the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the Japanese group Nihon Hidankyo, a grassroots organization of survivors of the U.S. atomic bombing of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, and Nagasaki three days later, on August 9th, ’45. The survivors of the only two nuclear bombs ever used in conflict went on to dedicate their lives to struggle for a nuclear-free world for nearly eight decades. Known as hibakusha, the atomic bomb survivors are being recognized for, “demonstrating through witness testimony that nuclear weapons must never be used again.” The Nobel Committee noted the taboo against nuclear weapons use now, was now “under pressure.”
TOSHIYUKI MIMAKI: [translated] What? Nihon Hidankyo? How did Nihon Hidankyo? It can’t be real. It can’t be real. … We will appeal to the world, as we always have done, for the abolition of nuclear weapons and the achievement of an everlasting peace. … Why Nihon Hidankyo? I thought for sure it would be the people working so hard in Gaza, as we’ve seen.
— source democracynow.org | Oct 11, 2024