October 14 — Darfur Counter-Olympic Torch Relay
The theme for the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympic Games — “One World. One Dream” — will ring hollow if the devastating human crisis in Darfur is not addressed. If you are bothered by images of the dead and the dying in Darfur juxtaposed against the inspiring images from the Games hosted by China, a country facilitating the suffering and destruction in Sudan because of its thirst for oil and other natural resources … join the counter-torch relay for the Darfur Olympics.
When: Sunday October 14, around 2:00 PM
Where: IUPUI, near the main fountain … Directions, parking information, and other miscellaneous information will be posted at http://blue.butler.edu/~jspoor/darfur.html
The Dream for Darfur Olympic Torch Relay provides communities across the country an opportunity to “carry the torch” for the people of Darfur by drawing attention to China, most important international supporter of the Sudanese government. According to the organizers, the modern Olympic Torch Relay was created by Dr. Carl Diem in 1936 when the Games were held in Germany. Diem used the Torch Relay to celebrate the Third Reich – and to deflect attention from growing international concern about the nationalism of the Third Reich. “Olympic Dream for Darfur” will use the Torch — a symbol they say that was created to divert attention from those intent on genocide — as a rallying cry to end the first genocide of the 21st century. The “Olympic Dream for Darfur” Torch Relay began in August 2007 with the goal of running from Darfur to Beijing. (Organizers will attempt to enter both Sudan and China … we’ll see.) The goal of the Relay is to urge China to use its influence with Khartoum and at the UN Security Council to allow a robust security force on the ground in Darfur to protect civilians and humanitarian workers. The countries to be visited were chosen because they are the sites of previous genocides and mass atrocity. Route for the Relay (August - December 2007):
- Darfur - August 9
- Kigali, Rwanda - August 15
- Yerevan, Armenia - September 25
- Sarajevo, Bosnia - November 3
- Berlin, Germany - November 7
- Phnom Penh, Cambodia - first week of December
- Hong Kong, PRC - December 10-13
Olympic Dream for Darfur is working with the Save Darfur Coalition to organize an Olympic Torch Relay in the United States that started in September in New York City and will end in December in DC.
Know before you go … The San Francisco Chronicle had a good article about what the Relay can hope to accomplish.
For More Information … visit the main Dream for Darfur site, and the Indianapolis Torch Relay site.
If this sounds interesting, check out … the discussion of the film “The Greatest Silence: The Rape of Congo” September 29 and 30.
