The Olympic Games have been the scene of several high-profile political statements over the past three-quarters of a century. Take a look at these photos and see which ones made an impact:
Tag: China
Apr 09 2008
Updated: Tutu, Gere Speak Out On Tibet, Nonviolence and George W. Bush
“We want to say to China, ‘We thought that the Olympic Games would help you improve your human rights record,” Tutu said. “We still hope… But what we are saying to the heads of state, to President George Bush, is, ‘For goodness sake, don’t go to the Beijing games… for the sake of our children, for the beautiful people of Tibet. Don’t go!'”
Apr 08 2008
Updated (3x): Protests Begin In San Francisco, Dalai Lama Issues Statement to Tibetans
“I think this is just a preview. I think there will be a lot more than this city is prepared for.”
link: http://www.reuters.com/article…
This was one San Fransican’s reaction to yesterday’s breath-taking protest by proponents of a free Tibet who scaled the Golden Gate Bridge:
Apr 08 2008
Free Tibet on Golden Gate Bridge
One World One Dream – Free Tibet 08
Screen caps from KTVU Video
This is the BIG story in the Bay Area tonight. These 3 people on the bridge were truly brave souls and after 3 hours flying their banners and Tibetan flags, they were taken into custody and booked for felony conspiracy. The city of San Francisco is ‘bracing for uproar’, iow shitting bricks, about what to do with the Olympic torch relay on Wednesday. After London and Paris I can only imagine what will happen here. Tensions have been building for weeks now.
Apr 07 2008
Updated (3x): “The Flame of Discord” Doused in Paris
From The Press Association:
Protesters have forced police to extinguish the Olympic torch amid heavy demonstrations as it set off across Paris.
Officers in jogging gear who had been escorting the flame put it out and took it on a bus, apparently to get it away from the protesters.
The flame, which started out at the Eiffel Tower amid tight security, was being carried down a road next to the Seine near demonstrators carrying Tibetan flags when the relay was stopped.
Sky News has footage of the security guarding the torch, including the police on rollerblades:
Apr 07 2008
Updated: Tibet, and Panic In The Streets of London
Londoners awoke on a lazy, snowy Sunday morning to images of protest flooding their television screens, including one moment when a protester was almost successful in dousing the Olympic flame as it was carried by British celebrity Konnie Huq:
Apr 04 2008
Q&A on Tibet w/poll
Original article, subtitled Elisabeth Martens interviewed in “Le Courrier”, by Bénito Perez via Dissidentvoice.org.
Elisabeth Martens was interviewed by Bénito Perez for Le Courrier in Geneva on 27 March 2008. Here is the entire interview in which she directly answers all questions on the history, recent events, repression, the Dalai Lama, and the social problems of Tibet.
Speaking of dissident voices, this is an article which sheds light on what’s going on in Tibet. Be warned…it does not take a pro-Tibetan independence position, which is what makes it interesting. We also get a view of Tibetan history we aren’t often told about.
Apr 04 2008
Thoughts on Tibet on the Anniversary of King’s Assassination
Today we remember how loved Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was, and is. But we forget how hated he was during his lifetime. We forget the awful slip of the tongue that some employed to belittle him and call him “coon” instead of “King”. We forget the constant death threats, the government surveillance.
We forget that some people’s first reaction upon hearing Dr. King was shot was one of relief, not grief.
But to get an insight into that hate all one has to do is peruse today’s headlines and see the level of vitriol hurled against the Dalai Lama by the Chinese government.
Apr 03 2008
Chinese Human Rights Activist Jailed, Dalai Lama Issues Appeal to World Leaders
Hu Jia’s jailing is not directly connected with the riots in Tibet, but this ironically timed sentence reveals one of the underlying, systemic problems with the Chinese government that is at the heart of this conflict: the inability to criticize the government freely and without reprisal.
From the BBC:
Hu Jia was sent to prison for what many other people would not even consider a crime – he was convicted for writing five articles and giving two interviews.
The 34-year-old has long sought to publicise what he believes are injustices in China, concerning the environment, HIV/Aids and human rights.
Beijing’s First Intermediate People’s Court interpreted these acts as an attempt to subvert “the state’s political and socialist systems”.
Apr 02 2008
Tibetans to Bush: Don’t Go to Beijing Olympics — Rally in DC — UPDATED
Please see the update at the end of this diary, with letters to the Chinese people and the world from His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
On Monday, March 31, a large group of Tibetans, Americans of Tibetan ancestry, and other American supporters gathered at Lafayette Park outside the White House in Washington, DC to ask President Bush to make a statement for human rights and refused to attend the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics in protest of Chinese government oppression of Tibet.
I have been very moved by the mostly nonviolent struggle of the Tibetans to regain their freedom, and by the strength and compassion shown by the Dalai Lama in urging them to maintain nonviolence at all times. I decided it was important to go and stand in solidarity with them. This is my report on the event.
Apr 01 2008
On Tibet, Dick Lugar, Baichung Bhutia and the Power of One
“I sympathise with the Tibetan cause. This is my way of standing by the people of Tibet and their struggle. I abhor violence in any form,” Bhutia told the Times of India newspaper.
link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/sou…
Baichung Bhutia, an Indian footballer, is making headlines across Asia and the world by making this statement and refusing to carry the Olympic torch across India later this month.
This is the power of one.
Where governments fall short in decrying injustice, it remains for all of us, regardless of religion, or ethnicity, or politics, to stand up and let our voices be heard.
Mar 31 2008
The IOC and China: What Were They Thinking?
First, more news of international protests:
KATHMANDU, March 31 (Reuters) – Nepali police beat pro-Tibet protesters with sticks in Kathmandu on Monday and detained more than 100 people for demonstrating against China, police and witnesses said.
Hundreds of Tibetans split up into small groups and tried to storm a Chinese consular office from different directions in the Nepali capital.
snip
Police said at least 104 men and women were detained and would be freed later.
“They have been detained according to the government policy of not allowing demonstrations against China,” said Bibhutiraj Pandey, a police officer from the scene.