Darker Side of the Vancouver Olympic Games
Just as I posted the previous picture, I came upon this interview of Am Johal on Democracy Now!
About Am Johal – Chair of the Impact on Communities Coalition, an Olympic watchdog group. He also initiated Canada’s 2010 Homelessness Hunger Strike, a rolling, nationwide hunger strike calling for a national housing program in Canada. He has worked on inner-city issues and has completed a human rights internship in Israel in international advocacy with the Mossawa Center, the Advocacy Center for Arab Citizens of Israel. He is currently working on the book The Grand Dissonance about the Israeli/Palestinian Conflict.
A brief excerpt:
Social activists who have been critical of the Olympic Games have been visited at their homes by the Integrated Security Unit, which is the unit responsible for security around the Games. Chris Shaw, a prominent anti-Olympics activist, was visited at a coffee shop near where he works at UBC. People that he knows, friends, acquaintances of his, were also visited and asked to do background on him. So I think this kind of thing that you would never suspect would exist in Canada is happening under this exception around the Games.
3 Responses to “Darker Side of the Vancouver Olympic Games”
thanks for this post jodha… this is a topic that not nearly enough people (at least in the US) are talking about critically. we have to think about the ramifications of such mega sporting events. even while there might be a lot of inspiring, amazing things happening at the olympics, the costs (tax dollars, displacement of local communities, etc) are generally ignored. the situation of the world cup in south africa is quite similar in many ways. see this democracy now clip for more: http://www.democracynow.org/2009/10/1/south_afric…
thanks for this post jodha… this is a topic that not nearly enough people (at least in the US) are talking about critically. we have to think about the ramifications of such mega sporting events. even while there might be a lot of inspiring, amazing things happening at the olympics, the costs (tax dollars, displacement of local communities, etc) are generally ignored. the situation of the world cup in south africa is quite similar in many ways. see this democracy now clip for more: http://www.democracynow.org/2009/10/1/south_afric…
Olympic games should loved by all