_an.html
Posted by: socioeconomics at August 6, 2005 12:54 PM
``Because those in power have a slightly different way of looking at things''
Just so. But as someone once remarked of the Texas state legislature: ``If you think these guys are bad, wait 'til you see their constituents''. I remain optimistic that one could get a majority in this country for a policy focused on peace and human development instead of war and pentagon capitalism, but events like the victory of the R's in recent elections are not good for the morale in this regard.
Posted by: Paul Lyon at August 6, 2005 07:22 PM