On August 9, 2022 Syracuse Peace Council and endorsing groups of the Back from the Brink Campaign held a commemoration of the bombing of Nagasaki and an appreciation of the new endorsers of the Back from the Brink Campaign. In front of the County Courthouse, representatives gathered in a tableau illustrating the horror of nuclear war and the hope of the future.
We deeply appreciate our new endorsers, County Legislators Peggy Chase, Linda Ervin and Christopher Ryan. Legislators Charles Garland and Mark Olson have also committed to endorsing. We thank legislator Mary Kuhn for speaking at our event; and legislator Mark Olson for attending.
These are the legislators who have endorsed previously:
- Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh
- Syracuse Common Council
- County legislators Mary Kuhn, Bill Kinne; former county legislator Vernon Williams
- State Senators Rachel May, and John Mannion
- State Assemblywoman Pamela Hunter
Watch the recorded livestream of our recent Celebration + Action: One Year of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons: https://www.facebook.com/100064916373087/videos/301737188580977 held on Friday, January 21 at 12:00 pm at the Federal Building in downtown Syracuse.
The TPNW is a historic achievement in the global movement to abolish nuclear weapons, making it illegal under international law for participating nations to “develop, test, produce, manufacture, otherwise acquire, possess, or stockpile nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices.” Pursuing nuclear abolition through an international treaty such as the TPNW is a key point of the Back from the Brink campaign to prevent nuclear war (preventnuclearwar.org). Back from the Brink has been endorsed by 19 community and faith organizations in the CNY, as well as local, state, and county legislators. (https://www.peacecouncil.net/programs/nuclear-free-world-committee).
Representatives of some of the local endorsing organizations briefly spoke of the treaty’s importance and the need for our elected leaders to both endorse the treaty publicly and work for a nuclear-free world. We called on Congress to support U.S. engagement with the TPNW.
BACKGROUND: The TPNW went into force on January 22, 2021.
(https://www.icanw.org/about_the_treaty_to_prohibit_nuclear_weapons).
By choosing to ratify the treaty, fifty-six nations around the globe are prohibited from developing, testing, producing, manufacturing, transferring, possessing, stockpiling, using, or threatening to use nuclear weapons. The treaty also prohibits these nations from assisting, encouraging, or inducing anyone to engage in any of those activities. In addition, these nations must not allow nuclear weapons to be stationed or deployed on their territory. Unfortunately, none of the nuclear-armed states, including the U.S. have joined the treaty. The TPNW puts pressure on nuclear-armed states to move toward nuclear disarmament by making it harder to finance, produce or station nuclear weapons across the globe. We are calling on the U.S. to lead the international community in a process that will result in the worldwide prohibition of nuclear weapons.
Take Action:
Petition local legislators to sign a letter to President Biden and Congress to support Back from the Brink. You can sign here:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf0bhFbw_DXCZQz3L4a_O82hRskpcZz0PbkkRXwHNSGl4y7OQ/viewform
Back from the Brink: The Call to Prevent Nuclear War is a national grassroots initiative seeking to fundamentally change U.S. nuclear weapons policy and lead us away from the dangerous path we are on. The Call lays out five common-sense steps that the United States should take to reform its nuclear policy. We are asking individuals and organizations around the country to endorse The Call and build support for the U.S. government to adopt it as its highest national security priority. Join the effort and help build a safer world for our children to inherit.
We call on the United States to lead a global effort to prevent nuclear war by:
- Renouncing the option of using nuclear weapons first
- Ending the sole, unchecked authority of any U.S. president to launch a nuclear attack
- Taking U.S. nuclear weapons off hair-trigger alert
- Cancelling the plan to replace its entire nuclear arsenal with enhanced weapons
- Actively pursuing a verifiable agreement among nuclear-armed states to eliminate their nuclear arsenals
Many local faith groups and community organizations in Syracuse have endorsed the Back From the Brink campaign call:
- Syracuse Peace Council
- Nuclear Free World Committee of the Syracuse Peace Council
- All Saints Catholic Church
- Alliance for a Green Economy (AGREE)
- Beyond War and Militarism, a joint committee of the Syracuse Peace Council and CNY Solidarity Coalition
- CNY National Organization for Women
- CNY Poor People’s Campaign
- CNY Solidarity Coalition
- Eastwood Rotary
- Episcopal Diocese of CNY
- Indivisible 13224
- May Memorial Unitarian Universalist
- St. Lucy’s Catholic Church
- University United Methodist Church
- Veterans for Peace Chapter 51
- Syracuse Community Choir
- Syracuse Cultural Workers
- Plymouth Congregational Church
- Peace Action Le Moyne
Want to be the next local organization to endorse the call? Would you like a presentation to your group about the Back from the Brink campaign? Get in touch! Contact drswords@gmail.com or michaela@peacecouncil.net.
CNY Elected Officials who have endorsed Back from the Brink:
- City of Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh
- Syracuse Common Council
- County legislators Mary Kuhn, Bill Kinne; former county legislator Vernon Williams
- State Senators Rachel May, and John Mannion
- State Assemblywoman Pamela Hunter