US Nuclear Weapons silent witness
On Saturday 23 September, Bury St Edmunds Quakers will hold a silent witness on Angel Hill from 2.30-3.00 to oppose the return of nuclear weapons to RAF Lakenheath. The witness will coincide with CNDs National day and the start of Quaker Week.
The Federation of American Scientists says there is a a strong implication that Washington is in the process of re-establishing its nuclear weapons presence here for the first time in 15 years as US budget documents reveal that storage vaults at Lakenheath are being upgraded to house B61-12 guided nuclear bombs. The deployment of these weapons marks a dangerous escalation in global tensions and ensures Britain will be targeted in the event of nuclear war.
The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament has designated 23 September as a day of national action. It also marks the first day of National Quaker Week and Bury St Edmunds Quaker Meeting joins with protesters throughout the country in calling on the government of the United Kingdom to stop the US siting their nuclear weapons in Britain and to engage in efforts to de-escalate global nuclear tensions through dialogue and diplomacy.
Quakers believe that no one has the right to use these weapons in their defence or to ask another person to use them on their behalf and that every human person is “unique, precious. a child of God”. We therefore know ourselves called to oppose the presence of these terrible weapons of mass destruction on British soil. Anyone who wishes to join with us on Saturday, even if only for a few minutes, will be made welcomen 2008 the nuclear bombs stored at Lakenheath airbase were removed after persistent popular protest, and now the US plans to send new, more dangerous and provocative nuclear weapons. We believe that if we show enough public resistance we can make the government reject this move and prevent these terrible weapons of mass destruction making us a target.
Please join us at Angel Hill on Saturday September 23rd from 2.30 to 3 pm.
More information from bsequakers@gmail.com.