Nobel Peace Prize goes to Japanese anti-nuke group
Nihon Hidankyō has been named as the winner of this year's Nobel Peace Prize. Founded by survivors of the atomic bomb attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the organisation campaigns both for the victims of the bombings back then and for global nuclear disarmament. The press discusses whether the Nobel Committee made a good choice.
A warning to humanity
The Japanese organisation Nihon Hidankyō is a politically correct and timely choice, writes the Tages-Anzeiger:
“From the outset, it has pursued two primary goals. Firstly, it lobbies the Japanese government to provide adequate support for victims (who for a long time had to live in precarious conditions). Secondly, its members are committed to global disarmament: the ultimate goal is the abolition of all nuclear weapons worldwide. The Nobel Committee's decision reminds the world of what the use of nuclear weapons means. And it is a warning of the threat hanging over humanity if more and more countries acquire this ultimate weapon. Who would know this better, who could warn against it more credibly than the eyewitnesses of Nihon Hidankyo?”
Frightening memories over the principle of hope
Jyllands-Posten welcomes the Nobel Committee's decision to look back this time:
“The current wars, the fragile security structure and the reignited nuclear weapons debate are a reminder that hope cannot be a strategy. In 2009, the prize went to Obama 'for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and co-operation between peoples'. In 1994 it went to Arafat, Peres and Rabin for their efforts to bring peace to the Middle East. And in 1990 to Gorbachev for his important role in transforming East-West relations. ... In the absence of positive signals in a troubled world, it is a wise choice to honour people who, by virtue of their memories and their reports, can contribute to persuading those acting in the present to rethink.”
A painful path to neutrality
In a Facebook post, journalist Vasily Golovnin, who lives in Japan, outlines the history of the organisation founded in 1956:
“Hidankyō was very left-wing, pro-Soviet and anti-American, but went through difficult times and divisions after the Soviet Union began nuclear testing. ... Another dispute broke out between socialists and communists and led to a split in the Japanese anti-nuclear movement along party lines. As a result, the nationwide Hidankyō decided to withdraw from all these organisations and has considered itself neutral ever since. The association now criticises both Washington and Moscow for their adherence to nuclear weapons.”
No one deserves the prize at the moment
The Tagesspiegel asks whether it would have not been better to simply not award the prize to anyone this year:
“According to the founder Alfred Nobel, the prize is to be awarded to the person 'who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses' and who has thus 'rendered the greatest services to mankind during the preceding year'. Who has done this? One might well ask whether anyone has currently contributed so much to peace that it would be worthy of a Nobel Prize. The answer is simply: no. ... But the Nobel Committee's choice now has its own wisdom - it was made for the sake of peace.”