Peace activists from Japan, South Korea and the US to speak at international peace conference in Lakenheath, Thursday 24 April
Peace activists from the across the world will be debating how to resist US nuclear expansion – meeting in Bury St Edmunds, close to RAF Lakenheath air base, on Thursday 24 April. The conference is part of a programme of events for the Lakenheath Alliance for Peace camp taking place outside RAF Lakenheath from Monday 14 to Saturday 26 April.
With global dangers rising following Donald Trump’s election, the conference will share on-the-ground experiences of the impact of US bases across the world. Peace activists will discuss how the United States maintains global military domination through its nuclear weapons and a network of some 800 bases throughout the world. Rather than promoting genuine peace and security, this structure has emboldened the US to trash arms control treaties and international law, while bringing death and destruction, environmental degradation, and impoverishment to countless millions across the planet.
RAF Lakenheath and nearby RAF Mildenhall play an important part in the US’ NATO structure, with Lakenheath currently being modernised for the next generation of US nuclear weapons in Europe. The British government, linked to US militarism through the Mutual Defence Agreement, is actively supporting Washington’s belligerent foreign policy by ensuing nuclear secrecy and by allowing its bases, both in Britain and abroad, to aid Israel in its genocide against Palestinians.
This conference aims to analyse these political and military developments – globally, regionally and locally, drawing together movements and activists from across the world, to support each other, strategise together, and plan action for resistance and change.
- Thursday, 24 April
- 9:30am-5pm
- West Row Village Hall, Chapel Road, West Row, Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, IP28 8NY
- Tickets free, register here
Sessions
Global Dynamics: challenging US militarism and the drive to war
Angie Zelter, Lakenheath Alliance for Peace; Ann Wright, retired colonel and former US diplomat, Global Women United Against NATO; Koichi Toyoshima, Japanese peace campaigner and anti-base activist; Sean Conner, Executive Director, International Peace Bureau. Chaired by Kate Hudson, CND Vice-President.
NATO and the nuclear build-up in Europe: how the bases are used and resisted
Ludo de Brabander, Vrede, Belgium; Frits ter Kuile, Catholic Worker, Amsterdam; Dr Angelika Claussen, International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, Germany; Demetrios Hadjidemetriou, Workers Democracy in Cyprus. Chaired by Zareen Taj, Cambridge Stop the War/CND.
How bases impact on communities: environment, pollution and people
Sung-Hee Choi, Jeju campaign, South Korea; Bimal Khadka, Medact UK; Elio Pagani, Abbasso la Guerra, Italy; Alain Rouy, Le Mouvement de la Paix, France. Chaired by Soetkin Van Muylem, Vrede, Belgium.
Looking ahead: solidarity, strategy and action
Reiner Braun, No to War – No to NATO Network; Sophie Bolt CND General Secretary; Joe Lombardo, UNAC, USA; Lynn Jamieson, Scottish CND. Chaired by Peter Burt, Drone Wars UK.
For more details on the conference and to book a free ticket, please see the Lakenheath Peace Alliance website here.
Retired colonel and former US diplomat Ann Wright said:
“The Lakenheath Peace Camp is an important action by citizens around the world about their concern of the dangers of US nuclear weapons stored in locations throughout Europe. The possibility is very real of a nuclear incident/accident that could escalate into a nuclear war and nuclear winter that will kill us all.”
Jeju island campaigner Sung-Hee Choi said:
“South Korean-US joint war drills threaten world peace and are premised on a pre-emptive nuclear strike. NATO countries are increasingly joining the drills under the name of the UN Command, a fake UN organisation. Solidarity between the Asia-Pacific and European peace movements is important more than ever.”
Japanese peace campaigner Koichi Toyoshima said:
“In Japan, the Self-Defence Forces are rapidly expanding their bases throughout western Japan. Combined with the presence of a large number of US military bases, this has led to a severe emptying of Article 9 of the Constitution. We hope to convey the resistance of Japanese citizens to this and learn much from actions in other countries.”
Demetrios Hadjidemetirou from Workers Democracy in Cyprus said:
“Nuclear escalation threatens the whole world. CND’s campaign to rid the planet of all nuclear weapons is something everyone should support. When there are leaders such as Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu with their fingers on the trigger, we should all lose sleep at night. In the fight back, this conference plays an important part.”
Sophie Bolt, General Secretary, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
“This international conference couldn’t come at a more critical time. With Donald Trump ramping up tensions across the world, Britain’s so-called ‘special relationship’ is rightly under scrutiny. These US bases in Britain, like RAF Lakenheath, enable the US to project its nuclear and military dominance across the world – putting us all at great danger. Political leaders pushing for military rearmament across Europe are only making the threat of war more likely not less. Coordinating with peace movements across the world is vital if we are to halt this rising militarism. “