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The pandemic has made it abundantly clear the Tokyo 2020 Olympics should be canceled (NOT postponed).
But we and our Japanese allies @hangorinnokai and @okotowa_link were calling for its cancellation long before Covid.
Here are some of the MANY reasons why:
#CancelTheOlympics
But we and our Japanese allies @hangorinnokai and @okotowa_link were calling for its cancellation long before Covid.
Here are some of the MANY reasons why:
#CancelTheOlympics
There was no democratic input. No public vote, no critical media, just a pure rubberstamping by elites (like LA).
The 2020 games were "awarded" to Tokyo in 2013, in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster and were positioned as the Recovery Games.
The 2020 games were "awarded" to Tokyo in 2013, in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster and were positioned as the Recovery Games.
Tokyo 2020 is a danger to public health.
These RECOVERY GAMES were supposed to serve as a symbol of return after 2011's nuclear disaster, but radiation remains so high that many evacuees can't return.
#CancelTheOlympics https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/is-fukushima-safe-for-the-olympic-games/
These RECOVERY GAMES were supposed to serve as a symbol of return after 2011's nuclear disaster, but radiation remains so high that many evacuees can't return.
#CancelTheOlympics https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/is-fukushima-safe-for-the-olympic-games/
On top of the public health catastrophe, the failed Fukushima Recovery also is the story of a massive displacement of people.
The Games were supposed to open today. We went to Tokyo and Fukushima last summer to see for ourselves.
Here's what we saw: https://nolympicsla.com/2020/05/27/gentrification-greenwashing-and-the-games-diary-of-the-first-anti-olympic-summit-in-tokyo/
The Games were supposed to open today. We went to Tokyo and Fukushima last summer to see for ourselves.
Here's what we saw: https://nolympicsla.com/2020/05/27/gentrification-greenwashing-and-the-games-diary-of-the-first-anti-olympic-summit-in-tokyo/
We saw fields of irradiated soil and a museum of displacement.
What we didn't see:
Recovery.
Recovery.
The Olympics have used the “recovery” narrative as a way to draw a larger audience to the Games for decades. https://nolympicsla.com/2020/07/22/the-recovery-games/
Whether it was after the 1972 Munich Games, which saw the kidnapping and murder of five Israeli athletes, or the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Games which were the first Olympics after 9/11, “recovery” has regularly been part of the Olympic PR machine.
The reason this recovery narrative is so destructive and pernicious is that it allows the IOC and local governments to operate with impunity behind the scenes. The recovery narrative exploits the pain of the moment to sell hollow promises about our future.
While the community is distracted by grief and united in their shared trauma, those in power push an agenda that harms the very people they claim to be helping to “recover”.
In the case of Tokyo 2020, the hollow Recovery narrative was always deeply entwined in its DNA. The bid boosters recognized this and exploited it.
They also bribed their way into "winning" the games. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-olympics-2020-lobbying-exclusive/exclusive-japan-businessman-paid-8-2-million-by-tokyo-olympics-bid-lobbied-figure-at-center-of-french-corruption-probe-idUSKBN21I0CX
They also bribed their way into "winning" the games. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-olympics-2020-lobbying-exclusive/exclusive-japan-businessman-paid-8-2-million-by-tokyo-olympics-bid-lobbied-figure-at-center-of-french-corruption-probe-idUSKBN21I0CX
The displacement doesn't stop at Fukushima, unfortunately.
The Tokyo 2020 Olympics have been displacing people all over the region for most of the last decade, serving as the pretext to banish unhoused communities and raze public housing. https://apnews.com/d452c1190049d94af74d393222f8c31f
The Tokyo 2020 Olympics have been displacing people all over the region for most of the last decade, serving as the pretext to banish unhoused communities and raze public housing. https://apnews.com/d452c1190049d94af74d393222f8c31f
There are many stories of Olympic-driven displacement for 2020 but perhaps none as particularly cruel as this one, where a woman is being kicked out of her home for the second time for the Olympics (the first time being for the '64 games). https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/tokyo-olympics-displacement/
~2 million people have been displaced for the past 4 summer Olympics.
Olympic displacement isn't an accident, it's the point of the Olympics.
#FuckTheOlympics
Olympic displacement isn't an accident, it's the point of the Olympics.
#FuckTheOlympics
When we were invited to the FCCJ in Tokyo a year ago, they asked us if there was a better version of the Olympics, if the Olympics are capable of reform.
Here's what we told them:
#NOlympicsAnywhere
Here's what we told them:
#NOlympicsAnywhere
One of the reasons we've been demanding cancellation and not reform since Day 1 is that so much harm happens during the *preparation* for the Olympics.
As soon as cities receive the "right to host," the social cleansing kicks into high gear.
#CancelTheOlympics
As soon as cities receive the "right to host," the social cleansing kicks into high gear.
#CancelTheOlympics
In Tokyo, the lead-up to the 2020 Summer Olympics has drastically ramped up the criminalization and displacement of unhoused communities.
Postponing the Olympics to 2021 is just an invitation to drag out these attacks.
#CancelTheOlympics https://knock-la.com/2020-is-a-sinister-year-for-homeless-people-why-the-olympics-are-to-blame-55db76056154
Postponing the Olympics to 2021 is just an invitation to drag out these attacks.
#CancelTheOlympics https://knock-la.com/2020-is-a-sinister-year-for-homeless-people-why-the-olympics-are-to-blame-55db76056154
Police in Tokyo have also been using the impending Olympic Games to normalize enhanced surveillance as a part of every day life.
One more year of "preparation" means more time for facial recognition, "riot control" drills, and more.
#NOlympicsAnywhere https://www.bbc.com/sport/olympics/45096590
One more year of "preparation" means more time for facial recognition, "riot control" drills, and more.
#NOlympicsAnywhere https://www.bbc.com/sport/olympics/45096590
The years leading up to the Olympics are also when developers change laws PERMANENTLY around environmental regulations.
The Tokyo venues are built out of wood from endangered rainforests.
The only way to avoid this bullshit is to #CancelTheOlympics https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-04-20/rainforest-wood-breaches-tokyo-green-olympic-vow-activists-say
The Tokyo venues are built out of wood from endangered rainforests.
The only way to avoid this bullshit is to #CancelTheOlympics https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-04-20/rainforest-wood-breaches-tokyo-green-olympic-vow-activists-say
The countdown to the Olympics are also a signal for real estate speculators to kickstart development, building shit we don't need (stadiums, hotels, luxury apartments, etc.) and pushing people out.
We saw it in Tokyo, and we're already seeing it here.
We saw it in Tokyo, and we're already seeing it here.
Inglewood has been experiencing some of the same gentrification forces that Tokyo and Fukushima residents have as these cities further reprioritize themselves for wealthy tourists during a time of crisis.
#HomesNotGames https://knock-la.com/inglewood-sofi-tenants-stadiums-olympics-displacement-2d54444fb90f
#HomesNotGames https://knock-la.com/inglewood-sofi-tenants-stadiums-olympics-displacement-2d54444fb90f
The good news is none of this is inevitable.
Gentrification isn't inevitable
Killer cops aren't inevitable
The Olympics certainly aren't inevitable
#FuckTheOlympics
Gentrification isn't inevitable
Killer cops aren't inevitable
The Olympics certainly aren't inevitable
#FuckTheOlympics
This Saturday we are hosting a teach-in featuring two residents of Fukushima and will explore how Tokyo 2020 has made life that much more difficult.
#NOlympicsAnywhere
#NOlympicsAnywhere
And on Sunday we have our general meeting. Want to organize with us? Get in touch.
Nothing is inevitable.
Nothing is inevitable.
If you'd like to read more about all the nightmares the Tokyo 2020 Olympics are engendering, check out the NOlympics Guide to the Tokyo 2020 Games.
#CancelTheOlympics https://nolympicsla.com/nolympics-guide-to-tokyo-2020/
#CancelTheOlympics https://nolympicsla.com/nolympics-guide-to-tokyo-2020/
And then head over the Tokyo section of our resources page: https://nolympicsla.com/resources/#tokyo
There's an excellent collection of Tokyo readings and research compiled by @_OlympicsWatch here:
#CancelTheOlympics
https://olympicswatch.org/tokyo-2020/
#CancelTheOlympics
https://olympicswatch.org/tokyo-2020/
