EarthAction

How to Make Fun of Nazis

Counter-protesters at a K.K.K. Rally in Charlotte, N.C., in 2012. Credit: Yash Mori

For decades, Wunsiedel, a German town near the Czech border, has struggled with a parade of unwanted visitors. It was the original burial place of one of Adolf Hitler’s deputies, a man named Rudolf Hess. And every year, to residents’ chagrin, neo-Nazis marched to his grave site. The town had staged counter demonstrations to dissuade these pilgrims. In 2011 it had exhumed Hess’s body and even removed his grave stone. But undeterred, the neo-Nazis returned. So in 2014, the town tried a different tactic: humorous subversion

The campaign, called Rechts Gegen Rechts — the Right Against the Right — turned the march into Germany’s “most involuntary walkathon.” For every meter the neo-Nazis marched, local residents and businesses pledged to donate 10 euros (then equivalent to about $12.50) to a program that helps people leave right-wing extremist groups, called EXIT Deutschland.

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From The New York TImes, By Moises Velasquez-Manoff 

Action Ideas for Hiroshima and Nagasaki Days

©Picture from UNFOLD ZERO unfoldzero.org

August 6 (Hiroshima Day) and August 9 (Nagasaki Day) are global days of action for nuclear abolition. UNFOLD ZERO encourages you to take action on these days to:

        1. promote the new nuclear ban treaty if you are in a non-nuclear country;

        2. promote nuclear risk-reduction and disarmament measures if you are in a nuclear-armed or             allied country;

        3. call on your government to participate in the 2018 UN High-Level Conference on Nuclear             Disarmament at the highest level (prime minister or president);

        4. sign the ATOM Project online petition for a nuclear-weapon-free world;

        5. encourage your parliamentarian, mayor or religious leader to endorse the joint statement 'A             Nuclear-Weapon-Free World: Our Common Good' if they have not already done so.

Nuclear ban treaty

On July 7, 2017, the United Nations adopted a Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons supported by 122 countries. The treaty will be open for signature on September 20 and will enter-into-force once 50 States ratify.

If you live in a non-nuclear-weapon country, you can call on your government to sign the ban treaty, which will open for signature at the United Nations General Assembly on September 20, and to ratify the treaty before the UN High-Level Conference in 2018.

The aim is to have 50 countries ratify the treaty by the time of UN High-Level conference so that it can enter-into-force by then.

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Ban Treaty Opens the Door to Global Nuclear Divestment Campaign

©Picture from Global Campaign on Military Spending demilitarize.org

On July 7, 2017, the United Nations adopted a Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons following negotiations over 5 weeks during March, June and July. 122 countries voted in favour of the treaty, demonstrating the clear and unequivocal acceptance of the majority of UN members never to use, threaten to use, produce, possess, acquire, transfer, test or deploy nuclear weapons.

The nuclear-armed and allied States opposed the treaty and none are likely to join. As such they are not bound by its provisions, and will not be directly affected by it. However, the new treaty could be used to impact on the policies and practices of the nuclear armed States, especially if States parties prohibit investments in nuclear weapons corporations as part of their implementation of the treaty.

Corporations manufacturing nuclear weapons and their delivery systems are major drivers of the nuclear arms race. They actively lobby their parliaments and governments to continue allocating the funds to nuclear weapons. And they support think tanks and other public initiatives to promote the ‘need’ for nuclear weapons maintenance, modernization and expansion.

Many of the countries supporting the nuclear prohibition treaty have public funds (such as national pension funds), and banks operating in their countries, that invest in these corporations.

The new treaty does not specifically prohibit such investments. However, States parties to the treaty agree not to ‘assist, encourage or induce, in any way, anyone to engage in any activity prohibited to a State Party under this Treaty.’  This can be interpreted as prohibiting investments in nuclear weapons corporations.

If a number of States Parties to the treaty, encouraged by their parliamentarians and civil society, decide to prohibit investments in nuclear weapons corporations as part of their national implementation measures, this could highlight the unethical corporate practice of manufacturing such weapons, damage the standing of such corporations and constrain their lobbying power.

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