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Editor to defy Sudan's paper ban
Nhial Bol said the order to stop publishing his paper was "political", and because the managing editor was from the war-torn Darfur region.
The Tribune has also had its licence revoked by the National Press Council, which denies the move is political. Nhial Bol said the order to stop publishing his paper was "political", and because the managing editor was from the war-torn... more -
India Woman Burned To Death In Anti Christian Violence; Churches Destroyed
In another forum I was shocked at the Anti-Christian attitude from posters here in America even.
The title above was confirmed 8/28/2008 by BBC News.
In this century more Christians have died for their faith than in the other nearly 2k years combined. Let that sink in.
First of all. These people were only Jesus Freaks in the light that they died for their faith. Most did not own a bible, although that is a cherished and protected item that some, not many house churches have access to. They often share bibles among many. In most of the countries owning a Bible is punishable by death or indefinite imprisonment.
Now think about that for one moment. Death for owning a Bible. We cannot comprehend that here in the United States. This is common especially under "Islamic States" where Islam is the mandatory religion. And is also common in communist and we are seeing other governments doing the same.
These people lived in fear and knowing that death is often the consequence of believing in God and Jesus.
Did they go around making condescending comments? Hell no . Did they quietly worship in secret? Yes.
So before the politically correct brainwashes and blinds you to the plight of even Christians around the world...
Below are examples of stuff that happened THIS WEEK.
(sorry to take up space, but this is continued below.) In another forum I was shocked at the Anti-Christian attitude from posters here in America even. ... more -
Hijackers demand passage to Paris
Hijackers who forced a Sudanese plane to land in Libya have demanded that it be refuelled so that it can fly on to Paris.
"The pilot relayed to the airport head that the hijackers do not want any negotiations and they have only one demand: that the plane be refuelled to go to Paris," Libya's state news agency Jana said on Wednesday, quoting Khaled Sassia, head of the airport in Kufrah, southeastern Libya.
The hijackers asked for maps to guide their flight path from Kufrah to Paris, it added.
Jana added that according to the pilot, there could be 10 or more hijackers on the plane.
A Libyan official at the airport said the hijackers belonged to the Darfur rebel Sudan Liberation Movement led by Abdul-Wahid Nour.
But Yahia Bolad, a spokesman for the group, denied any involvement, saying his group had "no relation to this act".
The hijackers dismissed offers by Libyan authorities to provide the passengers with food and also rejected a request that passengers who had fainted because of inadequate air conditioning in the plane be given medical treatment, the Libyan news agency said.
The Sudanese passenger plane was reported to have nearly 100 people on board.
The Sun Air Boeing 737 was hijacked shortly after it took off from Nyala, the largest city in Sudan's Darfur region, on Tuesday, bound for Khartoum, airline officials said.
"After 20 minutes the pilot called Nyala airport to say the plane had been hijacked and that he is en route to Tripoli in Libya," one employee said.
A Sudanese government official told Al Jazeera that the hijacking was carried out by a "knife-wielding Sudanese man who threatened the pilot, and demanded that the plane be re-routed to Paris".
Libya's civil aviation authority later confirmed the plane had landed at the airport in remote Kufrah, an oasis town in the country's southeast.
The aircraft diverted to Libya after the authorities in Egypt refused permission for it to land in Cairo. Hijackers who forced a Sudanese plane to land in Libya have demanded that it be refuelled so that it can fly on to Paris. ... more -
Sudan hijackers surrender
Two hijackers who took control of a plane flying from the Darfur region of Sudan have today surrendered to authorities, Libya state media has reported.
The plane had been forced to land in the desert town of Kufra, where the two men surrendered, and were held in the airport there. Two hijackers who took control of a plane flying from the Darfur region of Sudan have today surrendered to authorities, Libya state me... more -
Roots of Humanity: Am I Not Human?
Join The Roots of Humanity on the 27th of every month in asking the unified, persistent question that has the answers collectively needed, within it.
We ask on behalf of our human siblings lacking in access to the most basic of communication tools, or barred from communication by their governments:
Am I Not Human?
Download this month's ebook: 'Where Do We Go From Here' Join The Roots of Humanity on the 27th of every month in asking the unified, persistent question that has the answers collectively nee... more -
Darfurians Settle in Town Rather than Camp
Recent refugees from the Darfur conflict have settled outside the town of Birao, Central African Republic, rather than inside a camp. Even though, they would want more food aid, their life seems to be more normal. Recent refugees from the Darfur conflict have settled outside the town of Birao, Central African Republic, rather than inside a camp. ... more
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Sudanese plane hijacked in Darfur
A Sudanese plane has been hijacked in the Darfur region of the country, officials have reported.
It initially headed for Khartoum, but has now landed in a southern Libyan oasis town, after first trying to land in Cairo: "A man with a knife" is reported to have been the hijacker. A Sudanese plane has been hijacked in the Darfur region of the country, officials have reported. ... more -
All The Beautiful People
These slides are photos by Hans Sylvester, a photographer who spent 6 years photographing an ethnic group (men, women, children, elderly) who live along the Omo River (Ethiopia-Sudan-Kenya triangle and Rift valley). They decorate their bodies using what is available in this volcanic region: red ochre, copper green, white kaolin, luminous yellow and grey from ashes. Their decorations depend on the agility of their fingers and the freedom and spontaneity of their designs. They use the tips of their fingers, their nails, sometimes bits of wood, reeds, crushed stems dipped in clay, to make the designs. And vegetation to decorate. These slides are photos by Hans Sylvester, a photographer who spent 6 years photographing an ethnic group (men, women, children, elder... more
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Sudan forces kill 27 in Darfur camp clash
Sudanese forces attacked a Darfur refugee camp on Monday, leaving up to 27 dead and scores wounded, rebel leaders said.
The United Nations said it was "gravely concerned" at reports Sudanese security vehicles had surrounded South Darfur's volatile Kalma camp and that attacks had resulted in "injuries and deaths of civilians".
A spokesman for Sudan's army said officers had entered the camp to search for weapons, but insisted armed camp residents had fired on them first.
Kalma camp, long a centre of unrest, is home to 90,000 people who have fled their villages in five years of fighting in western Sudan between rebels, the government and militias.
The government has accused armed rebel supporters of taking refuge in Kalma while residents have accused government-backed militias of mounting a string of raids on the settlement.
Leaders of two Darfur rebel factions told Reuters government forces in around 100 vehicles surrounded Kalma at 5 a.m. (0200 GMT). A U.N. source said there were reports shooting had started inside the camp three hours later.
"I am inside the camp Kalma. Now there is still shooting," Abakr Suleiman, a senior tribal leader inside the settlement, said at 10 a.m. "There is heavy shooting. They came into the camp and killed people. There are houses burning."
Ahmed Abdel Shafie, leader of a Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) faction, said there were 27 confirmed deaths in what he said was an attack by Sudan's army.
"The IDPs (internally displaced people) are resisting, we are expecting casualties," Shafie added. "They (the government of Sudan) want to demolish Kalma camp, they want to force people to leave."
Aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres said at least 65 people -- more than half of them women and children -- were treated at its Kalma clinic after being injured in the shooting.
DEFIANCE
A U.N. source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there had been a "full armed confrontation" between the Sudanese armed forces and camp residents.
The source said early, unconfirmed reports suggested 32 people had been killed and 105 injured in the fighting.
Noureddine Mezni, spokesman for the joint U.N./African Union UNAMID peacekeepers in Darfur, said Sudanese police had shown peacekeepers a search warrant authorising them to enter Kalma camp to search for weapons and "possible wanted persons".
Yahia El Bashir, the British-based spokesman for another SLA faction, said the attack was "a message of defiance to the international community. We call on the UNAMID peacekeepers to do their job and defend the IDPs."
Mezni said UNAMID officers were on their way to the camp to prepare a full report.
The United Nations' most senior humanitarian official in Sudan, Ameerah Haq, called for restraint, adding "such actions severely threaten the safety and security of civilians who have a right to protection under International Humanitarian Law".
A spokesman for Sudan's armed forces, speaking on condition of anonymity, said an army search party was fired on from inside the camp. "They (the search party) tried to resist and there was an exchange of fire between the two sides," he added. "We are still waiting for details of casualties from all sides."
International experts say more than 2.5 million Darfuris have been driven from their homes by five years of violence that has killed 200,000 people. Sudan puts the death count at 10,000.
The new joint U.N.-African Union mediator for Darfur, Djibril Bassole, is due to arrive in Khartoum on Monday to take up his position. (Additional reporting by Opheera McDoom; Editing by Giles Elgood) Sudanese forces attacked a Darfur refugee camp on Monday, leaving up to 27 dead and scores wounded, rebel leaders said. ... more -
Sudan kills refugees in Darfur
Sudanese troops have opened fire inside a Darfur refugee camp, leaving 27 people dead, a rebel group has said.
Some 100 government trucks surrounded the Kalma camp, home to some 90,000 people who have fled their homes in Darfur, a rebel spokesman told the BBC.
There is no independent confirmation of the reports but international sources have been told that Sudan wants to disarm the camp's residents.
More than two million people have fled five years of conflict in Darfur.
Ahmed Abdel Shafie, who heads a faction of the rebel Sudan Liberation Army, told the BBC that the government wants to force people to leave the camp.
Another rebel leader puts the number of those killed higher. Abdel Wahed Mohamed al-Nur, said that 50 people had been killed.
"This really is a catastrophe. People are being killed while the world just watches," he said.
(continued at link) Sudanese troops have opened fire inside a Darfur refugee camp, leaving 27 people dead, a rebel group has said. ... more -
Save Darfur: Rights groups frustrated by olympics
The pyrotechnics and fake pomp and circumstance of the Beijing Olympics will bring the competition to an end, but the genocide in Darfur that so many seem to have put out of their consciousness goes on.
"The Beijing Olympics have left the world's human rights groups frustrated and angry - convinced that China has been let off the hook for serious abuses, and adamant that future hosts like Russia must be held to a higher standard.
Western activists also are disappointed that among the thousands of athletes at the games, few have made even low-key efforts to speak out about political repression or China's economic ties to Sudan, where violence has raged in Darfur.
"Even if there was an athlete that wanted to speak out on issues of human rights, he might be silenced by whatever IOC official is mediating that press event," Darfur activist and former U.S. Olympian Joey Cheek said in an e-mail Wednesday to The Associated Press.
Cheek, co-founder of a group of athletes known as Team Darfur, had his visa revoked by Chinese authorities hours before he was to embark for Beijing. Team Darfur athletes who are in Beijing have acceded to International Olympic Committee curbs on political comment, resulting in what Cheek called "massive suppression of any voice that the government doesn't want heard."
Prominent human-rights groups have castigated the IOC and the games' major corporate sponsors for their reluctance to place any public pressure on China on such issues as political dissent and press freedom.
"The Chinese government's own voluntary pledges to improve human rights, allow public protests and guarantee 'complete freedom to report' made meeting these self-set human rights benchmarks one of the tests for a successful Olympics," Minky Worden of Human Rights Watch said in an e-mail from New York. "That is a test that both Beijing and the IOC have failed."
She said the Beijing games, rather than bequeathing a positive legacy, "may leave in place permanent technological surveillance and monitoring networks that make doing human rights work even more dangerous and difficult for Chinese citizens."
Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International are calling on the IOC to establish a more rigorous process for assessing the human-rights records of countries which bid for and host future Olympics."
The IOC has met with Amnesty and Human Rights Watch, but IOC spokeswoman Giselle Davies indicated their proposals would likely be rebuffed.
"We're a sports organization. ... we stay clearly within our role, which is to bring sport to host countries," she said Wednesday. "We're not an organization that is best placed or has the capacity to deal with human rights issues"."
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With all due respect to Giselle Davies regarding this remark:
"We're a sports organization. ... we stay clearly within our role, which is to bring sport to host countries," she said Wednesday. "We're not an organization that is best placed or has the capacity to deal with human rights issues."
It is OBVIOUS you are not in an organization that has the capacity to deal with nor to care about human rights. And that is damned sad as I always thought the true spirit of sports was brotherhood. It is obvious however, it is now nothing more than a money making machine for selfish people who only care about winning at any cost. Shame on her for that remark.
*To whoever is going into this post and changing it. Please stop it. Thank you. The pyrotechnics and fake pomp and circumstance of the Beijing Olympics will bring the competition to an end, but the genocide in Darf... more -
SUDAN-CHAD: Longing and gratitude – the refugee experience
It is pitch black; the sun has not yet risen, but Achta Abakar Ibrahim is kneeling outside her straw home in Djabal refugee camp in southeastern Chad, praying to God.
She thanks Him that she escaped war in Sudan and that she and her family are now safe in Chad. She thanks Him that the Chadian people have welcomed her so openly and that humanitarian workers have helped her build a temporary life.
She still has scars on her back from the beatings she received while pregnant, by armed men she calls `janjaweed', who stormed her village in western Sudan, burning homes, killing men and raping women.
"Until now, I do not have peace of mind," she told IRIN in January, in a small sand yard outside her straw hut. "I think what happened will happen again, even at the level of the [refugee] camps."
According to the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS), which currently provides psycho-social support to some of the 250,000 Darfur refugees in Chad, trauma is a common problem.
"They talked about nightmares, about not being able to sleep, about hearing the bomber planes, about the orphans they found along the way from Sudan," said Rachel Zelon, former vice president of programme operations, who worked in Chad in 2004 when most Sudanese refugees arrived.
Four years later, the trauma continues, but in a different form. Julie Grier worked with the refugees early this year, as head of HIAS's team in the southeastern Chadian town of Goz Beida, the main town outside Djabal refugee camp.
"To realize that you have probably left your home forever is difficult," she told IRIN. "It's almost a trauma in itself.
"To realize that you are indefinitely going to have to rely on the assistance of other people can be disempowering, discouraging," she added, referring to a process of "learned helplessness" or unlearning how to help yourself.
"I feel I am living in dignity"
But despite these feelings, Abakar says she has much to be grateful for.
Her children never went to school in their home village of Tandoussa in Sudan - their father did not see it as a priority. Now they do, as is their right as international refugees. Those too young for school go to the nursery. Those too old have the option of literacy classes.
In their home villages, some Sudanese used to walk kilometres for unclean water, aid workers said. Now, clean water is just five minutes away in a public fountain constructed for the refugees.
Abakar used to pay every time she went to a hospital in Sudan, where "traditional doctors" were often part of the treatment. Now, when her children fall sick, she takes them to the free heath care clinic in the camp. And every month, she is guaranteed a ration of flour, oil, salt and sugar.
"I feel I am living in dignity," Abakar said. "The children go to school; they play with balls; they have fun; they have access to water. I thank God." *continues* It is pitch black; the sun has not yet risen, but Achta Abakar Ibrahim is kneeling outside her straw home in Djabal refugee camp in so... more -
Sudan: supporting livelihoods and restoring family links
The ICRC continued helping people in remote areas to sow their fields and vaccinate their livestock ahead of heavy rains. Its teams provided vital relief to displaced people in Darfur, buried the dead in Abyei and re-established contact between families in Sudan and their relatives in Guantanamo. At the same time, the ICRC continued to remind all those involved in the conflict of their obligations to respect civilian lives and property. It accepted a request from the Sudanese government for assistance with the release and transfer of 99 minors arrested in connection with an attack on Omdurman last May, enabling them to rejoin their families in Darfur.
Distributing seed and tools in Darfur
Two months ago, the ICRC launched a massive seed distribution operation for families in rural Darfur. The operation was aiming to help 40,000 families (200,000 people) living in remote farming areas, especially in and around Jabal Marra. “The situation in Darfur has made it difficult for these families to get the basic goods and services they need," said ICRC agronomist Bruno Declercq in Sudan. ”The seed will boost their production capacity and improve their economic position.”
Each household received seed for staple foods and cash crops, together with basic tools and a "seed-protection ration" – a supply of food that would prevent families being forced to eat the seed rather than sow it.
When the time came to take stock of the operation, the ICRC found it had assisted more people than expected. Over 500 trucks and hundreds of workers had distributed nearly 3,300 tonnes of seed, food and agricultural implements to 45,000 families in remote areas of North and South Darfur States; 5,000 families (25,000 people) more than the target.
Livestock vaccination campaign
Darfur is home to an estimated 20 million head of livestock, making grazing animals the main form of livelihood and source of income for nomads in the region. Conflict, insecurity, geography and constant nomadic movement have made it increasingly difficult for these people to obtain animal health services. The ICRC is therefore vaccinating their livestock in areas where such services are not available.
To protect animals against five major fatal diseases, two ICRC teams completed a major livestock vaccination campaign in remote areas around Kabkabiyya in northern Darfur, working with the Ministry of Animal Health. The teams vaccinated nearly 130,000 cattle, camels, sheep and goats.
By the end of the operation in mid-July, ICRC teams had vaccinated a total of 500,000 animals in designated nomadic areas in North and South Darfur during 2008. "Red Cross medicine is very good for our animals," said a camel owner near Nyala, South Darfur. "We used to lose 15 to 20 per cent of our animals to disease. This has now dropped to about 5 per cent."
Vaccinations are to resume at the end of the rainy season in October. It is virtually impossible to conduct vaccination campaigns during the rains, as the flocks are moved to greener pastures and it is difficult to access remote areas.
Conducting burials in Abyei
Last May, fighting in the disputed central Sudanese town of Abyei left a number of unburied corpses behind. A team of 14 ICRC and Sudanese Red Crescent staff trained in disaster management was deployed to the town. They located the bodies and attempted to identify them before burying the remains of 59 people with dignity at a known, accessible location.
"Identifying the dead was impossible," said Giorgio Negro, the ICRC team leader. "After being left in the open for nearly a month, the bodies were decomposed beyond recognition. We buried them at a known location, so people could visit."*continues* The ICRC continued helping people in remote areas to sow their fields and vaccinate their livestock ahead of heavy rains. Its teams pr... more -
Darfur rebels sentenced to death
Sudan has sentenced eight Darfur fighters, including a senior member of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), to death for their involvement in an attack on Khartoum, Sudan's capital.
The court ruling on Sunday brings to 38 the number of people condemned to hang over the unprecedented attack in which more than 222 people were killed.
Among those sentenced was Abdel Aziz el-Nur Ashr, the half-brother of Khalil Ibrahim, the JEM leader.
"The court is sentencing all eight accused to death by hanging," said Mudathir Rashid Sidahmed, the presiding judge.
The accused and relatives - who were barred from attending the hearing - broke into shouts of death to the government after the sentences were read, a reporter for the AFP news agency said.
Darfuri women at the court protested outside the courtroom but were escorted away by police.
The accused have one week to appeal before Omar Hassan al-Bashir, Sudan's president, signs the execution order.
The UN has voiced concern that the courts do not meet international standards and urged the appeals court to review the sentences.
The attack on Khartoum in May was the first time an armed group had brought their fight to the capital.
The fighters were stopped at bridges over the Nile, a few kilometres from the presidential palace and army headquarters. Sudan has sentenced eight Darfur fighters, including a senior member of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), to death for their in... more -
The Darfur Olympics
Most Olympic corporate sponsors have been silent about China's financing of the Darfur genocide, even as they enhance Beijing's image by spending billions of dollars on the Olympics. Take action: change the channel when sponsors' commercials air during the Games. Join those who will watch Mia Farrow reporting from a Darfurian refugee camp during the Olympics.
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There are videos at this link for every day since the opening ceremony dealing with another aspect of this genocide in Darfur. We must not forget what is happening while the Chinese government hopes to use the Olympic Games to escape culpability for their supplying arms to Sudan that is contributing to the atrocities and rape of its people.
Thank you, Mia Farrow. Most Olympic corporate sponsors have been silent about China's financing of the Darfur genocide, even as they enhance Beijing... more -
Is Africa a Cold War Battleground?
The human, social and economic wounds inflicted on Africa by the last Cold War are still very raw. Mozambique, Angola and Namibia are littered with millions of land mines and other unexploded military ordinances, which will kill people for centuries to come. Algeria, Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ivory Coast, Chad, Central African Republic, Nigeria, Sudan and Uganda are fighting self-destruct wars, while Somalia ceased to be a state in 1992, thanks to western weapons.
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Overall, the last Cold War left Africa on the life-support machine of western food aid administered by the World Food Program, while their leaders pay lip service to cure the patient.
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That is not surprising. The West is less interested in human rights in Africa than in justifying and setting the stage for a new Cold War. The BBC reported on 13th July it “has found the first evidence that China is currently helping Sudan's government militarily in Darfur.”
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Check out the original article for the full story. This goes hand in hand with things I have heard about the US and China/Russia funding opposing sides of the ongoing conflicts in Africa. Not to mention all around the world. The human, social and economic wounds inflicted on Africa by the last Cold War are still very raw. Mozambique, Angola and Namibia are ... more -
Sudan capitalises on food exports while receiving aid for starvation in Darfur
Even as it receives a billion pounds of free food from international donors, Sudan is growing and selling vast quantities of its own crops to other countries, capitalising on high global food prices at a time when millions of people in its war-riddled region of Darfur barely have enough to eat.
...Why is a country that exports so many of its own crops receiving more free food than anywhere else in the world, especially when the Sudanese government is blamed for creating the crisis in the first place?
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Take sorghum, a staple of the Sudanese diet, typically eaten in flat, spongy bread. Last year, the United States government, as part of its response to the emergency in Darfur, shipped in 283,000 tons of sorghum, at high cost, from as far away as Houston. Oddly enough, that is about the same amount that Sudan exported, according to United Nations officials. This year, Sudanese companies, including many that are linked to the government in Khartoum, are on track to ship out twice that amount, even as the United Nations is being forced to cut rations to Darfur.
Eric Reeves, a professor at Smith College and an outspoken activist who has written frequently on the Darfur crisis, called this anomaly "one of the least reported and most scandalous features of the Khartoum regime's domestic policies." It was emblematic, he said, of the Sudanese government's strategy to manipulate "national wealth and power to further enrich itself and its cronies, while the marginalized regions of the country suffer from terrible poverty." Even as it receives a billion pounds of free food from international donors, Sudan is growing and selling vast quantities of its own c... more -
Sudanese Government selling donated food while Darfur starves.
Even as it receives a billion pounds of free food from international donors, Sudan is growing and selling vast quantities of its own crops to other countries, capitalizing on high global food prices at a time when millions of people in its war-riddled region of Darfur barely have enough to eat. Even as it receives a billion pounds of free food from international donors, Sudan is growing and selling vast quantities of its own c... more
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Bob Costas stands up for American Joey Cheek during Olympic opening ceremony
American speed skater Joey Cheek has done a great deal to bring global attention to the immense suffering of the people of Darfur, forming Team Darfur and even going so far as donating his $40k Olympic bonus to the cause in 2006. Unfortunately, the gold and silver medalist was punished for his activism by the Chinese government — who has contributed to the genocide in Darfur by fueling and supporting Sudan’s murderous military government — when they revoked his visa this week, preventing him from attending this year’s Olympics in Beijing.
During the opening ceremony NBC’s Bob Costas discussed the controversy surrounding Cheek and the Chinese government, noting that he made it clear he would not protest the Chinese government during the Olympics:
Costas: “Joey Cheek had planned to invoke the Olympic truce, the time-honored concept of an Olympic truce, to call attention to the humanitarian crisis in Sudan. He did not intend to directly protest the Chinese government. The fact that they pulled his visa is so contrary to the Olympic ideal it is simply outrageous.”
I wondered if NBC was going to cave on this or take a stand and defend Cheek against the reprehensible actions of the Chinese government. I applaud Costas for choosing the latter. American speed skater Joey Cheek has done a great deal to bring global attention to the immense suffering of the people of Darfur, for... more -
U.S. flag bearer a rebuke to China's foreign policy
When the Sudanese athletes entered the stadium Friday night, they were met with a silence that I found eerie. I mean, your government is heavily involved in a devastating war in that country, and you react with silence?
But then I thought: What are they supposed to do? Cheer the athletes? Boo the Sudanese government?
The Chinese did cheer as the Americans entered. And I like to think that a few of those cheers were directed at the charismatic 23-year-old carrying the Stars and Stripes.
Lopez Lomong does not want to be the story of the Olympics. But maybe he is, anyway. He was kidnapped at age 6 by rebels in Sudan. In 2000, as a refugee in Kenya, he walked five miles to find a black-and-white TV so he could watch the Olympics. He saw Michael Johnson win gold.
He stopped short of making any statements about China's involvement in the Sudan conflict Friday. But that's OK. His teammates made it for him.
China wants to keep its reprehensible foreign policy tucked away this month. The American athletes shoved the face of the Darfur conflict in front of everybody Sunday. It is the face of Lopez Lomong.
Have you ever been so proud of a group of American Olympians? In recent years, the American Olympic movement has been marred by a familiar cycle: famous athletes are revealed as dopers, and U.S. Olympic Committee chairman Peter Ueberroth issues a statement condemning them.
The athletes shamed Ueberroth here. The USOC big shots have hemmed and hawed on anything related to the war in Darfur -- they don't want to upset their hosts.
Lopez Lomong, on how he came to be the flag bearer, according to China:
"A lot of team captains just sat down and voted freely and there are many good candidates, but I got the chance to represent my country and my team."
That's it. The whole quote. Not a word about Lomong growing up in Sudan or watching Michael Johnson or saving part of his first American meal, from McDonald's, because he could not bring himself to dispose of anything edible.
The Chinese can keep Lopez Lomong's story off their quote sheets, but they could not keep him out of their stadium, and next week, they will not be able to keep him off their track.
People say sports and politics don't mix. I don't know about that. The best part of the Olympics is that when sports and politics do mix, sports triumph. Let the games begin. When the Sudanese athletes entered the stadium Friday night, they were met with a silence that I found eerie. I mean, your government ... more
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