Interfaith Peace Walk Underway in Northwest

The Interfaith Peace Walk activities are open to all people of nonviolence who desire to abolish nuclear weapons.

Photo courtesy: Squadron13.com

(EUGENE, ORE.) - Monks from the Nipponzan Myohoji Buddhist Temple on Bainbridge Island are leading a Interfaith Peace Walk that began in Eugene July 16th and ends August 6th at the Trident Nuclear submarine base at Bangor, Washington.

With the theme "Hiroshima-Nagasaki to Hope" the walk will commemorate the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by U.S. atomic bombs. Each step the walkers take will be dedicated to achieving a nuclear free future.

The events began with a welcome and opening ceremony at the Japanese American Art Memorial at Eugene's Hult Center, followed by a day long walk through Eugene with stops and brief programs at selected sites. The day ended with a community potluck and showing of the film Hibakusha-At the End of the World, at St. Mary's Episcopal.

Spokesperson Susan Cundiff says that through the eyes of its victims, the film explores the consequences of nuclear warfare and the effects of radioactive contamination.

"The film documents the lives of these sufferers, including Iraqi children irradiated by the use of depleted uranium ammunition during the Gulf War, American farmers living near the Hanford plutonium factory in Washington state, and survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki."

She says the Interfaith Peace Walk activities are open to all people of nonviolence who desire to abolish nuclear weapons. All are welcome to join local segments of the peace walk and walk for any distance of their choosing.

The event is sponsored by Oregon WAND, CALC's Progressive Responses, Taxes for Peace Not War, Justice Not War Coalition, Eugene PeaceWorks, and the Pan Asian Community Alliance.