One day after President Donald Trump implied in a speech to the United Nations that he was willing to attack North Korea with nuclear weapons, three Northampton residents attended a signing ceremony at the international body’s headquarters in New York City for a document that seeks to eliminate these weapons of mass destruction altogether.
The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons is the first legally-binding treaty in history that prohibits nuclear weapons. Signatories of the treaty, in addition to agreeing to not possess or use nuclear weapons, agree to not develop, threaten their use or allow nuclear weapons to be deployed on their territory.
Leeds resident Dr. Ira Helfand, a physician and co-founder of Physicians for Social Responsibility, said that watching the signing ceremony brought up mixed emotions. On the one hand, he said that he’s heartened that the treaty represents a rejection by the vast majority of nations of the rational for nuclear weapons.
“That is a very important statement,” he said.
Indeed, the vote for the United Nations to adopt the final draft of the treaty on July 7 was 122-1, with 1 abstention.
On the other hand, Helfand said that there is no indication that any of the nine nuclear armed countries — the United States, the United Kingdom, China, Russia, France, Israel, India, Pakistan and North Korea — have bought into abolition. None voted for or have signed the treaty.
“There’s still a tremendous amount of work to be done,” said Helfand, who characterized nuclear weapons as “the greatest threat to our security.”
At Wednesday’s signing ceremony at U.N. headquarters, 50 nations signed the document, including Brazil, Ireland, South Africa and Costa Rica. The nation of Laos signed the next day.
The treaty will come into legal force 90 days after 50 nations have ratified it. So far, Guyana, the Holy See and Thailand have done so.
Joining Helfand in the audience were fellow Northampton residents Vicki Elson and Timmon Wallis. Also in attendance were two survivors of the atomic bombing of Japan.
Elson is a doula who has taken time off from her profession to campaign for nuclear disarmament, while Wallis is the author of “Disarming the Nuclear Argument: The Truth About Nuclear Weapons,” and the former executive director of the Nonviolent Peaceforce.
Helfand, who practices medicine in Springfield, is a former president of Physicians for Social Responsiblity, and has been active in the campaign against nuclear weapons for 39 years. He has also addressed the U.N. about the health and environmental consequences of a nuclear exchange.
Physicians for Social Responsibility shared in the 1985 Nobel Peace Prize.
Helfand said that even a limited exchange of 100 nuclear bombs the size of those dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima detonated in urban areas, would trigger worldwide climate disruption, start a global famine and end modern civilization.
“That’s the reality of the danger that we face,” he said.
Additionally, he said that if Russia and the United States detonated all of the nuclear weapons that are in a position to be used — about 1,500 on each side, he said — an ice age of 10- to 20-year would ensue.
“The vast majority of the human race would starve to death,” he said.
Moreover, he said that this scenario isn’t far-fetched, given that there have been six times when either Washington or Moscow has readied a nuclear strike.
“On each of those occasions we were saved by incredible good luck,” he said.
Helfand did not see Trump’s remarks to the U.N. a day before the signing, in which the president said that if the United States were forced to defend itself or its allies, it would have “no choice but to totally destroy North Korea.”
“I have no idea what he was trying to say,” said Helfand, saying that he suspects Trump doesn’t have an idea what he is saying either.
Helfand also said that Trump wasn’t qualified to be in charge of a nuclear arsenal, and that having 6,800 warheads in the hands of Trump undermines the intellectual basis of the policy of nuclear deterrence.
“This is a terrifying situation,” he said.
He also said that he doesn’t have much faith in the Trump administration changing course on its nuclear policy. However, he did say that it is reasonable to hope that the next administration in 2021 would make nuclear disarmament the center of its foreign policy.
Helfand noted how nuclear policy was successfully deescalated in the 1980s through the efforts of doctors, scientists and the peace movement.
He also pointed to how negotiations from 1994 to 2002 had successfully curbed North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, and how North Korea had stated last year that it was willing to give up its nuclear weapons if other nations followed suit and guaranteed its security.
Helfand will speak at an event tomorrow at the Hadley Farms Meeting House, the Symposium to Tackle Crises of Climate Change & Nuclear War, which will run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Helfand said that climate change is increasing the risk of nuclear conflict because it promises to make more areas of the world inhospitable to human habitation and trigger massive human migrations. However, he said that this connection is not readily known, even by those active in climate change work.
“There is not a widespread understanding of the enormity of this danger,” he said.
Still, Helfand said that he is optimistic that he will see nuclear disarmament in his lifeline.
“If we fail at this, the future is extremely grim,” he said.
Bera Dunau can be reached at bdunau@gazettenet.com