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Mayors for Peace conference participants visit Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum

by Michiko Tanaka and Kyoko Niiyama, Staff Writers

The General Conference of Mayors for Peace, which has brought together heads of cities worldwide that seek the abolition of nuclear weapons, opened on August 3 in Hiroshima. After the gathering’s opening ceremony, the participants visited Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, which conveys the inhumanity of nuclear weapons and serves as a symbol of Hiroshima’s appeal, and renewed their resolve to eliminate nuclear arms.

After offering a silent prayer at the Cenotaph for the A-bomb Victims, the participants entered the museum and studied photos of A-bomb survivors and a panoramic model of the devastated city in the aftermath of the bombing, among other exhibits.

Kheder Kareem, the mayor of Halabja, Iraq, visiting Peace Memorial Museum for the first time, revealed surprise and anger, saying he found it hard to believe that such destruction was caused by human beings.

Chemical weapons used by the regime of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein killed about 5,000 people in his city. The mayor said that to realize a peaceful world, more cities must become engaged in these efforts and he would like to help craft measures toward this end at the Mayors for Peace conference.

Bernd Strauch, the mayor of Hannover, Germany, pledged to share his experience of Hiroshima with residents back home. Germany, like Japan, relies on the U.S. nuclear umbrella to maintain national security. Mr. Strauch stressed that municipalities, which are closer to the people, have a duty to inform their citizens of such facts, and if the mindset of the public is swayed, this can help move the government.

Georges Charles, the deputy mayor of Champigny-sur-Marne in northern France, criticized the French government’s refusal to relinquish its nuclear arsenal, saying that the government is controlled by the military industry. He added that the only way to effect change in the country is for cities to join forces and he plans to explore ways to urge cities which are not currently members of Mayors for Peace to take action, too.

(Originally published on August 4, 2013)

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