Olympic torch lit despite protest

The Olympic torch has been lit at a ceremony in Greece that was briefly disrupted by pro-Tibet activists. Protesters from media rights group Reporters Without Borders broke through the cordon of 1,000 police officers in Olympia as China’s envoy spoke.Activists had vowed to protest over the violence in and around Tibet.The torch will now be carried around Greece before being sent to China to start a journey through 20 countries, returning to Beijing on 8 August.

The route includes the torch being taken to the top of Mount Everest and through Tibet.

See map of Olympic torch relay route

As Liu Qi, head of the Beijing Olympic organising committee, spoke ahead of the torch lighting, three men broke into the ceremony venue.

One ran up behind him attempting to display a black flag depicting the Olympic rings made from handcuffs.

The men were from the France-based media rights watchdog Reporters Sans Frontieres (Reporters Without Borders, or RSF), which has called for a boycott of the opening ceremony of the games. More…

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An Activist Choice

I received this in my mailbox today:

Big, nice and strong. The sender asks me to boycott the Olympic Games in Bejing. A request I respect although I am not going to do that. There are many reasons for this, however the most prominent reason is that SILENCE and IGNORING isn’t going to change anything. Focusing the world’s spotlights on China, its Human Rights Violations and speaking up during the Games, will eventually give results.

Another reason is that if I were to resort to boycott as a means of protest against human rights violations, I would have to boycott every country in the world, stop eating anything I have not grown myself (including not using any seeds grown elsewhere than in my own garden, which I do not have) and possibly move to a non-existent island somewhere, G-d knows where. I believe that there are other ways and other means to protest and achieve my goals.

Will I be silent? No. Will I stay away from the Games? No. I plan on be blogging about the Games and about the Human Rights violations that takes place in China during the time of the Games. So many people are not aware of what takes place in China. Media will not be silent – see even if the media representatives in China cannot say anything, the media out-side China have no obligation to be silent, and I doubt it will. People who are not normally interested will be informed, awareness will reach out into homes world-wide, where China at best is known for making cheap toys at worst is a white spot on the map.

If, and only if, the entire world chose to implement a sports embargo on China, like it did with the Republic of South Africa, then we would be talking about measures that would work in the way boycotters wish. Against such measures I have no objection. I just wish there would have been a movement PRIOR to the IOC suggesting that China host the Olympic Games in 2008.

I think my choice to not boycott, but instead intensify my vocal protest is as much activism against human rights violations as that of those who chose to boycott.