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Friday May 9, 2008

Forget Olympic boycotts — can we talk?

To boycott or not to boycott, to invoke the Nazis or not to invoke the Nazis — those are the questions.

As reported in this week’s paper, a body of 185 Jewish leaders recently released a statement urging Jewish tourists to boycott China’s forthcoming Olympic games in protest of the nation’s appalling human rights record and support of the genocidal Sudanese government. In doing so, however, they alluded to the 1936 Nazi Olympics.

This drew the ire of the Anti-Defamation League. Other Jewish groups objected to the idea of a boycott as well. And, like the indecisive rabbi of legend — “They can’t both be right.” “Well, you’re right, too!” — we agree and disagree with everyone.

First, the idea of a boycott is simplistic, and a boycott limited to Jewish tourists is foolish. China’s daily infusions of billions of dollars are propping up the U.S. economy, while cargo ships arrive hourly teeming with Chinese products. But if the Goldfarbs from Schenectady don’t show up for the Olym-pics? Yeah, that’ll show ‘em.

Yet while it would be a crass simplification to compare the Chinese communist regime to the Nazis, the parallels with the ’36 games are all too apparent — and valid. In China we have a totalitarian government with blood on its hands hoping to win its place at the international grownups table by putting on a masterful show.

As such, the Chinese government has been micromanaging its image — and obscuring its troublesome blemishes — so as to put its best face forward to the world.

Rather than take part in yet another meaningless, ritualized protest, Jewish groups and others concerned with human rights should take advantage of China’s demonstrated hypersensitivity regarding its image during these games.

No one is going to cow China into becoming a force for altruism. But if Jews were to join a larger and well-organized group (including, perhaps, elements of the U.S. and other governments) and stick to a limited — and attainable — goal, then we could exploit a level of bargaining power with the Chinese government that will never be available again.

The organizational work of uniting disparate human rights and governmental organizations into a strong and cohesive body would be daunting. But, unlike another pointless march through downtown or stridently written press releases, this time something may actually come of it.

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