As the Olympic torch draws closer to Sochi, an international media campaign is in full swing, attempting to question Russia’s ability to provide a safe and tolerant environment for the athletes and guests of the Winter Olympics.
Setting aside the issue of whether the complaints about Russia’s human rights record or the alleged terrorist threats in Bigger Sochi region are legitimate, we should point out a couple of official goals of Olympism according to the Olympic Charter:
“Promoting a peaceful society concerned with the preservation of human dignity” (item 2) and
“Any form of discrimination with regard to a country or a person on grounds of race, religion, politics, gender or otherwise is incompatible with belonging to the Olympic Movement” (item 6).
Therefore a respectful attitude towards any nation participating (to say nothing about hosting) the Olympics should be an integral component of what we call the Olympic spirit. It seems this rule is kept when the torch is about to hit the streets of London, Vancouver, Salt Lake City or Sydney, despite the wealth of opportunities to mourn the exterminated native Britons, Indians, and Aborigine tribes.
Even the 1936 Summer and Winter Games organized in Berlin by the Sports Office of Nazi’s Third Reich were considered to be quite in keeping with the Olympic Charter despite racist “Reich Citizenship Law” and the “Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honor”, adopted by the Reichstag in September 1935. For the global powers of the time (UK&US), over half a million German Jews being instantly stripped of their citizenship was not a sufficient pretext to suspend two (!) Olympic events in a country that would wage a world war in less than three years!
In contrast, the 1980 Moscow Summer Olympics were unilaterally boycotted by the Western countries, undermining the basic principles of Olympic Charter for the first time in modern history. Given the latest confessions by Zbigniew Brzezinski about CIA’ role in making Soviet military contingent enter Afghanistan and consequent launch of anti-Soviet Al-Qaeda project, the pharisaical US-inspired boycott in 1980 today looks even more disgusting in retrospect.
Another dimension of hypocrisy was evident quite recently, on the very day of the opening of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, when a provocative bloody move against South Ossetia was ordered by the former Georgian president Mikhail Saakashvili, who undoubtedly secured Washington’s blessing in advance. The offensive anti-Russian media hysteria that spoiled the Beijing Olympics that year was later revealed to be absolutely baseless and slanderous. Who was called to account for that? Who apologized to the Russian people and the befuddled international community?
On the contrary, the same people are now leading from behind a number of international “initiative groups” anxious about the “violation of gay rights” in Russia, regional security challenges, the fate of the allegedly “oppressed” local minorities and even “excessive Russian public spending on Sochi Olympics”. There seem to be no reasonable limits for malicious minds indeed.
All these claims have been thoroughly rejected (for details read here, here, here and here). The forthcoming Games promise an outstanding athletic exhibition in brand-new facilities built using the state-of-the-art technology. This will be the first chance for the most powerful winter athletes of the world to face each other on Russian soil, for thousands of guests to experience Russia’s legendary hospitality and beauty, and for a global audience of billions to discover a New Russia: a modernized, inspiring, ambitious, charming, and friendly civilization.
It is certainly a Sochi time to definitely close the regretful era of politicized Olympics in favor of respectful and honest athletic competition of the nations of the world.
Welcome to Sochi! Let’s bring back the genuine Olympic spirit to the Games!
Dozens of other infrastructural projects in Sochi like water percolation systems, hi-speed fiber-optical channels, new gas pipelines etc necessary for the development of the area, were not presented in the photo report.
Photos courtesy of Sdelanounas.ru
brilliant, just brilliant! God bless the Russian people. Nothing can be done to cure the sick hearts of the haters of Russia! Let the games begin! Let the world see this ancient tradition and all its modern and traditional glory! I Love Russia!
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Dear Oriental Review:
We enjoyed your article “Sochi: Bringing Olympic Spirit Back to the Games”. If you happen to talk with any NBC Olympics commentators, PLEASE give them the message below from us. Thank you.
Dear NBC owners and management:
Please tell Bob Costas and other NBC Olympics commentators to eliminate ALL of their extremely political and biased statements about Russia during the Olympics broadcasts.
This is the international Olympics, not some international political gathering.
Most of us know about the political (and economic) problems of the world, including those of the USA and Russia.
We do NOT want these political problems debated during the Olympics broadcasts.
NBC, Bob Costas, and other NBC Olympics commentators are doing a grave INJUSTICE to the image of the USA and Americans by engaging in such political and biased statements.
Bob Costas’ and other NBC Olympics commentators’ conduct is totally against the spirit of the Olympic games as reflected in the Olympic Charter. Article 50 “Advertising, Demonstrations, Propaganda” of the Olympic Charter at paragraph 3 states:
“No kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda is permitted in
any Olympic sites, venues or other areas.”
NBC’s political propaganda during the Olympics broadcasts, regardless of where geographically it is being conducted, is totally unacceptable and must not be tolerated.
Also, it would be helpful for the NBC commentators to know how to pronouce famous Russians’ names, for example, Maria Sharapova’s last name is NOT pronounced “Shar-a-pova” (emphasis on the letter “o”) but rather “Sha-ra-po-va” (emphasis on the letters “ra”) – a seemingly “small thing” but then again professionalism is made up of “small things”.
Respectfully submitted,
American living in Russia since 1991 Russian visiting America since 1991
P.S. from the Russian half of this Russian-American couple:
As a Russian who lived under communism, I must commend NBC for mastering propaganda which rivals anything which I experienced in the Soviet Union regarding portrayal of the United States, especially during sporting events.
Thanks to the 2014 Winter Olympics and Jewish groups’ pro-LGBT campaign, Sochi city has become a household name in the West. However, a great majority of world population and sadly Muslims are ignorant of the fact that $50 billion Olympic facility in Sochi is built over land stolen from Circassian Muslims by the Russian Czarist occupation forces.
The Russian forces occupied Circassia in the 19th century after decades of bloody wars. Today, 90% of surviving Circassian Muslims live outside Russia. About 700,000 Circassians live in Russia while the rest live in Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Kosovo, Libya and occupied Palestine.
Circassians lived in areas far from the other Caucasian peoples who adopted Islam before them, such as the Dagestanies and Kumyks tribes and others. Islam did not become widespread among Circassians until the end of the seventeenth century because they were separated from their Moslem brethren. Living in the south, by the high mountains, while the Christians lived either in the east, separated from Muslims by the Caspian Sea, or in the west, separated from Muslims by the Black Sea. Read more here.
The other Muslim regions annexed with Russia by force include Chechnya, Dagestan and Ingushetia. Chechen have been fighting against Russian colonialism for the last 400 years.
Sochi city has a Muslim population of 20,000, but like Athens (Greece), has no traditional mosque for Muslim to perform five daily prayers.
And in case during the Sochi Olympics, you hear about the Al-Qaeda Hoax attack, remember security at Sochi games is controlled by Israeli terrorists.
http://rehmat1.com/2014/02/08/sochi-olympics-and-the-forgotten-muslim-holocaust/
@Rehmat,
We were missing your mediocre cliches for a long time on ORIENTAL REVIEW:)
1. We would recommend you to abstain from applying the term “genocide” referring the Russian actions in Caucasus in XIX century. According to international law (although the conception was put into practice in the middle of XX century), genocide is a deliberate extermination of a nation or entire race (like Indians in America or Britons in British islands). In case of the Russian Caucasus war, it was the suppression of marauding mountain-based gangs who terrorised the low-land population (who were not Russian, by the way). The emigration of Circassian tribes from Caucasus to the Othoman Empire was:
a) voluntary;
b) performed according to the agreement with Othoman Sultan who encouraged muhacirism of Muslims from Caucasus and Balkans to Anatolia throughout the period.
The vast majority of those who wanted to depart, arrived to Anatolia unharmed.
SO “GENOCIDE” IS ABSOLUTELY IRRELEVANT TERM FOR THIS CASE. Turks should complete their dispute with Armenians on the same issue first.
2. Today a number of Circassian nations ((Adyghes, Abkhasians, Kabarda, Shapsugs and many others) enjoy authonomy and even their own statehood under Russian protection (Adyghe republic, Karachaevo-Circassia, Kabardino-Balkaria, Abkhazia). The protection of their faith, culture, customs and traditions are guaranteed by the Russian law. You can check the declarations recently taken by the parliaments of these republics supporting Olympic Games in Sochi. Although better come and visit Circassian House in the Sochi Olympic Park. The vast majority of the Circassian organizations endorse and enjoy Olympic Games here. The majority of Syrian Circassian refugees choose Russia as the country of destination as the escape from Islamist horror at home.
THE DESCENDANTS OF THOSE CIRCASSIANS WHO DECIDED TO STAY IN RUSSIA, DO NOT REGRET AT ALL.
3. In Sochi there IS a mosque (opened in 2010). The total number of residents who identified themselves as Muslims is 12000.
4. Many Caucasian tribes were Christian long before they were converted into Islam. The first Christian cathedrals were built in 6th century there. What happened later is a topic for a separate discussion.
5. We do not have any information suggesting that Russian security services use any foreign operational assistance at the Sochi Olympics.
WE WELCOME EVERYONE TO SOCHI AND WISH YOU ALL TO KEEP THE POSITIVE SIDE OF HISTORY!
@Editorial
Let me see if you have the BALL to make a similar statement about Jews killed by Nazis, Russians and Zionists.
I will be waiting!!!