The Syracuse Peace Council is bringing a renowned speaker to ArtRage gallery Monday night who has spent more than 30 years campaigning for the global abolishment of nuclear weapons. Dr. Ira Helfand’s experience includes working at two Nobel Peace Prize winning organizations. Monday evening, he’ll discuss what can be done to eliminate the ever-looming threat of nuclear warfare with countries such as North Korea and Russia.
“I think the United States needs to continue negotiations with North Korea, but those negotiations need to continue in the context of a broader negotiation with all of the nuclear weapon states. In which they are all working for an agreement that will set forth an enforceable, verifiable, time-bound plan for eliminating all nuclear weapons.”
Helfand says the threat has never been larger than it is today. However, he adds that Americans and our politicians do not address the threat nearly as much as they did in the 80s during the Cold War. Helfand urges citizens to remain politically active and insist that their representatives take action.
“We need to pursue that kind of political pressure today on the leaders of the United States and the other nuclear weapon states. To get them to realize that it is urgently in the security interest of all of our peoples to eliminate these weapons.”
Dr. Helfand will be speaking Monday at the ArtRage Gallery in Syracuse from 7 to 9 p.m.
