The Nihon Hidankyo（The Japan Confederation of A-and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations）
was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize!
At last, a step has moved forward. I truly hope that this award will act as the catalyst for Japan to send out the message to the world not to possess nuclear weapons and that the nuclear powers will show some signs of change for peace.
STOP the ATOMIC BOMB!
STOP the WAR!
The “hibakusha” (the A-bomb survivors) have continued to cry out. High school students are taking action to pass on the hibakusha’s experiences of radiation exposure. As wars intensify and escalate, the nuclear powers start to threaten with their possible usage of the most terrifying weapons.
I have never imagined that such violent wars would expand on large scales and get out of control in this modern world.
The threat of nuclear weapons is slowly creeping up on us in reality.
The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded in the midst of all this.
The lives being lost in Gaza and Ukraine now are not something that can be reduced to a simple number of deaths. But the information about the dead is being matter-of-factly reported in the news. And wars are indeed breaking out in various places in different forms.
Why does humanity keep repeating this tragedy?
The other day, I was watching NHK-TV, when I came across a programme called “If I Must Die. Gaza: A Poem Born from Despair”.
It instantly gripped me, and my chest felt kind of tight, with a rush of emotion.
The programme was about the life of a poet who suffered in the bombing of Gaza by Israel, and the poem he wrote about life is being passed down to us and is being talked about in the world. The poem makes you think how precious the spirit of a powerless person who never gives up one’s hope for peace is for humanity. We must not lose that spirit, no matter what.
On the other hand, what is happening to Ukraine? There was so much news coverage before, but the tragedy in Ukraine is now only reported to a minimal extent. And yet the war is not over, the bombing is continuing, with people’s lives in danger 24 hours a day. Also, the Russian citizens are now being damaged from the counter-attack of Ukraine. Ordinary citizens and children are in the middle of a terrible war.
I can never understand the feelings and emotions of the leaders of the countries who are trying to threaten by dangling the threat of atomic bombs. What could the soldiers on the front line of the war be feeling, what are they thinking as they hold their guns?
Now, let me return to the NHK broadcast of “If I Must Die”.
The poet of Gaza, Refaat Alareer, passed away in December 2023 as a result of a bombing.
After that, the poet’s young daughter also lost her life in a bombing from Israel.
You can find the poet’s poem If I Must Die in the below link and elsewhere.
NHK
https://www.nhk.jp/p/special/ts/2NY2QQLPM3/episode/te/61QVMNJ2MN/