Survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings speaks on nuclear threats, Gaza bloodshed

With the specter of nuclear conflict looming large, survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings are sounding a warning: nuclear arms are not a path to peace.

The co-chair of Nihon Hidankyo, a group of atomic bomb survivors from Hiroshima and Nagasaki that won the Nobel Peace Prize told reporters: “It has been said that because of nuclear weapons, the world maintains peace. But nuclear weapons can be used by terrorists.”

“For example, if Russia uses them against Ukraine, Israel against Gaza, it won’t end there. Politicians should know these things.”

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The Norwegian Nobel Committee in Oslo awarded the group the Nobel prize on Friday “for its efforts to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons and for demonstrating through witness testimony that nuclear weapons must never be used again.”

Toshiyuki Mimaki, co-chair of Nihon Hidankyo, went emotional as he broke down in tears at a press conference after the award was announced, saying “never did I dream this could happen.”

He added that members of the group – which was founded in 1956 – were the “average age of 85.”

Commenting on the situation in the besieged Gaza Strip, Mimaki said the situation for children in Gaza is similar to what Japan faced at the end of World War II.

“In Gaza, bleeding children are being held (by their parents). It’s like in Japan 80 years ago,” he said.

The mayor of Hiroshima, Kazumi Matsui, denounced nuclear weapons as an “absolute evil.”

Recall that l WWII ended in 1945 after the United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
The first nuclear bomb hit Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, and killed 140,000 people.