Call for Peace and at the end of the wars of Gernika, on the 88th birthday of bombing

Gernika has the presentation of the presentation of the Initiative ‘A Cry for Peace, the end of wars and respect for international legality’Driven by United Nations Civilizations Alliance (UNAOC)To reach “a world without wars” through a “scream of hope”.

A project that aims for one “Urgent” call to humanity To put an end to the “vicious circle of violence and destruction that prevails in recent history” and will have continuity with a series of events in bombed cities such as such as like Sarajevo or Nagasaki.

Framed in the memory houses that are held annually by the bombing of the Vizcaína Foral Villa of April 26, 1937 (this year they were fulfilled 88 years), and organized by religions for Peace, Oneoc and the city of Gernika-Lmo, the initiative has the participation of political and religious representatives, as well as the world of art and sport. The law was led by the high representative of UNAOC, Miguel Ángel Moratinos.

Although the former president of the government of Spain José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero had announced his participation, the disease was finally unable to attend.

In the course of the presentation, in which a minute of silence was saved by the recently deceased Pope Francis, Miguel Ángel Moratinos, chose to “light the light of hope every day”. “We have to talk so that in the future there are no experiences such as those in Gernika. We have to launch a scream, not despair but of hope,” he emphasized, as he argued that the 21st century is the one who leads to “an eternal peace.”

Moratinos has also noticed that “War is not art, but blindness”And has announced the next presentation of AOC of a decalogue that will be presented in different parts of the world as a guide for “continuing to work in favor of peace”. “No against wars, yes against peace,” he concluded his speech.

For his part, the Secretary General of Religions for Peace, Francis Kuria, emphasizes that it is necessary to achieve the peace “at the highest possible level”, and is of the opinion that the initiative this Saturday is “only the principle”: “A movement to succeed in destruction.”

From the Basque governmenthis first vicelakari, IBONE BENGOETXEA, He has denounced the “horror” that represents war and has remembered that Euskadi suffered “violence and terrorism” in the past. “Our dedication to the culture of peace is sturdy (…); In the shadow of the Gernika tree we unite justice and culture, let’s claim the end of all wars,” he added.

For her part, the Basque Minister of Justice and Human Rights, María Jesús San JoséAlso reminded the bombing of Gernika and has denounced the “methods” used by fascism to “impose his totalitarian project”. “Now that hate messages and political options that try to run out the pillars of our democracy, let’s look at the past.

Moreover, the House of Joints organized an ACT organized by the NGO Kid’s Gernika in which different music pieces have been interpreted with a violin recovered after the launch of the atomic bomb in Hiroshima (Japan).

The Lehendakari Pradales ImanolIn a message in his LinkedIn – profile, he emphasized that, although “decades have passed, the collision between authoritarianism – with new forms and costumes – and democracy remains full today” and reminded that “unfortunately we must continue to commit principles such as peace, freedom, tolerance and human rights. Because the elementary human rights are being violated.”

It has also emphasized that the obligation and that of society is to ‘work the memory and let it reach the next generations, so that it does not forget or distort what happened. To never repeat it, and to keep the recognition that we owe to the victims forever. “

Awards for peace and reconciliation

The Jai Alai fronton of the Vizcaína Villa has the delivery of the Awards for peace and reconciliation That they were in this edition of the Secretary General of the United Nations, António Guterres (who was unable to collect the António Guterres Award personally, after he attended Pope Francis’s funeral in the Vatican) and the Argentinian Forensic Anthropology Team (Eaaf), whose director Mercedes Salado has been in charge of receiving the prize.

In his speech, he remembered the victims of repression and “the perverse closure of boundaries” and he emphasized that the right to truth “should never have been denied.”

Moratinos, who collected the prize on behalf of Guterres, has read various quotes of whom he was also Prime Minister of Portugal in which he demanded peace as a “supreme range for all humanity.”

For his part, the mayor of Gernika, José María Gorroño has urged Italy to recognize his participation in the “horrible bombing” And “take responsibility for their actions.”

He also asked to “raise his voice in memory of those who died” in 1937. “Don’t forget, not to repeat,” he claimed.

The Gernika Awards, made in 2025, counted the former President of Uruguay, José Mújica or the Nobel Prize for Peace, Adolfo Pérez Esquivel.

After a meal hosting for the survivors of the bombing, the Memorial It will continue in the afternoon, with an act with siren at 3.45 pm. In various parts of the municipality, a range of flower on the Zallo cemetery, street theater with the piece Gernika GarretanAnd a march with candles through the streets of the city.