Quote Originally Posted by Evil_Maniac From Mars
The Chinese are rounding up Tibetans into death camps? First I've heard of it.
Read my post again. I said nothing of the kind.

I said that protests against dictatorships are not only a matter for the immediate victims, they are a matter for all of us. In that sense the comparison stands. In 1936 most Europeans and Americans reckoned that as long as Hitler only killed Communists and Jews, we could live with him.

It pays to look into the debate that raged back then. In the U.S. the American Jewish Congress and the Jewish Labor Committee rallied, petitioned and picketed in favour of a boycot of the Berlin Games. Their main opponent was Avery Brundage, president of the American Olympic Committee. Brundage won the debate. He maintained that (1) politics and sports were radically different arenas, (2) that Germany would not abuse the Berlin Games for propaganda purposes ('They even allow black and Jewish athletes to compete!'), and (3) the protests were organized by a 'Jewish-Communist conspiracy'.

Needless to say (or so I hope) he was wrong on all three counts. Alas, these days we see the same lame horses being trotted out in favour of participation in the Beijing Olympics.