The Key Concept of Hiroshima International Peace Summit 2006
Ground zero has provided nothing if not a resolve for world-peace.
After the bomb, Hiroshima had to be re-built from the ground up. In addition to coping with the physical devastation, the survivors also had to endure amidst the irreparable loss of family and friends. As they rebuilt the city, they vowed to do everything they could to prevent this kind of tragedy from ever occurring in the future. With the reconstruction of the city, there was also the construction of a symbol of the devastating effects of war, a symbol which promised that a this new realization of the horrors of war might lead to new initiatives for peace.
Hiroshima provided a thread around which the aspirations for peace from our parents generation crystallized. Now the next generation sees a need to further articulate the symbol of Hiroshima. We see this need in the continued expansion of conflicts beyond the clash between professional combatants. Increasingly, disparate civilian populations have been engulfed by conflicts. The concerns of these innocent civilians can be articulated as a desire for world peace; then, too, the effects of increasing environmental deterioration have given voice to a global concern, which can be expressed again as a desire for world peace.
Can the symbol of Hiroshima move beyond the impediments of parochialism to provide inspiration in this new millennium? We hope so, and have organized a peace summit to help give this resolve definition. On November 1st and 2nd, three world leaders will address us and the participants will endeavor to gain new momentum towards the goal of world peace. His Holiness the Dalai Lama XIV, the Tibetan Spiritual leader who has expressed great resolve toward the goal of non-violence in the face of cultural genocide; the Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the Anglican leader of South Africa who stood against Apartheid, and Betty Williams, the Northern Ireland leader who has stood up for children’s peace and human rights are all Nobel Peace Prize laureates whose concerns have not been limited to one nation, one race, or one group, but who have focused beyond to the concerns of world peace. Their addresses to us during this summit will help us focus on peace as a global concern.
We would like to invite you to be one of the 1,200 participants, and contribute your understanding as to the causes of world conflict and the avenues which are open for world peace. We would appreciate your comments on the draft program outlined below, and an indication of whether or not you would like to be included in the 1st Hiroshima International Peace Summit. If you cannot attend, we would still appreciate your participation in the form of a letter to us in which you address the theme of world peace. These responses will be edited together and published as part of the conference program .
Hiroshima International Peace Summit 2006 Organizing Committee
August 6, 2006
