Thread: 2017 Nobel Peace Prize

2017 Nobel Peace Prize
The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2017 to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) "for its work to draw attention to the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of any use of nuclear weapons and for its ground-breaking efforts to achieve a treaty-based prohibition of such weapons".

Just watching on NHK World the Nobel Peace Prize Award Ceremony, The Nobel Lecture presented by Mme Setsuko Thurlow - Hiroshima survivor and ICAN campaigner

Setsuko Thurlow was a 13-year-old schoolgirl when the United States dropped an atomic bomb on her city, Hiroshima. Today, she is a leading figure in the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN). Her powerful speeches have inspired countless individuals around the world to take action for disarmament.

She was instrumental in the creation of the landmark Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, adopted in July 2017 with the support of 122 nations. For decades, she has warned governments that inaction is not an option: nuclear weapons must be totally eliminated if we are to ensure that no other city ever suffers the same fate as hers.

Setsuko’s courageous advocacy, sharp analysis and deep conviction make her a formidable opponent to all who claim that these ultimate weapons of mass destruction are legitimate instruments of defence. A living witness to the horrors of nuclear war, she has contributed enormously to the success of ICAN over the past decade.

Setsuko Thurlow | ICAN

(I do not think that VoA will broadcast her speech...)

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

...somebody gave a fucking speech.

Harry, there are limits of your vulgarities. And the mod tolerate it to you?

Setsuko Thurlow, Dec 10, 2017:

Whenever I remember Hiroshima, the first image that comes to mind is of my four-year-old nephew, Eiji - his little body transformed into an unrecognizable melted chunk of flesh. He kept begging for water in a faint voice until his death released him from agony.

To me, he came to represent all the innocent children of the world, threatened as they are at this very moment by nuclear weapons. Every second of every day, nuclear weapons endanger everyone we love and everything we hold dear. We must not tolerate this insanity any longer.

Through our agony and the sheer struggle to survive - and to rebuild our lives from the ashes - we hibakusha became convinced that we must warn the world about these apocalyptic weapons. Time and again, we shared our testimonies.

But still some refused to see Hiroshima and Nagasaki as atrocities - as war crimes. They accepted the propaganda that these were "good bombs" that had ended a "just war". It was this myth that led to the disastrous nuclear arms race - a race that continues to this day.

Nine nations still threaten to incinerate entire cities, to destroy life on earth, to make our beautiful world uninhabitable for future generations. The development of nuclear weapons signifies not a country's elevation to greatness, but its descent to the darkest depths of depravity. These weapons are not a necessary evil; they are the ultimate evil.

On the seventh of July this year, I was overwhelmed with joy when a great majority of the world's nations voted to adopt the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Having witnessed humanity at its worst, I witnessed, that day, humanity at its best. We hibakusha had been waiting for the ban for seventy-two years. Let this be the beginning of the end of nuclear weapons.

All responsible leaders will sign this treaty. And history will judge harshly those who reject it. No longer shall their abstract theories mask the genocidal reality of their practices. No longer shall "deterrence" be viewed as anything but a deterrent to disarmament. No longer shall we live under a mushroom cloud of fear.

To the officials of nuclear-armed nations - and to their accomplices under the so-called "nuclear umbrella" - I say this: Listen to our testimony. Heed our warning. And know that your actions are consequential. You are each an integral part of a system of violence that is endangering humankind. Let us all be alert to the banality of evil.

To every president and prime minister of every nation of the world, I beseech you: Join this treaty; forever eradicate the threat of nuclear annihilation.

https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_pri...ecture_en.html

Saw that same cat not a week ago...

With Israel a nuclear armed nation but not a signatory to any nuclear pacts, and the US forever bending over with it's pants down for Israel, ICAN has an uphill struggle.

Originally Posted by BaitongBoy

Saw that same cat not a week ago...

Probably on another pointless thread from the same OP.

Unfucking believable! The Japs killed more Asians out of some weird psychotic blood lust than any other country on the fucking planet and threatened to kill hundreds of thousands of Allied soldiers poised to crush their sorry fucking arses, a fate that was only pre-empted by the very necessary dropping of the two atom bombs slaughtering enough of the slant-eyed, yellow-bellied, rice gobbling gits to force the fuckers to give up.

This stupid hypocrisy is a bore but giving prizes for it is fucking offensive. Nuclear bombs are good if it means fucked up little Asian fuckers threatening genocide are wasted.

Given past recipients of this wonderful prize, it seems to be almost a spoof, or bestowed with a crushing irony.

I was expecting it to go to Trump for his superb skills in calming North Korea and the Middle East.

Originally Posted by Seekingasylum

The Japs killed more Asians out of some weird psychotic blood lust than any other country...

And now the good people have to be heavily protected against the bad neigbours (as we are said)...