Grassroots Activists Decend on Nuclear Security Summit

photo courtesy of Global Zero

March 20, 2014

News from Global Zero
March 20, 2014

Their Message To World Leaders: The Only Way To Prevent Nuclear Terrorism Is To Eliminate All Nuclear Weapons

THE HAGUE — Youth-led activists sent a powerful message to world leaders as they arrived in The Hague ahead of U.S. President Barack Obama's Nuclear Security Summit. These grassroots members of the Global Zero movement projected an enormous image on the side of the Steigenberger Kurhaus Hotel, one of the summit venues, stating: "Security is not 17,000 nukes. #DemandZero."  

The summit, organized by President Obama with the goal of preventing nuclear terrorism, will only address plans to secure nuclear materials. Nuclear weapons are absent from the agenda, despite Obama’s statement last year in Berlin that "so long as nuclear weapons exist, we are not truly safe."
 
"Securing nuclear material is important, but there's no such thing as 'nuclear security' while there are more than 17,000 nukes in the world. Eliminating these weapons must be at the top of the agenda," said Dominique van Heukelom, the lead organizer and a student of the University of Leiden.
 
Additional demonstrations and activities are planned throughout the week to draw attention to the nuclear threat, including a student-organized bike ride around The Hague that traces the 7.5-km thermal blast radius of a "small" nuclear weapon – the zone of devastation in which most injuries would be fatal, overwhelming any possible humanitarian relief efforts.  Continue reading....
 
 
 
Global Zero is a non-partisan international initiative dedicated to public education, dialogue and awareness-raising among the public and opinion leaders about the urgent nuclear threat and proposals for the elimination of all nuclear weapons. Global Zero (GZ) convenes major international conferences of opinion leaders and experts, conducts media, online and grassroots communications and organizes a global campus education and outreach program. The Simons Foundation is the principal sponsor of Global Zero and Dr. Jennifer Allen Simons is a Founding Partner and Canada Chair of Global Zero.