[syfaslane365] Press release and Hiroshima peace flame

Fri Sep 29 14:59:02 BST 2006

1 - people probably have this sorted for sheffield - but I've sent this
press release to our derbyshire press. (Such as it is.)   If anyone
wanted to use it for sheffiled (I think it would be really good to
contact the star and telegraph and radio sheffield at least) -  would
just need "derbyshire" replacing with sheffield and (preferably) the
contact numbers changing. (And I'm sure it could be imporved in loads of
ways if anyone had energy!!)  But - as I say - this may well be covered
- I'm just being a bit forgetful about who's doing local press - but
Ankie / Simon will know.

2 - On the hiroshima peace flame - explained below - be great if people
back home in sheffield etc. wanted to burn it too.
If anyone wants to pcik it up (from grindleford) - contact me by email
or phone (07799 470898) before end of  Monday .

	Press Release: Derbyshire people take direct action against
Britain's nuclear weapons.

	                        Also lighting Hiroshima Peace Flame at
Faslane base.

	A group of people from Derbyshire are going up to Faslane, near
Glasgow - the home of Britain's submarine - based nuclear weapons, over
5th and 6th October.   They intend to blockade the base, using
non-violent direct action to prevent access to it.   Their belief is
that it is immoral and illegal, in international war to maintain weapons
of mass destruction. Since the government refuses to respect this, it is
important that people act to stop this irresponsible activity.

	The action will be part of "Faslane 365", an action to blockade
the base continuously for 100 days. Groups from all over Britain will be
taking part.

	The group will also be taking up the Hiroshima Peace Flame, to
light and maintain outside the Faslane nuclear weapons base.

	The Hiroshima peace flame was originally lit from the fire
ignited by the atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima.  Originally,
Mr. Tatsuo Yamamoto, who took it, regarded it with anger as the fire
which killed his uncle. However, his grandmother transferred it to her
Buddhist shrine, where it developed into a symbol of reconciliation, and
the transformation of war into peace. 

	The fire has been burning ever since as an appeal from Hiroshima
and Nagasaki in support of nuclear weapons abolition activities. 

	We are taking it to Faslane, and also burning it back home in
Derbyshire, in the hope that the energy that has gone into building
Britain's weapons of mass destruction will similarly be transformed to
peaceful ends, and that the nuclear weapons will be dismantled.

	For more information, Contact Bob Banks - 07799 470898

	                                                  Jill Gibbon -
07891 380819

	More about Faslane 365 - see also www.faslane365.org/

	50 different groups have now signed up to taking part in Faslane
365, the year-long peaceful blockade of the Faslane nuclear submarine
base on the Clyde, starting October 1, 2006.  This civil resistance
movement, launched at a civic reception hosted by Edinburgh City Council
on September 9, calls for Britain to fulfil its treaty obligations and
get rid of the Trident nuclear weapons instead of replacing them.

	The groups will each bring at least 100 people to blockade and
demonstrate at the Faslane nuclear base for up to two days at a time. In
preventing nuclear 'business as usual' these groups will also be making
connections with issues such as climate change, poverty and resource
allocation, to highlight the real, human security priorities.

	The list includes groups organised locally (Assynt, Glasgow,
Edinburgh, London, Leicester, Sheffield etc), by political parties (SNP
and Greens), by organisations (CND, Quakers, Stop the War, etc.) and by
groups sharing a common interest or profession (Cyclists,
Parliamentarians, Writers, Health Professionals etc.). The blockades
will be launched with on October 1 by women commemorating 25 years of
Greenham.

	The government has put Trident back on the political agenda,
with its announcement of a decision in this Parliament on replacing the
UK's nuclear weapons, at a likely cost of some 25 to 40 billion.  With
the strong opposition in Scotland especially in mind, Faslane 365 aims
to mobilise public opinion and action to get rid of Trident and prevent
any commitment to further nuclear weapons.  The strategy is to combine
persistent, non-violent opposition at the site of deployment with
political pressure at every level. 

	With these blockades, Faslane 365 plans to highlight the
political and financial costs of deploying Trident, while raising
questions about the relevance of any kind of nuclear weapons for our
security in the 21st century.

	More about the Hiroshima Peace Flame:

~ A story of a flame of slaughter that became a light of Peace ~ 

The twentieth century saw decades of wars. What we have started is a
movement to change the flame of war into a "peace light" with a view to
spreading the "wish for peace" to all over the world.

In 1945 the fire from the atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima was
taken by Mr. Tatsuo Yamamoto. He then took that flame back to his home
in Hoshino village. His thought was "this fire killed my uncle." He
directed his hatred toward the fire because it slaughtered many citizens
and the uncle he loved. "I want to show this bloody fire to my
grandmother."

However, when he showed her the fire, she transferred it to the candle
on the family's Buddhist alter:  "To me it was a fire of hatred of
America but to my grandmother it was the fire of love for her husband." 

The fire of the atomic bomb illuminated the uncle's funeral and his
grandmother kept the fire burning for twelve years until she passed
away. Seeing the way she cherished the fire transformed Yamamoto's own
mind from hatred to love. He came to harbour a sincere wish for peace.
Later on, an editor happened to hear about the fire and wrote a story
about the "Love Fire" in a newspaper. Then in 1968, the fire was used to
light a "Peace Tower Light" in Hoshino village.

The fire has been burning ever since as an appeal from Hiroshima and
Nagasaki in support of nuclear weapons abolition activities. 

In 2002, a Japanese Buddhist nun, Jun Yasuda, initiated the Hiroshima
Flame Walk in the US. Her and walkers walked to different military bases
and other related sites of Bush's Space Wars program. The walk took the
flame to Native American communities, the US military facilities and
communities along the way and shared the prayer for a peaceful world
with thousands of people. Around the same time, it came to Britain.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

	Dr. Bob Banks
	Senior Consultant
	Tribal 
	St Mary's Court,
	55 St. Mary's Road
	Sheffield, S2 4AN

	Tel: 0114 281 6100 Fax: 0114 2816021 
	Email: bob.banks at tribalgroup.co.uk
	Web: www.tribaltechnology.co.uk

	A member of Tribal Group plc

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