Four day fast at AWE Burghfield in memory of the victims of Hiroshima and Nagasaki - 6-9 August 2013

Action AWE press release

Members and supporters of Action AWE will fast for four days - from 6 - 9 August 2013 - in front of AWE Burghfield. The fast is one of a series of upcoming actions by Action AWE in the coming months, aimed at raising awareness about the UK’s nuclear weapons programme, and especially the planned like-for-like replacement of Trident.

Angie Zelter, one of the organisers of Action AWE, who has visited both Hiroshima and Nagasaki and has close contacts with the Japanese peace and environmental movements, said,
“I will fast at AWE Burghfield in remembrance of the US war crimes that destroyed two major cities killing hundreds of thousands of civilians in Japan at the end of the Second World War when the Japanese were already suing for peace. I will be there making paper cranes, symbols of beauty, hope and recovery and trying to bring light into the darkness surrounding AWE Burghfield and Aldermaston. The Government are lying when they say the decision to replace Trident will be made after the next general election. Look at the cranes and building work inside the fences, look at the Valduc-Aldermaston agreement, and know the abuse of power that is going on here. It is up to ordinary people to call the government to account, to ensure our MPs vote against Trident Replacement, and to transform these places into nuclear disarmament facilities. Then at last our nation might be seen as respecting international law by fulfilling our Non Proliferation Treaty obligations.”

“Spending 100 billion pounds on new nuclear weapons is criminal when the government is at the same time cutting crucial social services and benefits“, Andreas Speck, press spokesperson of Action AWE, adds. “The amount of money that will be saved by cutting benefits and pushing thousands of people further into poverty and destitution is dwarfed by these 100 billion pounds spent on an unnecessary, illegal, and dangerous weapon system. When we are looking for where cuts can be made, we surely should look at Trident, and not at people’s badly needed benefits and public services.”

While members and supporters of Action AWE will fast at AW E Burghfield, French activists will be fasting in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris [1], and German activists at Buechel airbase [2]. The French fast is organised by Maison de Vigilance, Armes nucléaires STOP and Réseau “Sortir du nucléaire”, and the German action is organised by Atomwaffenfrei jetzt (Free of nuclear weapons now).

Preliminary programme of the Action AWE fast in Burghfield

Tuesday 6th August – Fast begins at main gate of AWE Burghfield – with Hiroshima shadow painting

Wednesday 7th August – Peace Crane Walk from AWE Burghfield to AWE Aldermaston and back

Thursday 8th August – Slow Walking Meditation around AWE Burghfield

Friday 9th August – Nagasaki Lament at AWE Burghfield

Action AWE is a UK-based grassroots peace campaign to eradicate nuclear weapons by taking nonviolent direct action to halt nuclear warhead production at AWE Aldermaston and Burghfield, and undertakes education and outreach to raise awareness of the humanitarian, health and security consequences of nuclear weapons.

Upcoming Action AWE activities include:

• the AWE Burghfield Disarmament Camp from 26th August to 7th September 2013, including a big blockade of AWE Burghfield on 2nd September 2013 (http://tridentploughshares.org/awe-burghfield-summer-disarmament-camp-2013/ and http://actionawe.org/burghfield-blockade-leaflet-2nd-september-2013/)

Ends

Contact details:

Andreas Speck, 07973-683936 or [email protected]

Notes to editors