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| April 10, 2008 |
Anyone who watched the torch relay in San Francisco yesterday would have to say it was a farcical fiasco. A disaster by any standards. Thousands showed up: many to protest China's underwriting of genocide in Darfur."This is a key moment for those of us who have been organizing against this genocide for years," said my friend Ruth Messinger, the president of the American Jewish World Service. "The theme of the Olympics is 'One Dream for the World.' That can't occur when people in Darfur are being displaced at the rate of tens of thousands a week."
Ruth and AJWS will launch a campaign next week to encourage Jews celebrating Passover to include a prayer for Darfur in their Seder ritual.
Those awesome Vermonters, Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield of Ben and Jerry's (the world's coolest ice cream makers of the world's tastiest ice cream) drove to San Francisco in their van which they had outfitted for the rally. "It's a 'China Torch of Disgrace' modeled on the actual Olympic torch," said Ben. "The red clouds on the Olympic torch are replaced with black clouds of terror. We think it's the right message to send to China. The Chinese are trying to use the Olympics to tell the world they've arrived. What we are saying back to them is that along with being a big nation comes responsibility."
Friends, lets all call on President Bush to boycott the Olympic opening ceremonies. 202-456-1111 is the White House "comment line" but I just tried it and a recording says, "because of today's special event, the comment line is temporarily closed." Hmmm.
Leaders from England, the Czech Republic, and Germany have said they would not attend. Although Prime Minister Brown of England (who needs to go spine shopping), said yesterday that he planned to be at the closing gala and that no snub of China was intended.Protesters came, as they had in Paris and in London, in large numbers to express solidarity with Tibetans. We are seeing the desperation of the Tibetans in their long struggle for what is rightly theirs. We have a visceral response when we see monks being shot.
But the people of Darfur could not be there to express their anguish. No cameras are in Darfur to document the women and children who are being raped today. No one is there to televise those who are dying of the violence, or hunger and disease.
We must not forget the people of Darfur in their darkest hour. They continue to be abandoned. And the dying continues.