The Beijing Olympics are simply too offensive to the sensibilities of free people around the world. The torch cannot withstand the massive protests surrounding its presence in Paris.

The mayor of Paris cancelled a ceremony due to mark the torch relay after activists hung a Tibetan flag from the city hall.

According to the BBC the ceremony was canceled after the torch had been extinguished three separate times by relay officials to avoid protesters. ESPN had broadcast a report saying the torch had actually been extinguished five separate times.

What has happened the last three days in Europe is a testament to the power people have when they exercise their right to speak freely and to assemble freely. These rights are absent in Tibet. The huge protests and the failures to keep the torch lit, despite thousands of police and a large detail of Chinese security forces running alongside the torch at all times is a mark of shame and disgrace on China and the Beijing Olympics – which is the exact opposite result China thought they would secure by hosting the Games.

I hope San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom is watching the events in London and Paris. Now is the perfect time for him to cancel the torch run through San Francisco. It is tainted with blood and it does not belong on American soil.

Update: 

The Olympic torch is inside that van in Paris. I can’t tell if it is lit or not. Note that the final line of protection for the flame inside the van is the team of blue uniformed Chinese security forces. Can you smell the spirit of peace and freedom emanating from the Olympic torch? Me neither.

Breaking:

Paris–Two Tibet independence activists were detained this morning along the torch route after Melanie Raoul (25) and Phil Kirk (23) abseiled off of Pont Au Change, unfurling a banner reading “Pas de Flame au Tibet.” More than 60 pro-Tibet marchers spontaneously gathered round the team on surrounding bridges and streets, chanting free Tibet slogans. The banner hang was intended to draw attention to the killing of over a hundred Tibetans by Chinese forces as part of their ongoing crackdown on freedom protests inside Tibet. Thousands of Tibetans and supporters from across Europe lined the relay route with colorful placards and flags today in Paris, amidst a global outcry against the Chinese government’s ongoing and brutal crackdown inside Tibet. Yesterday in London, Tibetan protests overshadowed China’s controversial relay run. The climbers were taken off the bridge by over 20 police in 3 police boats

“Pas de Flame au Tibet” means “No flame in Tibet.” This daring banner hang happened before the remainder of the Paris Olympic torch relay and ceremony were canceled, though I don’t doubt it contributed to that decision. Way to rock hard Mel & Phil.

Paris edition:

Later in the relay, police threw other protesters to the ground and carried some away. The torch was snuffed out and placed on a bus.

It was extinguished and put on a bus again less than an hour later as protesters booed and began chanting “Tibet!” although none appeared to rush the torch.

The relay resumed but protesters were planning more demonstrations along Monday’s route.

Let me get this straight. Olympic organizers were so afraid that protesters would disrupt and possibly extinguish the Olympic flame that they extinguished the torch and put it on a bus not once, but twice? I thought the whole point of the Olympic flame was that you were never allowed to put it out.

Beijing Olympic Committee spokesman:

”A few Tibetan separatists attempted to sabotage the torch relay in London, and we strongly denounce their disgusting behavior,” said Sun Weide, a spokesman for the Beijing Olympic organizing committee.

Quick question: which is more disgusting?

Tibetans protesting the Olympic torch in London.

Or:

Norbu, son of Phurwagoen, 15, student at Tibetan Middle School, from Shanglung Village – shot and killed by Chinese security forces on March 16th in Amdo.

Or any of these much more graphic pictures of these Tibetans murdered by Chinese paramilitaries for protesting for their independence on March 16th.

In my view, only one of the pictures above is representative of “disgusting behavior” and it most certainly is not the one that involves free people expressing their political views with peaceful protest.

The Olympic Torch relay route only makes one stop in North America: San Francisco. The torch will arrive on April 9th – this coming Wednesday. Though the torch is only stopping in one American city and though San Francisco is historically among the most liberal when it comes to politics and protest, Mayor Gavin Newsom has consistently been an obstacle to alternative views about what the Beijing Olympics mean and what feelings the presence of the torch on American soil may elicit. Newsom has discouraged protesting and the exact torch route was only released last week – making it near impossible for the coalition of groups organizing against the torch in SF to lock down plans and apply for necessary permits. San Francisco is a city that is used to protests and I’d guess that at a certain point, Newsom has to just get out of the way and let events move forward. There is a large Tibetan-American community in the Bay Area and many, many people support Tibetan independence and human rights in SF. I’d simply hope that unlike in London and India, the US does not welcome Chinese security guards to surround the torch on its brief stop on American soil.

London: The guys in blue are Chinese security agents.

A coalition of Tibetan support groups in the Bay Area have a central website for activities and protests connected to the San Francisco torch relay. It is SFTeamTibet.org. You can get a schedule of all planned protests taking place on April 8th and 9th here.

CREDO Action has also printed free protest signs for the torch relay. You can reserve a protest sign here.

You can also sign up to get text message updates about the events at the protests in San Francisco by texting “sftorch” (leave out the quotation marks) to 41411.

This is a strong statement from France’s Human Rights Minister on what is required for President Nicoals Sarkozy to attend the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony.

In an interview with Le Monde, Rama Yade set out a list of conditions needed for Sarkozy to attend the ceremony August 8, the paper said.

“Three conditions are essential for him to attend,” she was quoted as telling Le Monde.

She said the conditions were: “An end to violence against the population and the liberation of political prisoners; shed light on the events in Tibet; and the opening of a dialogue with the Dalai Lama.”