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FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Freedkin
Represents Mayor Bates at 60th Anniversary of Atomic Bomb in
Hiroshima, Japan Steve
Freedkin is serving as Mayor’s Representative at Hiroshima conference on
banning nuclear weapons. Anniversary
of the bombing is August 6th. Berkeley, CA -- Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates will be represented by Steve Freedkin at a Hiroshima conference on banning nuclear weapons Aug. 4–6, concluding with the 60th anniversary of the atomic bombing of that city. Freedkin, Chairperson of the Berkeley Peace and Justice Commission, is attending the Sixth World Conference of Mayors for Peace, where he will participate in crafting a program to eliminate all nuclear weapons by the year 2020. Berkeley is among more than 1,000 cities worldwide represented in Mayors for Peace. “Participating in this conference is a natural extension of Berkeley’s status as a Nuclear Free Zone under the Nuclear Free Berkeley Act passed by voters in 1986,” Bates said. “Our city is viewed in Japan as a leader in the locally based movement for peace. I am pleased that Mr. Freedkin is there to advocate nuclear abolition on behalf of the people of Berkeley.” “The opportunity to represent Mayor Bates and the people of Berkeley at this historic conference is a great honor,” Freedkin said. “Working with mayors and their representatives from around the world, I will participate in crafting a program that offers a real chance to eliminate these weapons of mass destruction once and for all.” Hiroshima Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba visited the Berkeley area last year. He was promoting a plan for the United Nations, under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), to develop a plan for dismantling all atomic weapons. Mayor Bates attended the NPT Review Conference at the United Nations in May as part of a Mayor’s for Peace delegation. Mayor Akiba is urging the U.N. to create a special commission to craft a program for nuclear disarmament, following the failure of the NPT Review Conference to adopt concrete steps toward that goal. At the Hiroshima conference, Freedkin and other delegates will explore ways that cities and non-governmental organizations can work together effectively to pursue that objective. Mayors for Peace also offers Hiroshima-Nagasaki Peace Study courses in schools around the world, and encourages adults to read aloud to children personal accounts of the atomic bombings. Freedkin said he will bring information about these programs to the Berkeley Unified School District. The anniversary of the atomic bombing will also be observed in Berkeley on Aug. 6, as the fourth annual Japanese Peace Lantern Ceremony is held at Aquatic Park from 6:30 to 9:00 p.m. Freedkin
spoke at an international peace conference in Tokyo July 30–31, at which
delegates called on Berkeley to lead the way in spreading Japan’s
War-Free Zones movement throughout the globe. He will also meet with peace
activists in Hiroshima and several other cities before returning to the
U.S. in late August. # # #
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