Yesterday was a bit chaotic. I had read that the Olympic torch was going to be carried through Paris, so like a firechaser, I decided to go watch the mess which I thought would be in store.
Getting on Ligne 6, I saw the helicopter and the beginning of the procession through the window while the train crossed the Seine. The police camions as well as the people running along the sides made me…excited? As I switched to the 9 at Trocadero, a man on the speakers kept repeating how the station was closed because of a “gross manifestation,” at the plaza above. So, naturally, I wanted to see more. Getting off at Alma, I proceeded south along the river until getting to the Trocadero, where two sides had massed. The Chinese nationalists waved huge flags, both of China and of France, while the other human rights side had large Tibetan banners as well as flags of the Olympic rings as handcuffs.
After waiting around, seeing a group climb the Eiffel Tower to release a protest banner, the snow (WHAT was it doing snowing) started to pelt, and the excitement ramped up. The groups kept moving to counter each other without the interference of large policemen in odd body armour. Eventually, a few protesters broke through the barricades and attempted to run down the underpass with flags to stop the procession. The camions started to move by, along with buses. People were throwing large items that they could find, as the chants intensified.
Then “the torch” passed, with lots of diversions. Protesters tried to break through, hitting the bus that the extinguished torch was in and making the police threaten them. I was a bit scared, but the excitement of slowing down the Chinese who at the moment wanted to show the world their advance into materialism seemed a bit fun. Besides a supposed goal of the sporting events, ads from major corporations followed the torch, as crowds booed and hissed at the people driving the cars.
What cemented more of the relationship between China and the sponsors was that the Chinese nationalists held flags of the sponsors, Samsung and Coca-Cola with their flags. This obvious paring did not help their arguement of “one world.”
The police had pushed a few protesters down, while others were screaming at them about the rights that the French had and that this was not Peking. I was pumped, so after the procession passed the Flame of Liberation, I went to Hotel de Ville to see the next part of the protests. Huge crowds had gathered in the main square, shouting and chanting as much as possible. With furor, the two sides kept arguing with eacch other. At one moment, some people were talking, the next, shoving, and the next, police were hauling someone away as the sides seethed and pushed.
The raw emotion of the crowd was almost tantalizing, the furor with the issues and with the elements made me feel a part of an issue that confronted the world. Just then, a window opened from the Hotel de Ville, and several Green Party government officials hung a Tibetan flag next to the Mayor’s human rights sign. The pro-Tibet crowd (mostly made up of caucasians) clapped and cheered, while the Chinese nationalist crowd (made up from what mostly chinese racial groups) booed and hissed. The protesters seethed more at each other, and a few cameramen and reporters were pushed to the ground.
Later that day, the National Assembly suspended their discussions to allow a broad coalition of Deputies (comparable to Representatives in the U.S. House) to go outside and hang a protest banner from the building. It was a bit moving, since a large amount of the French government stopped what they were doing to think about the situation. The Chinese authorities finally canceled the last leg of the tour, since the torch was extinguished four or possibly five times. Not only was it a catastrophic failure for the Chinese mission, but for their percieved image. The Chinese did not understand that bringing the torch to a politically fiery city such as Paris would have its ramifications, and the French tried to upstage not only the British protests, but the basic reasons that they were there.
In all, being a part of history such as this was inspiring, that I could make a difference with my prescence and my attitudes for change.
