few days left till the games…
July 19, 2008
…
time to voice disagreement, protest and the attitude that not everybody will simply buy the nice pictures and proceed to the usual cheering.
Now – before I’ll post more entries about Beijing 2008 in the coming days – I want to show you videos I came across while reading an online newspaper (www.spiegel.de - also in English):
Ariane Mnouchkine from France is the artist who made those videos in cooperation with Chinese dissidents and her theatre group. The videos demand to boycott the Olympic Games in Beijing.
In an interview with the French newspaper “Liberation” she sais that she expects Sarkozy at least not to attend the opening ceremony.
1) “The Track”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NV0Ih_ngvr0&feature=related
In the end of the clip it says: “Everything is prepared.”
“One is awaiting you.”
2) “The Swimming Arena”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdV-J4rWDGI&feature=related
“It is not too late yet,
to understand and to choose.”
3) “A couple”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyHM65Q74ZQ&feature=related
“Calm down.”
“You don’t need to worry about that.”
“It has been done already before your arrival.”
Critical videos. Do they make you think? Do you wonder what to do?
I hope we can discuss this, for exactly this is the question: “What do You chose?” And this is not only a question concerning Beijing 2008…
Beijing 2008…
July 18, 2008
…
2008, the year of the Olympic Games.
Beijing, world metropolis, capital of China and: host of the Olympic Games 2008. “Peoples Games”. “Green Games”. “One World One Dream”.
Beijing 2008
…
have you ever wondered what that stands for?
Does it stand for Zimbabwe? What do Zimbabwe and Beijing 2008 have in common, after all?
The plain answer is: interests.
The tyranny in Zimbabwe needs money, and most of all weapons, for its brutal fight against the opposition. Followers of Mugabe patrol through the country, raping, beating, killing relatives of members of the opposition. That leat to the retreat from the 2nd round of the Presidential Elections of Tvsangirai (Opposition leader) in fear of his own and his supporters’ deaths. Thousands of refugees urgently need to leave that country. Zimbabwe. Where the new president is the old tyrann.
The world knows about all that.
Is there anything we can do? Stand up and fight for respect of Human Rights?
Or are the Western politicians paralysed by their fear to lose in the comptetition for Africa’s rich resources when they stress the respect for Human Rights and democracy? A competition against China. Beijing 2008.
Here lies the connection: Zimababwe and Beijing 2008;
The EU and the USA say that the keys for the solution of Zimbabwe’s problems lie in Pretoria (capital of South Africa, neighbouring country) and Beijing (happiest city in 2008).
As a matter of fact, China is the most important economy partner of Zimbabwe. China, through credit infusions, keeps this regime alive. China, like in Sudan, has huge interests in Africa and it does not – in contrast to the EU – link its investments to respect for Human Rights, democratic institutions and other redundancies. Beijing 2008 needs resources. It needs employment for its millions of workers. It needs places to invest the new richness, in order to create alliances and dependencies – securing interest spheres.
Meanwhile, millions of people lose their homes, their belongings or their lives…
Soon, the Olympic Games will begin, under the motto: “One World One Dream”.
Beijing 2008 … What dream is this?
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