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Date: 12/12/2023
NORTHAMPTON — After passing a similar resolution back in 2017, the Northampton City Council is on the verge of passing a resolution that calls on the federal government to lead a global effort to prevent nuclear war.
Introduced by City Councior Karen Foster and Ward 1 City Councilor Stan Moulton during the Dec. 5 regular council meeting, the resolution asks the United States to actively pursue a verifiable agreement among nuclear-armed states to eliminate their nuclear arsenals.
It also encourages the country to end the sole unchecked authority of any president to launch a nuclear attack and asks for the U.S. to renounce the option of using nuclear weapons first.
Lastly, the resolution wants U.S. nuclear weapons to be taken off of hair-trigger alert while also encouraging the country to cancel the plan to replace its entire arsenal with enhanced weapons.
According to Foster, while a similar resolution was passed in 2017, with global tensions rising, it was important to renew.
“We are closer than we’ve been [to nuclear war],” Foster said.
The reintroduction of this resolution comes in the midst of Israel’s occupation of Gaza, where hundreds of people are being killed each day from Israeli attacks. These attacks are coming after militant organization Hamas launched a terrorist attack on Oct. 7 where 1,300 Israelis were killed and over 150 were kidnapped. In response to this attack, Israel launched a massive aerial and ground attack that, as of press time, has killed over 17,177 Palestinians.
A recent report stated that the humanitarian disaster in Gaza is worsening by the hour with most of the 2.3 million people living homeless and trapped.
Since the initial Hamas attack and subsequent Israeli blitz, protests across Western Massachusetts have grown more ubiquitous by the day.
On Oct. 25, Reminder Publishing reported on a gathering of over 100 activists who protested Israel’s occupation of Gaza as well as L3Harris Technologies, a weapons manufacturer and defense contractor with headquarters in Florida. The activists marched to L3Harris to express their contempt with the company.
The resolution also comes after U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Worcester) recently called on President Joe Biden to sign the Nuclear Weapon Ban Treaty, which would eliminate nuclear weapons and ban anything associated with their development. So far, the treaty has been ratified by 69 countries, but others are holding out.
Ward 7 City Councilor Rachel Maiore called this a defining issue of her generation and said she remembers gathering in Groton, CT for her first protest against nuclear weapons when she was 15. She also mentioned how she started a youth Physicians for Social Responsibility division, which fought against nuclear war proliferation.
“It’s one of those issues that really defined how we saw our futures and our whole world,” Maiore said.
At-Large City Councilor Jamila Gore, meanwhile, lamented the amount of money the U.S. spends on nuclear weapons.
“The amount of money we spend on nuclear weapons is astronomical,” Gore said. “It can go to so many other things we need … I just think it’s really important to support pulling back from the brink of nuclear war.”
Foster noted how the resolution was brought to them by their constituents as well as other “dedicated” and “brilliant” activists across the Pioneer Valley who are dedicating their lives to this fight.
One of these activists is Ira Helfand, a local physician who has been fighting for the elimination of nuclear weapons for 45 years. He sent in a letter to the council, which was read by resident Arlene Kirsch during public comment.
In the letter, he urged the council to pass the resolution and notify Markey and Warren of their decision.
“A Congressional resolution introduced by Congressman Jim McGovern has been co-sponsored by 42 other members of the House [of Representatives], unfortunately the federal government has not adopted the ‘Back from the Brink’ policy … and we are closer to a nuclear catastrophe than we’ve ever been,” Helfand’s letter read.
The letter also called for the U.S. and the other eight nuclear armed states to come together to negotiate a “verifiable, time-bound plan” to eliminate their arsenal and sign the Nuclear Weapon Ban Treaty.
According to the resolution, there are over 80 U.S. municipalities, counties and states hat have adopted this type of resolution including Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles Minneapolis and more.
The City Council will officially vote on the resolution during their Dec. 16 meeting.