The Olympics are an ancient tradition that was at one time celebrated in honor of the Greek god Zeus. They were celebrated for over a millennium, spanning from 776 B.C. until 393 A.D., and were revived again in 1894 in an attempt to unify the countries of the world. Few people since that time still believe in Zeus and his good old homeboys atop Mount Olympus, but the reasons for reestablishing the Olympic Games now represent a much more universal cause, and must be respected for it.

According to the database on Factmonster.com, French educator Baron Pierre de Coubertin proposed that the Olympic Games be revived for the unification of nations throughout the world. Regardless of this noble reasoning, countries and peoples have historically used the Olympics as a backdrop for protesting both human rights and hidden agendas.

Despite the fact that the Olympic Games are an opportunity to put differences aside and celebrate through healthy athletic competition, people in many places (including yesterday in a demonstration at the Student Union) feel that the world shouldn’t be hosting the Olympics unless it is absolutely perfect.

That’s never going to happen. It’s also never happened in the past.

In Berlin in 1936, there were massive protests of the Olympics by both sides of the Nazi Reich, with Jewish athletes and Aryan participants alike choosing to abstain from competition. Adolf Hitler himself even began a personal media whirlwind by snubbing black athlete Cornelius Johnson (and not Jesse Owens, as many mistakenly believe), according to the History News Network.

During the Cold War, massive amounts of protesting from the Soviet Union left the 1952 Olympics full of gaping absence. Soviet athletes stayed on their side of the border, only participating in the Helsinki-based Olympics that year.

In 1968, Mexican students were protesting the Olympics for human rights reasons and were fired upon by the Mexican army. Over 200 students were killed.

In 1972, eleven Israeli athletes were killed after the Palestinian Black September group entered their compound. Many of us are familiar with the rendition of these events in the Spielberg-directed movie “Munich.”

The Olympics have always been a back drop for protests and violent demonstration, and the examples are too numerous to read all the way through. The fact that people are still protesting the Olympics is not new or revolutionary, because there will always be injustice in the world. The point of the Olympic Games is not that we are celebrating the perfection of the Earth. Rather, countries of the world, regardless of what is happening politically, militarily, or economically can endeavor to put their differences aside to compete in a civilized, unified way.

In France this past week, protesters swarmed the torch carriers, forcing its extinguishing at least three times. The last leg of the torch’s journey was periled and difficult, but nobody involved either on the Olympic Committee nor the brigade of torch carriers stopped doing their jobs because of the actions of protesters.

Protests are nothing new, and the unwarranted incidents of violence in Tibet have culminated into a pressing situation which desperately needs a resolution. The Olympics, however, will not be cancelled. There will always be an outside agenda, and many more violent incidents and protests have failed to deprive a nation of its right to hold an Olympic gathering.

Attacking the Olympic Torch is symbolic, nothing more. In the exact same way, the Olympic Torch is also just that; a symbol. Messing around with the Olympic Torch is an act of violence in of itself which can’t directly affect the progression of the Olympic Games.

If everyone who felt that Tibet was wronged simply didn’t show up to the games and refused to go to China and support Chinese businesses, that would be the most effective and logical way to protest.

Instead, roustabouts decided that the best strategy on the fly was to bum-rush the symbol of the Olympic Games. China’s organizational committee probably doesn’t care about that one bit, and as long as people go to the games and give the Olympics all the attention it is planned to receive, not a damned thing will happen.

The forum to resolve international incident is through diplomacy and direct action, and not through the attacking of the symbol of a game. The Olympics and the unfortunate situation in Tibet have absolutely nothing to do with each other, and although we can only hope for a resolution through the noticeable actions of our demonstrations, attacking a hallowed tradition simply isn’t the way to do it.

Devon Courtney is a Collegian columnist. He can be reached at [email protected]