Showing posts with label olympics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label olympics. Show all posts
Friday, March 05, 2010
PDF
Monday, February 15, 2010
Balaclava! VMC Olympic Broadsheet Issue 5
The daily newspaper of the 2010 Anti-Olympic Convergence, a project of the Vancouver Media Co-op.
The Vancouver Media Coop is releasing a broadsheet every day of the Anti-Olympics Convergence.
Today's issue includes reports and photos about Saturday's actions in Vancouver, including a legal update and a round-up of absurd Police behaviour
Download a pdf of the Balaclava! Broadsheet here.
and check out past issues of Balaclava!:
(thx to Mostly Water for this)
Tuesday, December 08, 2009
Undercovers and "Security Experts" re: 2010
Two reports in regarding police infiltration, surveillance and smears in the lead-up to the 2010 olympics in b.c.
First, the No2010 blog tells us that Victoria Police Chief Jamie Grahamhas been bragging about undercover penetration of the anti-2010 activist scene, joking (?) at a security conference about how the bus driver bringing activists to an anti-2010 protest was in fact a cop.
Secondly, the Socialist Voice's John Riddell tells us that the "Ottawa Citizen Smears Progressive Activists", pointing to a recent article by Ian MacLeod amalgamating the Socialist Voice with all manner of grassroots protests and international players like Hezbollah and Hamas!
Nuthin deep, just a quick observation: folks get a bit too indignant about this shit.
Yeah, the state and private security and media concerns will do what they can to observe, disrupt and discredit our activities.
Yeah, they'll lie about us, and ridicule us.
Yeah, we have to combat this.
But we also have to expect it, and predict it. When it happens our response should be to calmly say, "See, this is what we mean."
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Gord Hill to the Pigs: "Like I give a fuck about going to Babylon..."
The following from out west, via Mostly Water:The JIG is up! Gord Hill Threatened with Rendition by Olympic Cops
By Gord Hill; October 20, 2009 - Vancouver Media Co-op
http://vancouver.mediacoop.ca/story/1985
[Note: See also Statement by Gord Hill Regarding Visits by Olympic Police Agents.]
Occupied Coast Salish Territory
Yo Weeksus,
I, Gord Hill, am proud to announce yet another encounter with the Olympic police as a result of my 'controversial' statement to CBC News and my views on sabotage. This evening (Tuesday, October 20, 2009), at around 9:30 PM, I was approached by plainclothes officers of the Incredibly Stupid Unit (Vancouver 2010 Integrated Security Unit). I can now confirm that they are, in fact, incredibly stupid.
I was walking westbound on Pender to Columbia Street in the Downtown Eastside, when I saw two males loitering around the corner. One look at their sad faces told me they were pigs. As I waited for the light at the crosswalk (jaywalking being illegal...) they approached me, with one flashing his badge and announcing he was an RCMP officer with 'JIG' (Joint Intelligence Group). He said he wanted a couple of minutes to talk to me and I said no. I crossed the street & began walking north on Columbia to Hastings, with the RCMP agent walking alongside me, the other cop, who said not a word, to our right rear (about 4 feet behind).
The RCMP agent walking with me, a white male in his 50s, maintained a rambling monologue about how my statements to CBC on Oct 13 (the power lines scenario) had hurt a lot of people, about how some of his friends were aboriginals, that he sympathized with my cause about helping the homeless, etc. He told me that from this day until the Olympics, every time I looked over my right shoulder he would be there.
What was most interesting were his comments regarding my attempted entry into the United Snakes of Amerikkka on Oct 17; the RCMP agent told me that because of my statement to CBC I would never again be allowed entry into the US, that their national security would arrest me and put me in a far, far away place, so far away it would be beyond my mind (or something along those lines).
I take this as implying the practice of rendition, where prisoners in US custody (including Canadian citizens) have been transferred to other countries and tortured (i.e., Mahar Arar). It seems odd for an RCMP agent to be delivering such a threat on behalf of another country's security apparatus (but that's how the pigs roll these days, I guess).
As we turned onto Hastings the cop continued his rambling. When we approached a group of Natives I announced that the men walking with me were Olympic cops who were harassing me because I defend the land and the people. The cops immediately stopped and two more plainclothes officers approached from behind (total: four cops). One of the Native women started yelling at the cops, telling them I had the right to an opinion. The cops withdrew & began walking eastbound on Hastings.
As usual, I played it cool, because I believe in the old saying “Love your enemy, for they are the instruments of your destiny.” And like I give a fuck about going to Babylon...
Resist the Olympic Police State!
No Olympics on Stolen Native Land!
Gilakasla!
Gord Hill, Kwakwak'wakw
Editor, No2010.com
FFF - FIGHT FOR FREEDOM!
Check out: www.No2010.com * www.warriorpublications.com
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Anti-2010:Information Against the Olympic Industry
Anti-2010:Information Against the Olympic Industry
is a 36 page, 8 x 11, magazine PDF published by No2010.com. Please download and distribute in your area.
As is explained:
No2010.com was established in the spring of 2007 to provide information for anti-Olympic resistance, to educate and inspire others, and to post regular updates for the movement. It is maintained by Indigenous rebels in occupied Coast Salish Territory. Thanks to a comrade in Montreal, 100,000 stickers were printed with the slogan 'No Olympics on Stolen Native Land' & the website address. These stickers have been distributed across Canada. In addition, a 'Militant Merchandise' section has been added to the site, which has t-shirts, patches and stickers for sale. You can support No2010.com by purchasing these products (via Paypal).
On the website there are also PDFs that can be downloaded and copied that you can distribute in your area, including SportsAction (direct actions against 2010 chronology) and this publication.
We are currently working on a special print edition/PDF focusing on the 2010 Torch Relay.
No2010.com is a member of the Olympic Resistance Network, the main coordinating group for anti-2010 opposition in Vancouver. Over the last two years, the anti-Olympic movement in Vancouver and across the country has carried out a succesful campaign of protest & direct action.
If you'd like to get involved, contact the ORN at email: OlympicResistance@riseup.net.
If printing out the document for photocopying, it is recommended to set the printer DPI (dots per inch, usually in properties) to 600 or 300 DPI.
You may also want to check out these fine websites: www.No2010.com www.warriorpublications.com
Friday, December 19, 2008
Targetting of Anti-Olympics Movement: What To Do When Police & Spies Come Knocking
Since 2007, police & intelligence agencies have targetted anti-2010 Olympics opposition as a 'security threat' to the Games. This has included media articles based on reports from CSIS and police specifically mentioning Indigenous and other social movements in Vancouver. Police have publicly stated their need to increase surveillance of anti-2010 resistance.
Beginning in 2008, CSIS and police also began attempts to recruit informants and gather information through interviews with people organizing anti-2010 resistance, or with people indirectly associated with our movement.
==> Agencies Involved
The following are the main agencies involved in surveillance & attempts to conduct interviews/recruit informants:
1) CSIS- the Canadian Security & Intelligence Service is Canada's main spy agency and is under the authority of the Ministry of Public Safety. It was formed in 1984 to seperate intelligence gathering from law enforcement after it was revealed that the RCMP had carried out violent and illegal campaigns against social movements in the 1970s. Unlike the police, CSIS agents have no powers to arrest; they gather & analyze intelligence and share this with government and police agencies. Like police, however, CSIS may conduct surveillance, recruit informants and infiltrate agents into groups.
2) RCMP VISU- the Royal Canadian Mounted Police are a national police force and are the main agency responsible for security during the 2010 Olympics. To carry this out, they have organized the Vancouver 2010 Integrated Security Unit (VISU), which coordinates the security activities of CSIS, the Canadian Forces, police, border control, coast guard, and other emergency services. The RCMP also has its own intelligence department (National Security Criminal Investigations) and is the lead agency for the Integrated National Security Enforcement Teams (INSET), which includes police, intelligence, and border control. INSET has offices in Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, and Ottawa.
3) VPD- the Vancouver Police Department works in coordination with the RCMP VISU. The main officers involved in interview attempts have been those with the Aboriginal Liason unit of the VPD. Like other police departments, the VPD also has its own intelligence unit (the Criminal Intelligence Section, which is part of the RCMP's INSET).
==> Method
The agent or officer(s) may approach a person through either telephone or in person (i.e., appearing at a workplace or residence). They identify themselves and ask for an opportunity to meet with the person in order to learn their opinions or concerns about the 2010 Olympics.
==> Who Could Be Contacted:
Security agencies cast a wide net when collecting intelligence. Often times it is because someone is active in the particular movement being targetted, but not always. It includes situations where it is believed that divisions may be exploited (between individuals/groups), to discourage people from becoming more active (intimidation), or when a person has a close relationship with the target of surveillance (including family). Sometimes, agents have no idea how a person might respond to an interview request and take a chance they'll co-operate. They often request that people keep quiet about their intelligence gathering efforts.
For these reasons, it's a good idea to contact others and let them know if you've been approached by either police or intelligence agents.
==> What to Do:
If you are contacted by either CSIS or police for an interview, the best response is to just say “No.”
You are under no legal obligation to talk with either CSIS or the police (this also applies if you happen to be arrested and they want to talk to you then). Nor can CSIS or police enter your residence (unless they have a warrant) or detain you (unless you are under arrest).
It is a good idea to document any contact or harassment by CSIS or police and to let others know as soon as possible.
Write down
- details of the incident and any comments made by the agent/officer(s).
- get the agents/officers names and contact information (you can ask for a business card).
- If possible, get a photo of the agent/officer(s) with a camera or cell phone (or write a description of what they looked like).
- Send this info to the Olympic Resistance Network so that others can be made aware.
==> What NOT to Do:
Some people think it might be fun or “interesting” to meet with CSIS or police, to play 'Spy Vs. Spy'. This is a bad idea. Intelligence agents are trained in interrogation techniques. They may have years of experience and interrogated hundreds of people. In addition, they may have large amounts of intelligence at their disposal, based on extensive surveillance of our movements and communities. You don't know what they know or don't know. A seemingly minor detail, or even a certain response to a question, could reveal more than you think.
Not only are these agencies seeking info to certain 'criminal acts', they are also gathering psychological profiles of people. When it comes to dealing with state intelligence and police agencies, where information provided could target individuals or groups for repression, this is a dangerous game to play.
That's why the best response is to say No and alert others!
Contact individuals you know that are involved in the anti-olympics movement or contact Olympics Resistance Network (olympicresistance@riseup.net). We are happy to meet in person and your privacy and wishes will be respected.
For more information on anti-Olympics resistance, email olympicresistance@riseup.net or visit http://www.no2010.com/
Sunday, November 02, 2008
SportsAction: Chronology and Communiques of Anti-2010 Resistance and Direct Action
This is a PDF of a 20 page (8x11) booklet: SportsAction: Chronology and Communiques of Anti-2010 Resistance and Direct Action. Just click right here to download it.
i received this and was told to print out & distribute it, forward to contacts, or download to your website. So here it is!
(For more information, check out www.No2010.com and www.warriorpublications.com)
Monday, January 14, 2008
No Olympics on Stolen Land! Great Lakes & East Coast Speaking Tour
No Olympics on Stolen Land! Great Lakes & East Coast Speaking Tour
With Kanahus Pellkey from the Native Youth Movement and Dustin Johnson
With the 2010 Winter Olympics scheduled to occur on unceded Coast Salish, St’at’imc and Squamish territory in two years, the spectacle surrounding them continues to wreak havoc on Indigenous people, poor people, and the Earth. In the spirit of resistance to colonialism, with the 2010 Olympics as a main target, Kanahus Pellkey of the Native Youth Movement and Native youth Dustin Johnson are touring throughout the Great Lakes and East Coast in January and February 2008.
“By them choosing to have the Olympics here, it’s opening up our land, our sacred sites, our medicine grounds,” says Kanahus Pellkey. “We want investors to know our land is not for sale.” Pre-Olympic fever occupies the province of BC, and the economic excitement has massively accelerated gentrification and the building of highways, resorts, and condos. The construction of infrastructure for the 2010 Olympics itself is adding to extensive destruction of traditional homelands of the local Indigenous peoples.
In October 2007, more than 1500 Indigenous people representing communities across this hemisphere held the Gathering of the Indigenous Peoples of America, on Yaqui territory in Vicam, Sonora, Mexico. They stated in their final declaration, “We reject the 2010 Winter Olympics on sacred and stolen territory of Turtle Island–Vancouver, Canada.” This speaking tour is strengthened by this momentum, and by the knowledge that hundreds, if not thousands of Indigenous people now plan to attend the Olympic Games, not in celebration, but in resistance to the danger the Olympics poses to Indigenous lands, identity, culture, health, livelihoods, and to future generations.
The Native Youth Movement is a Movement of Native youth that works to revive traditional knowledge and inspire Native youth to defend their Peoples and Territories.
Kanahus Pellkey is a Secwepemc and Ktnuxa Warrior and a spokesperson for the Secwepemc chapter of the NYM. She has been jailed before for fighting against the illegal occupation and theft of Secwepemc Lands for the Sun Peaks ski-resort, and is active in opposing the 2010 Olympics.
Dustin Johnson is a member of the Ts’mkiyen nation and is active in organizing anti-colonial resistance to the 2010 Olympics.
The Indigenous Peoples Solidarity Movement-Guelph did much of the core organizing of the tour. IPSM-Guelph works in solidarity with Indigenous struggles for self-determination and control of their traditional territories.
To get involved, help out, or ask questions, contact healingtheearth@resist.ca.
Tour Dates (a few are still in the works):
Windsor * Saturday January 19
Guelph * Sunday January 20
Six Nations * Monday January 21
Toronto * Tuesday January 22
Hamilton * Wednesday January 23
Six Nations * Thursday January 24
Peterborough * Friday January 25
Tyendinaga * Saturday January 26
Sharbot Lake * Sunday January 27
Kingston * Monday January 28
Kahnasatake * Tuesday January 29
Kahnawake * Wednesday January 30
Montreal * Thursday January 31
Ottawa * Friday February 1
Akwesasne * Tuesday February 2
Penobscot * Sunday February 3
Portland * Monday February 4
Boston * Tuesday February 5
Binghamton * Wednesday February 6
Ithaca * Thursday February 7
More information:
The Olympic organizers operate with a budget of almost $2 billion, and other costs to government surpass $6 billion. Despite all the Olympic-related mega development, Vancouver is now home to North America’s fastest growing homelessness crisis. Indigenous people account for 30% of this homeless population, despite making up only 2% of the total population in the province.
Dozens of low-income hotels and apartment buildings are being converted to unaffordable condominiums. As thousands of people are forced from their homes, they are then criminalized for being homeless. Private security firms are hired by the city to further police the streets, long-running squats are shut down, and social services are more stressed and threatened than ever. The solution of the municipal and provincial governments and the police is to ignore the root cause, and instead pay people to leave Vancouver and repress those who stay.
The darker side of the 2010 Olympics is further apparent by examining how their sponsors and supporters are some of the most destructive companies on Turtle Island. These include:
• Petro-Canada, one of Canada’s largest producers of oil and gas,
• TransCanada, one of the continent’s largest transporters of oil and gas,
• Canadian Pacific Railway, long an integral tool of colonization,
• Hudson’s Bay Company, another company responsible for the colonization and theft of Indigenous land,
• General Electric, one of the world’s top three producers of military aircraft engines and major producer of nuclear power plants,
• General Motors, long a top contractor for the Canadian military and now the world’s largest automobile manufacturer,
• Dow Chemical, the world’s second largest chemical manufacturer and cause of the Bhopal, India disaster,
• Bell Canada, who’s CEO is one of the top corporate architects of the Security and Prosperity Partnership.
There is of course so much more that could be said. For further reading, see:
www.no2010.com
www.2010watch.com
www.harrietspirit.blogspot.com
Saturday, March 31, 2007
APC and Downtown Eastside Resident's Association Office Raided by Police
The following from Vancouver:
The police raided the former office of the Anti-Poverty Committee Thursday night, under the pretext of looking for the Olympic flag that was stolen by the Native Warrior Society nearly a month ago.
The office, located in a DERA building, has not been used by the APC for more than a year. The police arrived at 11:15pm with a search warrant, and left empty-handed about an hour later.
The APC believes that this search was a political maneuver - an attempt by the Vancouver Police Department to drive a wedge between APC and DERA. This strategy has been used in previous efforts by the VPD and the City to neutralize our support and isolate our organization. DERA has made it clear publicly that they have no intention of falling for the cops' bluff and selling us out.
Further, we believe that this search was an act of desperation. The police and colonial powers will do everything in their power to render invisible the Native Warrior Society and minimize all forms of indigenous struggle. The fact is that the Native Warrior Society was able to strike a significant blow by stealing the enemy''s flag. This was not a symbolic gesture but a revolutionary act and one that has got the colonial cops running scared.
We refuse to be intimidated by the cops. We will continue to stand and fight while the cops and the powers they protect scramble like fools. We laugh in their faces and say bring it on! We ally ourselves with the warriors and we say Fuck the Racist Police! Fuck 2010! No Olympics On Stolen Land!
--
The Anti-Poverty Committee is an organization of poor and working people, who fight for poor people, their rights and an end to poverty by any means necessary. For more information on the Anti-Poverty Committee's on-going campaigns, visit http://apc.resist.ca/home. Contact us by e-mailing apc@resist.ca or phoning 604-682-3276.
If you are able to donate financially to our legal defense or other campaigns, deposits can be made directly into our account at any branch of Vancity (account is listed under 'Anti-Poverty Committee). Cheques or money orders made out to the APC can be mailed to P.O. Box 1, 12 East Hastings Street, Vancouver, BC V6A 1N1.UNITED WE WILL WIN!
Friday, March 09, 2007
Native Warrior Society Confiscates Olympic Flag: Things Are Heating Up
The following communiqué has been issued by the Native Warrior Society:
March 7th, 2007
Coast Salish Territory [Vancouver, Canada]
In the early morning hours of Tuesday, March 6th, 2007, we removed the Olympic Flag from its flag-pole at Vancouver City Hall. We pried open the access panel on the pole with a crowbar, using a bolt-cutter, cut the metal cable/halyard inside, cause the flag to fall to the ground.
We claim this action in honor of Harriet Nahanee, our elder-warrior, who was given a death sentence by the BC courters for her courageous stand in defending Mother Earth.
We stand in solidarity with those fighting against th destruction caused by the 2010 Winter Olympic Games.
No Olympics on Stolen Land!
Native Warrior Society
Thanks to the excellent Liberated Yet? blog for posting the above.
Harriet Nahanee, for those who don't know, was a Pacheedaht grandmother, Elder, and an Indigenous Warrior who had married into the Skwxwu7mesh (Squamish) Nation - one of the only Indigenous protesters protecting the Eagle Ridge Bluff site on Coast Salish Territory where people stayed to protect the site that was slated to be destroyed to expand the Sea to Sky Highway for the 2010 Olympics. For asserting her Indigenous rights as an Indian under the Canadian Constitution and for refusing to apologize for her blockade action, on January 24th, 2007, despite her frail health, Harriet was sentenced to fourteen days in the Surrey Pretrial Centre, a men's prison and a notorious hell-hole for women: she developed pneumonia while inside and was dead within a couple of weeks of her release.
The 2010 olympics are shaping up to be a flash-point for working class and anti-colonial struggle on the West Coast. Already the Native Youth Movement, Vancouver's Anti-Poverty Committee and others have begun mobilizing, as wherever an event like the Olympics lands, it has the effect of boosting the dynamics of exclusion and oppression (also known as "economic development").
On the other side of the ethical divide, settler-racist groups such as the Guardian Angels have vowed to "stand by the police" against the anti-olympics opposition.
Interesting days ahead....
For those of you who actually live in the Vancouver area, you may want to check out this event next Monday:
Shutdown Countdown 2010!
Monday, March 12, 2007
5:15 PM at Vancouver City Hall
(West 12th Avenue & Cambie Street)
This is an official VANOC 'flag lighting' event which we intend to disrupt or shutdown.
Bring noise-makers.
Honour the spirit of Harriet Nahanee!
No Olympics on Stolen Native Land!!!
Sunday, March 04, 2007
[Press Release] Why Did British Columbia Sentence Aboriginal Elder to Death?
"What we need is [an] Aboriginal Malcolm X to put some pride back into these lost souls."This just is:
Fellow Aboriginal activists and concerned non-indigenous citizens demand answers regarding the death of Harriet Nahanee as a direct result of her incarceration
On February 24, 2007 Aboriginal Elder Harriet Nahanee passed away, exactly one month after she was sent to jail on January 24, 2007. Madame Justice Brenda Brown sentenced Mrs. Nahanee, age 72, to fourteen days incarceration for contempt of court in disobeying the Eagle Ridge Bluff injunction. While in jail under unacceptable conditions at Surrey re-Trial Center, where she was held in a cell with tens of other inmates and subject to racist treatment, Harriet Nahanee contracted pneumonia. She was hospitalized within a week of her release from custody and passed away within a week of that. Aboriginal activists and non-indigenous concerned citizens demand a public inquiry into Harriet
Nahanee's death as a direct result of her incarceration. These are the questions we want answered:
- Why was Aboriginal elder Harriet Nahanee sent to jail despite clear direction from the Supreme Court of anada that imprisonment should be the last remedy for Aboriginal persons?
- Why did Madame Justice Brown fail to take Mrs. Nahanee's frail health into consideration?
- Why did Madame Justice Brown refuse to hear Mrs. Nahanee's Aboriginal sovereignty defense?
- Why was Mrs. Nahanee incarcerated at Surrey Pre-Trial Center, under such inappropriate conditions?
A public inquiry will have to determine why Madame Justice Brown refused to hear Mrs. Nahanee's Aboriginal sovereignty defense and incarcerated her, whereas all non-Aboriginal defenders of Eagle Ridge Bluff charged with the same offense were given either fines or community service. Such an inquiry will also have to address Madame Justice Brown refusal to exercise her discretionary powers in considering other sentencing options or ordering medical check up before incarcerating a great-grandmother. Madame Justice Brown was made aware of elder Harriet Nahanee's health condition, including her asthma and recent influenza before sentencing. Madame Justice Brown is also set to sentence, fellow activist and elder, Betty Krawczyk, 78, on Monday, March 5, 2006 for her involvement in the Eagle Ridge Bluff Protests. Crown Counsel is asking for 9-15 months of incarceration for Mrs. Krawczyk for her opposition to the expansion of the Sea to Sky Highway, paving the way to the 2010 Olympic! s.
The Crown and the courts also have to answer the underlying question: why are 2 respected elders and women over seventy years of age being prosecuted for protecting the environment and sent to jail for defending the land? There can be no justification for the incarceration and resulting death of esteemed Aboriginal elder Harriet Nahanee, a strong voice for her people at a time when many are afraid to speak out in the light of criminalize of dissent. Harriet Nahanee was a part of many struggles, firstly for the recognition of Aboriginal land rights and protecting the environment and also fighting against discrimination, marginalization and institutionalization of Aboriginal people in the cities, especially Aboriginal women in Vancouver's Eastside. She was a vital member of so many movements and activist communities, a role model for many and will be deeply missed. The loss is aggravated by the fact, that she passed away as a direct result of her incarceration, starting January 24, 2007, in Surrey Pre-Trial where she contracted pneumonia. A service was held at the Squamish Recreation Center on February 28 with hundreds of people in attendance mourning the passing of their mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, fellow activists, friend and role model.
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Kat Norris (604) 682-3269, Extension: 7718
Please also check out this new blog dedicated to to Actions and work surrounding the Legacy of Harriet Nahanee: Spirit of Warrior Harriet Nahanee.
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Native Youth Movement Warrior Targeted & Arrested at Anti-Olympic Protest in Vancouver
Three Native Warriors were targeted and arrested yesterday during a protest against the 2010 Winter Olympic Games planned to take place in Vancouver/Whistler, KKKanada.
NATIVE YOUTH MOVEMENT
INTERNATIONAL STATEMENT
NATIVE YOUTH MOVEMENT WARRIOR TARGETED & ARRESTED AT
ANTI-OLYMPIC PROTEST IN VANCOUVER, BC, KKKANADA
“THE INDIAN WARS ARE NOT OVER”
(February 13, 2007, unsurrendered Squamish Territory (Vancouver, BC) Three Native Warriors were targeted and arrested yesterday during a protest against the 2010 Winter Olympic Games planned to take place in Vancouver/Whistler, KKKanada. NYM Warrior, Tselletkwe, of the Secwepemc Nation, Gord Hill of the Kwakwaka’wakw Nation and Lynn Highway of the Anishnabe Nation and the Indigenous Resistance Organizing Committee (IROC), were hauled away by the Vancouver Police, who are notorious for police terrorism they inflict on Indigenous Peoples.
The Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee and the Vancouver Board of Trade (businessmen) were celebrating the unveiling of a “3 year countdown clock” in the downtown business district in Vancouver, marking exactly 3 years until the Olympic Games invade Indigenous Territories here in Vancouver, BC. Just as their festivities were to begin, one Native Warrior stormed the stage and took over the microphone, yelling, “F*#! the Olympics,” until he was captured by Vancouver police and rushed off stage.
Native People from across BC participated in this rally along with non-natives who are protesting the gentrification of their neighborhood and the eviction of hundreds from low-income housing in the downtown eastside. A total of seven protesters were arrested during this Anti-Olympic protest.
NYM Warrior Tselletkwe made a statement upon her release, stating “Our land is not for Sale, we are still at war with KKKanada, we have never surrendered our land. We want the whole World to know not to come to our country and to boycott KKKanada and the 2010 Olympic Games. Tourism is not welcome here.”
This is not the first time Natives have been arrested protesting the 2010 Winter Olympics, Pacheedaht, Nuuchahnulth Elder Harriet Nahanee was arrested and sentenced to 14 days in jail for protesting the expansion and development of the Sea-to-Sky Highway, leading from Vancouver to Whistler, in preparation to the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. The destruction of Indigenous Territories and Sacred Sites must be stopped.
NYM spokesperson, stated in response to the arrests that, “Human and Indigenous Rights violations here in KKKanada must stop, the governments and corporations continue to drive our People from our homeland and destroy our food and medicine harvesting areas and basic necessities to survive our traditional, ancestral way of life. The Olympics is a global event and it will take the global community to awaken their conscience to boycott this 17-day event.”
For more information or to join the Anti-Olympic Coalition contact:
Native Youth Movement
nymcommunications@hotmail.com
(604)682-3269 ext. 7845 or
Warrior Publications
Warrior-Publications@hotmail.com
NYM Communications
NATIVE YOUTH MOVEMENT
FIGHT FOR LIFE
WARRIORS UNITE FROM ALASKA TO ARGENTINA
***************
UPDATE: As of last night, February 13, all three warriors have been released from jail.
Tselletkwe and two anti-poverty protesters were released without charge on the night of February 12 and were greeted and fed by comrades waiting outside the jail for them.
On February 13, comrades attended the pre-release court hearing of Gord Hill, Lynn Highway, and two anti-poverty protesters, and waited for them outside the jail, until their release.
Gord Hill faces charges of mischief and causing a public disturbance. Lynn Highway faces a charge of mischief. The two anti-poverty protesters who appeared in court also face charges. One man is charged with mischief and causing a public disturbance and a woman is charged with assaulting a police officer.
- Update by an anarchist in Vancouver
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
