Call For Cross-Canada Mobilizing: Extinguish the Olympic Torch!

Loved the application of Godwin's law.

Don't buy any of the HBC designed Olympic clothing.  Boycott that.  Gary Lund doesn't seem to know that HBC is now owned by a company in the US.  Should have been Roots.  It is time to deep six the Olympics.  They have become a farce.

Okay, Maysie. I'll elaborate. It's sloppily written with little attention to evidence. Berlin Olympic reference is gratuitous. The Coca Cola health degradation comment laughable.

It takes away from a very serious issue, the Canadian Government's long-standing treatment of the idigenous population.

I'm not convinced opposing the torch relay is the best route (pun intended) for addressing this issue.

Well put, Maysie. I think this is a great opportunity to bring to light the systematic racism and denial of human rights by the Cdn gov't against FN people.  It should be uncomfortable and embarassing, but it is the truth.

I believe the slogan "Extinguish the Olympic Torch" is meant metaphorically. It is not a call for assaults upon the torch-bearers aimed at physically extinguishing the flame.

The idea is that the cross-country hype over the torch is an opportunity to stage concurrent local actions to bring public attention to the cause of opposition to the Olympics - for all the [url=http://web.resist.ca/~orn/blog/?page_id=6]reasons listed[/url].

kropotkin1951 wrote:

I listened to a CBC interview with a protester from China who during the Tiananmen Square liberation threw paint on the monster portrait of Mao.  He used an egg filled with paint and it apparently works very well.  Also I remember in the meat packers strike in Edmonton in the 80's some of the demonstrators took the tops off of light bulbs and filled them with paint and then put masking tapes over the openings and threw them on scab busses.  I personally like the egg approach better because then their is no broken glass.  Lets have an early Easter egg hunt on the torch relay.

The Chinese activists were throwing paint-filled eggs at a portrait of Mao. The people running in the torch relay are human beings (largely those who won an online contest). Pelting them with paint-filled eggs would not only to nothing to advance the cause, but it would constitute assault.

Dan Gallagher wrote:

kropotkin1951 wrote:

I listened to a CBC interview with a protester from China who during the Tiananmen Square liberation threw paint on the monster portrait of Mao.  He used an egg filled with paint and it apparently works very well.  Also I remember in the meat packers strike in Edmonton in the 80's some of the demonstrators took the tops off of light bulbs and filled them with paint and then put masking tapes over the openings and threw them on scab busses.  I personally like the egg approach better because then their is no broken glass.  Lets have an early Easter egg hunt on the torch relay.

The Chinese activists were throwing paint-filled eggs at a portrait of Mao. The people running in the torch relay are human beings (largely those who won an online contest). Pelting them with paint-filled eggs would not only to nothing to advance the cause, but it would constitute assault.

Sorry if you got the impression I wanted to attack the people in the torch relay.  I meant the corporate symbols and the buses and other things they will be travelling with.  I am not a pro-Tibet protester so I have no intention of attacking the people involved.  I am more peaceful than those Dalai Lama supporters.  I would also not advocate burning peoples stores to the ground because of their ethnic background. But then I am just a peace loving anarchist not a self righteous buddhist wannabe.

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Soothsayers had a better record of prediction than economists

On one of the news segments early this morning, reported an interesting snippet, that some of those who have publically stated any opposition to the Olympics, and indicated protesting at the torch relay stops are being investigated. Apparently, friends of theirs have been approached by some arm of CSIS, about the,.

International Callout for Direct Action

http://mostlywater.org/international_callout_direct_action

"Our struggle came from before 2010 and will reach beyond..

This is a call out for direct actions and solidarity

At the end of October, the Olympic Torch will come from Greece to Canada.."

13,000 security personnel many of them American will be deployed during the two week event.  $1,000,000,000 [1 billion] dollars will spent on ensuring that the IOC mandated restrictions on our freedom of expression are upheld.  Cameras on the streets of Vancouver are the first fascist legacy of these games. 

As far as the torch run is concerned RBC [Royal Bank of Canada] one of the sponsors is the largest backer of the tar sands and they are claiming the games are all about improving the environment.  Even if you are lucky enough not to be on the torch route you can still protest and pamphlet the offices and branches anywhere you live.

I hope someone grabs the torch and smashes it up.

The 99 Battle of Seattle is nothing to what we will see during these games I believe.

Viva the people! Down with the government! Viva revolutiuon!

Makwa wrote:

This particular action has little to do with aboriginal peoples, IMHO and is merely appropriating the histories and resistance of aboriginal peoples: as a common stance of dominant culture activists, it persists as an attitude which particularly irritates me.

Do you have any proof that aboriginal peoples are [b]not[/b] involved in the Olympic Resistance Network? Or do we just assume that it is an organization of "dominant culture activists"?

Happy to see makwa post on this topic and even happier to see that he and I agree on it.

I think Makwa is saying, when he says "welcome to my world", is that dominant culture activists shouldnt be appropriating indigenous history for our own use against the imperialist Olympic event. I agree with him in that we should leave indigenous people out of it. And perhaps it is for their sake that we not bring unwanted attention to FN's. And I kind of agree with that. If we have the cojones and ovaries to go nose to nose with the imperialists, like Kanesatake Mohawks did so bravely at Oka without whitey their on the other side of the barricades, then we should go for it. We don't need FN's permission to stand up for everyone's rights.

Is there consensus among Canada's FN's that this is their fight? Indians have had a lot of land expropriated by Canada's liberal-fascists throughout history. Why should they be particularly interested over this land the Olympics will be used for? Is there any oil there? Is the fishing and hunting still good?

M. Spector wrote:

Why does there need to be consensus?

Is there consensus among the white settler population for opposing the holding of the Olympics?

Well I should no longer speak for Makwa. Yes native people are already involved. But as Makwa said, this is nothing new for Canada's FN's. There were armed helicopters flying over Montreal and Oka in 1990 as a way for the liberal=-fascists to declare that they are not free and that the heavy hand of the corporatist state is there waiting for them in the background in case they get any ideas that theyre living in a democracy. Native people can do only so much to resist. It's already in the newspapers, and BC voters elected Campbell's Liberals. Gave them a phony majority in fact. This is what they voted for. And this is what they get for voting Liberal. Apparently it's no big deal out there. BC voters love these Liberal fascist bastards who can do no wrong.

Caissa wrote:

the oppression of indigenous people - resulting from the failure of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to seek the appropriate permission from native groups to hold the games on their land

Ok, so who are these native groups, and what land are they claiming since people who claim to represent the Lil’wat, Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations seem to have approved?

Here is the No 2010 sites views on many of the issues being discussed.

FAQ: Why 'Resist 2010' when the Olympics are gonna happen anyway?

The goal of resistance is to limit the impacts of 2010 and to use the Olympics as a catalyst for stronger social movements. Without the efforts of anti-poverty and housing rights groups, for example, there would've been far more low-income housing lost in Vancouver over the last few years. The 2006 blockade at Eagleridge Bluffs and the direct actions that followed in 2007 showed that there was opposition to the Olympics and has inspired groups across the country to take action.

FAQ: What does 'No Olympics on Stolen Native Land' mean?

Although it can be said that all of the Americas is land stolen from Indigenous peoples, 'British Columbia' is unique in Canada in that virtually no treaties were made in the process of colonization & settlement. Treaties were required under British, and later Canadian, law prior to any trade or settlement (i.e., the 1763 Royal Proclamation). Although today the government seeks 'modern-day treaties' with its Indian Act band councils, the fact is in 'BC' the land is clearly occupied by an illegal colonial system. The slogan 'No Olympics on Stolen Native Land' is a way to raise anti-colonial consciousness about the true history of 'BC'.

FAQ: I thought Natives supported the Olympic Games?

It appears as if Natives support the Olympics due to the exploitation of Native culture, as well as the efforts of Native collaborators (such as the 4 Host First Nations, which is made up of Indian Act band councils). These Native artists, business & political groups are either ignorant about what the Olympics are really about, or just plain greedy. It should be remembered that the band councils were imposed by the government as a means to control & assimilate Native peoples. They lack popular support and only exist because of government funding.

FAQ: What is Resistance 2010?

Resistance 2010 refers to three related campaigns that will occur in 2010: resistance to the Olympics, the G8 summit and the Security & Prosperity Partnership (SPP). They are connected through government & corporate plans to intensify resource exploitation, market expansion, and social control.

Most of the aboriginal activists I have heard speak on this subject are urban people while the 4 Host groups are band based.  
As a ally I will support their voices but I intend to protest against the RBC and to tie their support of the Tar Sands into the environmental degradation being foisted on the planet by our oil and gas industry.  Given that they are using "green" messaging while being the biggest backers of the Tar Sands is very relevant and worth protesting.  It is legal in Canada according to our courts to leaflet in front of RBC banks with a message that says please ask your bank to stop supporting the Tar Sands. The Friends of the Lubricon fought to protect their right to protest in the late 1990's and where eventually successful.  They also boycotted the Calgary Olympics. In the late 90's they set up leaflet lines in front of various pizza outlets that were using boxes produced from their unceded land.  they did not try to shut the businesses down but rather set out their claims and grievances and asked the customers of those pizza outlets to demand that the businesses use different boxes. The Supreme Court in the Pepsi picketing case accepted the Ontario court ruling that this is activity is legally protected freedom of expression.

Makwa, I was just quoting the article as a possible example of appropriation of voice. I'm sorry if I wasn't being clear enough.

I haven't spent much time around activists in my life but I know many common people(meaning not overly political) are quite cynical about the whole modern Oylmpics/big business hype, however I can't see any of them being very sympathetic in anyway to protestors who try to disrupt the torch run, in fact I think any disruptions or attacks will have the opposite effect of causing more people to come out in support of the torch run.

The games may be tarnished in the eyes of many but the cynicism is directed against a kind of abstract faceless enemy of pure sport, none seems to be transferred to the athletes or the volunteers, including those involved in the torch run.