Opinion HATE JEWS HATE ISRAEL? OTHER VIEWS COSMOPOLITAN FI:XaErSIONrs' DAVID HIRSH" UNIVERSITY OF LONDON MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 24 AT 12 NOON Speak Out, Jewish Olympians UNIVERSITY OF.MICHIGAN FRANKEL CENTER FOR JUDAIC STUDIES 202 S. THAYER Sr, ANN ARBOR, MI 48104 (734) 763-9047 * judaicstudies umichiedu Peter Ganong and Daniel Hemel Socola gt David Hirsh presents a critical commentary on Otis to boycott Israeli academics in the United Kingdom. Hirsh is editor of Engage Online, an electronic forum opposed to anti-Seriitism and dernonization of Israel. An evening presentation is scheduled on Michigan State University's' campus (for details call 517-432-3493) Special Commentary Jerusalem/JTA I http://www.lsa.umickedtiljudaic Be Scooter Friendly. Be easy on your wallet. Syms scooters now at Great American Chopper. 50cc to 250cc engines, 2 year parts and service warranty. $49.00 per month financing* What could be easier? *Ask for deals Great American Chopper 1500 N. Crooks, Clawson, Mi 248.435.3300 discover } 1295860 66,, Famous for our... Dover Sole, Lake Perch, Pancho Burger, Medallions of Beef. • • * the Any purchase of $50.00 or more. Excludes tip, liquor & tax. With this ad exp. 10/15/07 * Caucus Club * 41 * 150 West Congress Detroit • 313-965-4970 • Main Floor Penobscot Bldg. y 50 September 13 • 2007 iN n the summer of 1936, a year after the enactment of the Nuremberg Laws, the world turned a blind eye to Nazi Germany's genocidal intentions as Hitler hosted the Olympics in Berlin. With next summer's games set to take place in Beijing, Jewish and Israeli athletes have a responsibility to help ensure that the world does not make the same mistake. This time, the Jews are not the victims. Rather, China's vic- tims are the 1.2-million Tibetans who have died as a result of Beijing's invasion of the previously independent Buddhist nation. They are the untold thousands of dis- sidents and prisoners of conscience who will be kept out of view in modern-day gulags while the world's attention is focused on the action inside Beijing's ultra-modern sporting arenas. They are the 400,000 Darfuris who, according to United Nations esti- mates, have been killed as a result of the genocidal campaign waged by the Beijing-backed Sudanese regime. China's state oil company owns the largest stake in the consortium that is developing Sudan's petroleum indus- try, and China buys about four-fifths of all Sudanese oil exports. An esti- mated 70 percent of the oil profits in Sudan are spent on a military that lays waste to Darfuri villages. To stand by idly while the blood of others is shed would be un-Jewish. One Jewish luminary who isn't stay- ing silent is Steven Spielberg, who has threatened to resign as artistic adviser to the games unless China changes course in Darfur. His demand, he explained in a letter to Chinese leader Hu Jintao, stems from his "personal commitment to do all I can to oppose genocide' Unfortunately, other Jewish leaders don't seem to share that commitment. The president of the Israeli Olympic Committee, Zvi Varshaviak, said that in light of its experience, Israel "will continue to act towards keeping poli- tics outside of sport in general and the Olympic Games specifically" Would Varshaviak also have remained silent in light of the Jewish experience at Berlin? We are not proposing a boycott. Olympic boycotts have been tried before -- Israel, the United States and five dozen other countries stayed away from the 1980 Moscow Games to protest the Soviet Union's inva- sion of Afghanistan. But this time, a boycott might shift attention away from Beijing when the goal instead should be to cast a spotlight squarely on China -- on its human rights abuses and its support for genocide. Indeed, human rights activ- ists across the globe have teamed up to brand Beijing 2008 "the Genocide Olympics." The Genocide Olympics campaign is a "nightmare" for the Chinese hosts and their corporate sponsors, according to Business Week magazine. But that nightmare pales in comparison to the daily nightmare of Darfuris, Tibetans and the democracy activists in Chinese prisons. Regardless of whether they are dressed in the blue-and-white uniform of Israel, the blue and red of the U.S, or the blue and yellow of Australia, athletes can wear the green wrist- bands that have become the symbol of the Save Darfur movement worldwide. When television cameras zoom in on Jewish athletes, the green bands will be a reminder of the ruthlessness of the Beijing regime. And the bands will be a powerful sign that on the most important human rights issues facing the world today, Jews will not remain on the sidelines. Seventy-two years after Berlin, Jewish athletes from Israel and around the world will have the opportunity to speak out for justice in the same cir- cumstances under which other nations were all too willing to stay silent. If Jewish athletes take the lead, next year's Olympic flame will shed light on the bloodshed that Beijing has carried on in darkness. I I Peter Ganong is an intern at the Shalem Center in Jerusalem and an economics student at Harvard. Daniel Hemel is a international relations student at Oxford.