Die-in for peace: campaigners to gather at Castle park

Bristol is remembering the 78th anniversary of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki with a Peace Gathering claimed to be the only remembrance event of its kind in the country.

The gathering runs from Sunday to Wednesday, August 6-9, in Castle Park’s “Peace Grove” in central Bristol.

It’s been organized by Bristol Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) and Extinction-Rebellion-Peace- Bristol, and is supported by Christian Climate Action Bristol, Bristol Against the Arms Trade and others.

The four-day event programme includes talks, workshops, a walking peace vigil, crafts, shared food and music.

The Sunday morning opens with a ‘die-in’ to commemorate the bombing of Hiroshima at 8.15am, followed by an ‘all faiths and none’ meditation and opening rally at 1pm.

The ‘die-in’ action involves campaigners lying as if dead on the ground, often used by Extinction Rebellion in protests as ‘a solemn act that symbolizes the kind of future we face without government action on climate change’. There will be another to commemorate the Nagasaki bombing at 11.02am on Wednesday 6 August.

The two bombs dropped in Japan in 1945 killed more than a quarter of a million citizens.

The gathering will also feature talks and workshops on all aspects of peace, justice and sustainability, including climate change, migration, the arms industry, renewables and fair trade.

Stop Hinckley will lead a session on nuclear power and weapons, Reverend Sue Parfitt will give readings on climate change and a walking peace vigil around Broadmead shopping centre will take place at noon on Wednesday.

There will also be historical contributions on the1980’s Greenham Common women’s peace camps and the Bristol Bus Boycott, as well as craftivism, a peace-tree, a de-stress workshop and music.

Bristol groups and campaigners on nuclear weapons and power, the arms trade, climate change and social justice will join the gathering at Castle Park from August 6-9.

Two leading international peace campaigners will lead a four-day fast for peace, inviting others to join in solidarity for the whole stint or as long as they wish.

Dr Matthias Engelke, a Lutheran pastor from Germany, became a convinced pacifist after a stint as a military chaplain, and has vowed to fast for an additional day every year until all nuclear weapons are removed from German soil.

Etienne Godinot, a lawyer from France, is vice-President of the Research Institute on the Non-violent Resolution of Conflicts (IRNC), and is calling for France to sign the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

Local peace groups, supported by Bristol Green Party, have called for Bristol City Council to sign up to the CND’s Nuclear Ban Communities initiative, joining the movement pressuring the UK government to sign this Treaty.

Hannah Tweddell, chair of Bristol CND, says: “The recently released Oppenheimer film demonstrates how nuclear weapons started, but how will they end?

“On the 78th anniversary of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki we call for the abolition of all nuclear weapons for a safer and more peaceful future.  We ask Bristol City Council to become a nuclear ban community in support of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.”

Dr Rowland Dye of Extinction Rebellion-Peace, says: “As a former nuclear scientist I know too well that we must never forget those who suffered the unleashing of this new and terrible military weaponry.

“This four-day peace gathering provides the opportunity to discuss the causes of war and injustice as well as providing a forum for those who would prefer a better world based on peace, justice, and sustainability.”

Find full details of the event and programme at: https://sites.google.com/site/cndbristolbranch//home/hiroshima-nagasaki-peace-gathering

This piece of independent journalism is supported by The Extra Mile and the Bristol24/7 public and business membership.

Main photo: Simon Holliday

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