Villagers are encouraged to check out this article describing the connection between Darfur and China. Obama, Nadar and others have publically tied the Beijing Olympics to the situation in Darfur. Many of us watched the heated protests in Paris, San Francisco and elsewhere during the journey of the Olympic Flame.
It goes without saying that the Beijing Olympics are a powerful target to be pursued by any of us that care about the Darfur genocide. Eric Reeves lays it out for us in his article entitled, 'China's Genocide Games'.
You are so on point with the Beijing Olympics being our most effective target.
ReplyDeleteOne World One Dream is the slogan for this years Olympics, but what nightmares are produced by China's policies toward Darfur, Tibet and her own people. I have been meaning to find out how many people within China have been "moved" for the Olympics.
Gordon Brown the prime minister of England and the German Chancellor have boycotted the Olympic Opening Ceremony, they changed the route of the Olympic relay in San Francisco to avoid the truth the protesters are spreading and the International Olympic Committee has even considered canceling the relay all together.
But this is the idiotic response of Jiang Yu, a Chinese foreign minister: "I hope the International Olympic Committee will continue to adhere to the principles set by the Olympic charter...not bringing any irrelevant political factors into the Beijing Olympics."
Hitting the corporate sponsors of the Games with a boycott has weight. Even Steven Speilberg who had the choice position of being the creative director rightfully resigned due to pressure from Mia Farrow.
We are powerful because we are right.
In light and love
Danielle
Modern Musings
It is amazing that so many of the companies clamoring to do business in China during the Olympics and thereafter have turned a blind eye to the plight in the Darfur region and the fact that China has a foothold in the Sudan. The Olympics is a good place to show the Chinese government that people will not tolerate their own atrocious human rights record as well as the fact that they seemed to have embraced the Sudanese government while ignoring what is going on in the Darfur region. To call the Dalai Lama a devil is insulting, to say the least and what the Chinese government has being doing to the Tibetans is nothing short of atrocious. I agree with Clinton & Obama that President Bush should boycott the games, but of course, we know he will not do so. He is too comfy in his king-sized bed with the Chinese government. We owe them way too much for him to buck the trend.
ReplyDeleteAnother quick thought, I wrote a commentary about Steven Spielberg's decision to boycott the games a while back and it did not get the attention it deserved. That was the starting point for drawing awareness to this situation, even before the latest dust-up with the Tibetans. We have to hit the big companies in the pocketbook. For example, the mighty GE has posted lower numbers of the quarter and that has Wall Street singing the blues. We can effect change by hitting these companies where it hurts--the bottom line!
ReplyDeleteDanielle - I anticipate that the Beijing Olympics will remain in the news leading up to their opening ceremonies later this summer. The question is whether we can leverage the visibility of the event to support efforts to save Darfur from genocide. We are doing our part as bloggers. I recall we worked the corporate sponsors a few months ago. It may be time to renew that effort again.
ReplyDeleteJanet - I recall your commentary on your blog about the corporate sponsors. I had similiar exchange with my blog readers a few months ago. Now is the time to re-enforce our consumer anger at any corporate sponsor that is tied to the Beijing Olympics....