A LEADING activist in the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, this year’s Nobel Peace Prize winner, has likened her group’s aim with her struggle to survive the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.
Setsuko Thurlow, who was 13 when the 1945 bombing devastated her Japanese city, spoke yesterday at the formal Nobel Peace prize presentation in Oslo, Norway.
The group is a driving force behind an international treaty to ban nuclear weapons.
Thurlow said the blast left her buried under the rubble of a school, but she was able to see some light and crawl to safety.
“Our light now is the ban treaty,” she said. “I repeat those words that I heard called to me in the ruins of Hiroshima: ‘Don’t give up. Keep pushing. See the light? Crawl toward it’.”
The treaty has been signed by 56 countries - none of them nuclear powers - and ratified by only three.
To become binding it requires ratification by 50 countries.
ICAN executive director Beatrice Fihn, who accepted the prize along with Thurlow, said although the treaty is far from ratification “now, at long last, we have an unequivocal norm against nuclear weapons”.
“This is the way forward. There is only one way to prevent the use of nuclear weapons - prohibit and eliminate them,” she said.
The other Nobel laureates announced in October - winners of the literature, physics, chemistry, medicine and economics prizes - are also due to receive their awards on Sunday in Stockholm.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel