Keep the Middle East free from nukes

Appeal for a nuclear free Middle East

The Middle East is the most militarized area on earth. It is the first in military spending internationally, in GDP percentages. It absorbs almost 30% of the global arms exports. It has been tested by foreign interventions, by war bloodbaths, occupations and human rights violations, first among the last the right of the Palestinian people to their own state within the 1967 borders.

The potential transformation of the Middle East to an area of nuclear rivalry will aggravate the situation dramatically. The threat to the international security will be huge. The risk of nuclear weapons proliferation in the Middle East is greater than anywhere else. The illegal Israeli nuclear arsenal already exists but other states in the region may also succumb to the temptation to obtain nuclear arms in the future.

On the other hand, it must be noted that this issue is used as a pretext for new interventions and war threats. We remember the big lie of the possession of nuclear weapons by Sadam which both Bush and Blair used as an excuse to invade Iraq in 2003. The mushrooming of nuclear plants is another source of worry. The question marks about their security have not been answered, especially in this troubled region, while nuclear waste could well turn the Mediterranean into a dead sea and the neighboring countries into toxic dumping areas.

With all this in mind, we consider the declaration of the Middle East zone free of nuclear and other mass destruction weapons to be of paramount importance. It is a life saving proposal for the region and the whole world; a big step forward in the struggle for the complete elimination of nuclear arms. We ask the implementation of the relevant resolutions of the UN General Assembly and support the convocation of a UN international Conference to achieve this aim.

We call on Israel, the only state in the region which has not become a member of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) to do so without delay. There is no excuse for the acquisition of nuclear arms by any country. These weapons do not constitute defensive means and there is no defense against them. The International Court of Hague has declared illegal the threat or use of nuclear weapons in a 1996 advisory opinion.

We the undersigned appeal for a coordinated international citizens’ mobilization, common action of all the peace, antinuclear, environmental and other social organizations. Let us all join the common struggle. For peace and life. So that the Middle East does not become a new Hiroshima. So that a global nuclear holocaust does not originate in this long suffering area.