- Reaction score
- 4,591
- Points
- 1,260
Olympic torch expected to be met by protesters as it travels across Canada
James Keller, Canadian Press, 25 Oct 09
Article link
It's an image fit for a cheesy horror flick: flaming torches meeting a crowd of zombies.
That could be the opening scene of the Canadian Olympic torch relay, which begins in Victoria on Friday and is expected to draw protesters along its 106-day route leading up to the opening of the Winter Games.
The international relay ahead of last year's Summer Olympics in Beijing was plagued by chaotic protests aimed at China's human rights record, including several attempts to grab the torch itself.
But groups planning to target the Vancouver 2010 torch run say they're planning peaceful demonstrations.
In Victoria, with the Olympic flame arriving on a plane from Greece just a day before Halloween, anti-Olympic groups are planning a street festival and a "zombie march" along Victoria's streets.
"It's a chance to dress up and be silly and do some street theatre, but it's also serious," says Zoe Blunt, one of the organizers of the event.
"We're doing this to assert our Charter rights. I think the whole world is going to be watching to see what happens here, since it is basically the first official day of the Games."
Protesters representing a variety of causes have said they'll be meeting the torch along the relay, from native groups and anti-poverty activists to civil rights advocates and opponents of Canada's seal hunt.
The Olympic Resistance Network has posted a note on the web titled "Extinguish the torch!" that calls on activists across the country to "oppose and resist" the relay, although it isn't explicitly advocating interfering with the torch run....
Human Rights Campaigner Denounces "Olympics Police" Harassment
Zoe Blunt, Pacific Free Press, 26 Oct 09
Article link
Rose Henry has had enough of the phone calls from the Olympic security police. The 51-year-old human rights advocate says an officer with the Vancouver 2010 Integrated Security Unit phoned twice a day for about a
week. The intelligence officer pressured her to "meet for coffee" and to give him information about her own work and her fellow activists.
Henry was "scared" by the calls and unsure what to do, so she asked her Vancouver lawyer for advice. "He said, 'Rose, you have done absolutely nothing wrong, and there's no reason for them to harass you. You can just tell them to f--- off,'" she reports.
"I don’t want to deal with these guys," she says. "I know I'm right in standing up for human rights. I shouldn’t have to defend them against the police officers who are supposed to protect us."
Henry also talked to fellow activists in Victoria, who offered support and advice. "I'm glad we are all on same page," she says. "All of us have done nothing wrong. It's like [the police] are trying to set us up, and putting words in our mouths."
Henry is forthright in her criticism of the Olympics. "I would support the Olympics if it was a fundraiser for people in need, and if the money they're spending was staying in the community. But it's a one-way street – all that money is flowing out to corporate investors," she notes.
"At the same time, they're chopping programs for the arts, battered women and disabled children and people with mental health problems."....
"Teach 2010" web site
This is a collaborative website for teachers to post and find resources for teaching the 2010 Winter Olympics from a critical perspective. If you have a lesson plan idea, upcoming events listings or links to articles or organizations please send us an email at contact@teach2010.org.
This website is also being developed in collaboration with the Teaching 2010 Resistance project, which has developed a critically-minded Olympics workshop for students. This workshop is being presented in schools throughout Greater Vancouver beginning in October 2009. For more information, please check out this page. An overview of the workshop is available here....
More on links
James Keller, Canadian Press, 25 Oct 09
Article link
It's an image fit for a cheesy horror flick: flaming torches meeting a crowd of zombies.
That could be the opening scene of the Canadian Olympic torch relay, which begins in Victoria on Friday and is expected to draw protesters along its 106-day route leading up to the opening of the Winter Games.
The international relay ahead of last year's Summer Olympics in Beijing was plagued by chaotic protests aimed at China's human rights record, including several attempts to grab the torch itself.
But groups planning to target the Vancouver 2010 torch run say they're planning peaceful demonstrations.
In Victoria, with the Olympic flame arriving on a plane from Greece just a day before Halloween, anti-Olympic groups are planning a street festival and a "zombie march" along Victoria's streets.
"It's a chance to dress up and be silly and do some street theatre, but it's also serious," says Zoe Blunt, one of the organizers of the event.
"We're doing this to assert our Charter rights. I think the whole world is going to be watching to see what happens here, since it is basically the first official day of the Games."
Protesters representing a variety of causes have said they'll be meeting the torch along the relay, from native groups and anti-poverty activists to civil rights advocates and opponents of Canada's seal hunt.
The Olympic Resistance Network has posted a note on the web titled "Extinguish the torch!" that calls on activists across the country to "oppose and resist" the relay, although it isn't explicitly advocating interfering with the torch run....
Human Rights Campaigner Denounces "Olympics Police" Harassment
Zoe Blunt, Pacific Free Press, 26 Oct 09
Article link
Rose Henry has had enough of the phone calls from the Olympic security police. The 51-year-old human rights advocate says an officer with the Vancouver 2010 Integrated Security Unit phoned twice a day for about a
week. The intelligence officer pressured her to "meet for coffee" and to give him information about her own work and her fellow activists.
Henry was "scared" by the calls and unsure what to do, so she asked her Vancouver lawyer for advice. "He said, 'Rose, you have done absolutely nothing wrong, and there's no reason for them to harass you. You can just tell them to f--- off,'" she reports.
"I don’t want to deal with these guys," she says. "I know I'm right in standing up for human rights. I shouldn’t have to defend them against the police officers who are supposed to protect us."
Henry also talked to fellow activists in Victoria, who offered support and advice. "I'm glad we are all on same page," she says. "All of us have done nothing wrong. It's like [the police] are trying to set us up, and putting words in our mouths."
Henry is forthright in her criticism of the Olympics. "I would support the Olympics if it was a fundraiser for people in need, and if the money they're spending was staying in the community. But it's a one-way street – all that money is flowing out to corporate investors," she notes.
"At the same time, they're chopping programs for the arts, battered women and disabled children and people with mental health problems."....
"Teach 2010" web site
This is a collaborative website for teachers to post and find resources for teaching the 2010 Winter Olympics from a critical perspective. If you have a lesson plan idea, upcoming events listings or links to articles or organizations please send us an email at contact@teach2010.org.
This website is also being developed in collaboration with the Teaching 2010 Resistance project, which has developed a critically-minded Olympics workshop for students. This workshop is being presented in schools throughout Greater Vancouver beginning in October 2009. For more information, please check out this page. An overview of the workshop is available here....
More on links
