2012
“As
President of the General Assembly at its sixty-sixth session, I
solemnly appeal to all Member States to demonstrate their commitment to
the Olympic Truce for the 2012 London Olympic and Paralympic Games, and
to undertake concrete actions at the local, national, regional and world
levels to promote and strengthen a culture of peace and harmony based
on the spirit of the Truce. Referring to the original tradition of the
Olympic Truce practiced in ancient times, as described in resolution
66/5, I also call upon all warring parties of current armed conflicts
around the world to boldly agree to true mutual ceasefires for the
duration of the Olympic Truce, thus providing an opportunity to settle
disputes peacefully.” Read the
Solemn appeal made by the President of the General Assembly on 28 June 2012 in connection with the observance of the Olympic Truce.
The
OLOS Foundation organizes “Bike4truce” cycle tour from Malmedy
(Belgium) to London .The caravan chassis bike4truce started on August 10
, 2013 travelling through the "Route des droits de l'homme", Belgium
and arrived in London on August 16.
Once in London, Bike4truce
riders and greeters have been welcome by Anti War Protesters at the
Houses of Parliament , have been displaced by the Police and have anyway
unrolled a huge banner that says:
Why is the Olympic Truce not respected?
Why have armed conflicts not been stopped?
During the bike4truce trip, the troupe directed by Peter Ranalli have
been shooting videos that will feed a web documentary scheduled to be
launched on June 2013.
2011
The General Assembly adopted
resolution 66/5 on 17 October.
In that resolution, the Assembly urged Member States to observe, within
the framework of the Charter of the United Nations, the Olympic Truce,
individually and collectively, throughout the period beginning with the
start of the Games of the XXX Olympiad, on 27 July, and ending with the
close of the XIV Paralympic Games, on 9 September, the vision of which
is to inspire lasting change.
The OLOS Foundation actively asks
the international community to support discussion inciting future
Olympic Truce resolutions being passed through the United Nations
Security Council, as opposed to the General Assembly as Olympic Truce
resolutions are adopted through at the present. What is unique about a
binding Olympic Truce resolution is that it might just work.
2010
Each
Games has its own interpretation of the Olympic Truce. For Vancouver
2010, athletes set aside their political, religious and social
differences and competed on a level playing field in the pursuit of
excellence. And to make this message more relevant to everyday
individuals, beyond the athletes and participants, the Vancouver
Organizing Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC)
created the
Make Your Peace program. The Make Your
Peace Program has extended the Olympic values of friendship and respect
through an open invitation to make your peace. In essence, individuals
are encouraged to create everyday peace at home, school, work and in the
community, based on the belief that lasting peace starts at the local
level. A uniquely Canadian interpretation of a truce “wall” in the
athletes’ villages was provided by VANOC. At past Games, the wall has
largely been a place for athletes and officials to sign declarations
endorsing the United Nations Truce Resolution and the principles
embodied in the truce. The Vancouver 2010 Olympic Truce installations
has been located in the Vancouver and Whistler athletes’ villages and
unveiled to the athletes prior to the start of the Olympic Winter Games.
Read the resolution for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic
Winter Games (
http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/64/4)
2008
During
the opening ceremony at the Olympic Games in Beijing, the international
community, in particular the United Nations, expressed many positive
comments on the importance of the Games and the value of sport
altogether to promote development and peace world-wide.
Read the United Nations Secretary General’s message
The
Peace and Friendship Wall was inaugurated on 1st August in the Beijing
Olympic Village, in presence of the IOC and BOCOG Presidents and
numerous invitees from the Olympic Movement. Hundreds of athletes,
officials and visitors added their signature and showed their support to
the Olympic Truce ideal throughout the Games.
2007
The
62nd UN General Assembly adopted a resolution on the Olympic Truce in
preparation for the Olympic Games in Beijing. Read the original document
(
http://daccess-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N07/464/01/PDF/N0746401.pdf?OpenElement)
2006
During
the Opening of the Olympic Winter Games in Turin, IOC President Jacques
Rogge launched a strong appeal for peace, backed up by an impressive
dove composed of human bodies and a peace song sung on stage by Yoko Ono
and Peter Gabriel.
2005
The 60th UN
General Assembly adopted a resolution on the Olympic Truce in
preparation for the Olympic Winter Games in Turin. Read the original
document (
http://daccess-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N05/488/02/PDF/N0548802.pdf?OpenElement )
2004
More
than 300 world wide personalities have signed the Truce appeal. Many of
them also signed the Truce Wall created by the Greek Government during
the 2004 Athens Games.
2003
The 58th UN
General Assembly adopted a resolution on the Olympic Truce in
preparation for the Olympic Games in Athens. Read the original document (
http://daccess-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N03/453/27/PDF/N0345327.pdf?OpenElement )
2001
The
56th UN General Assembly adopted a resolution on the Olympic Truce in
preparation for the Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City. Read the
original document (
http://daccess-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N01/489/96/PDF/N0148996.pdf?OpenElement)
2000
In
2000, the International Olympic Truce Centre and International Olympic
Truce Foundation were formed. As proof of the solidarity of the Olympic
Truce, the North and South Korean delegates walked into the opening
ceremony of the Olympic Games in Sydney under the same flag. Delegates
have been working ever since to promote the importance of the Olympic
Truce as well as the idea of peace not only in the world of sports but
around the globe in general.
The United Nations Millenium Summit
held in New York from 6 to 8 September 2000, which gathered more than
150 Heads of State and Government, adopted a
Millennium declaration that
included a paragraph on the observance of the Olympic Truce. During the
Opening Ceremony of the Games of the XXVII Olympiad in Sydney, the
South and North Korean delegations paraded in the stadium together under
the flag of the Korean peninsula.
1999
180
United Nations Member-States, a record number, co-sponsor a resolution
in support of the observance of the Olympic Truce during the Games of
the XXVII Olympiad in Sydney, Australia. Read the original document (
http://daccess-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N00/237/99/PDF/N0023799.pdf?OpenElement )
1998
Greek
Minister for Foreign Affairs George Papandreou presents the proposal of
Greece for the institutional consolidation of Olympic Truce in the new
millennium to the members of the International Olympic Committee. The
observance of Olympic Truce according to United Nations resolutions
offers an opportunity to United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan to
intervene to seek a diplomatic resolution to the crisis in Iraq. During
the month of February 1998, the Nagano Winter Olympic Games were at
their height. Amidst fear that a US-led invasion of Iraq could endanger
the security of not only U.S. athletes, but all competitors and
participants from around the world gathered in Nagano for the Games, the
International Olympic Committee was one of the first to rally behind
the United Nations Olympic Truce resolution to maintain peace during the
period of the Games. The International Olympic Committee made this
appeal with utmost diplomacy: While stressing that they were not
attempting to influence American foreign policy, [Olympic] officials
said they hoped that the United States and other countries that have
signed a United Nations resolution pledging peace during the Winter and
Summer Olympics would adhere to their pledges.(Burleson, Cindy: The
ancient Olympic Truce in modern-day peacekeeping, revisiting ekeckeria
-2011_Tf-J Chicago-Uk Endnotes-Bib.RTF)
1997
The
resolution of the 52th Session of the United Nations General Assembly
supports the idea of building a peaceful and better world through sport
and the Olympic Ideal. Read the original document (
http://daccess-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N97/776/05/PDF/N9777605.pdf?OpenElement )
1996
The
"Athens 2004" bid committee makes a commitment to revive the Olympic
Truce and to promote it in the world through the Olympic Flame Relay.
1995
The
resolution of the 50th Session of the United Nations General Assembly
supports the idea of building a peaceful and better world through sport
and the Olympic Ideal. The IOC president attended the UN General
Assembly for the first time in history. Read the original document (
http://www.un.org/documents/ga/res/48/a48r011.htm)
1994
The
Olympic Winter Games in Lillehammer, Norway, revive hope in
conflict-torn Sarajevo, host city of the 1984 Olympic Winter Games.
After coordinated diplomatic efforts, the Olympic Truce is observed,
giving the opportunity to an International Olympic Committee delegation
headed by its president to visit the city and extend its solidarity to
the population. Beginning in 1994, the President of the General Assembly
began making a Solemn Appeal for the observance of a truce during the
Olympics
1993
Starting 1993, the
General Assembly of the United Nations has regularly expressed its
support - one year prior to each edition of the Olympics - through an ad
hoc resolution inviting Member States to observe the Truce and solemnly
recognize its importance. Since 2000 this has been enshrined in a
special paragraph of the Millennium Declaration. During its 48th
Session, the United Nations General Assembly urges its Member States to
observe the Olympic Truce. Read the original document (
http://www.un.org/documents/ga/res/48/a48r011.htm)
1992
After
a period of repeated boycotts, the Games of the XXVth Olympiad in
Barcelona finally brought together athletes from the entire world and
enabled South Africa, after an absence of 27 years and following the
abolition of the ignoble policy of apartheid, to return to the Olympic
movement in the presence of President Nelson Mandela, a personality of
universal charisma and the incarnation of the struggle against all forms
of racial discrimination. Thus, in 1992, IOC launched an appeal for the
observance of the Olympic Truce in the interests of dialogue,
reconciliation and peace throughout the world.
This was the
framework within which the IOC succeeded in enabling Yugoslav athletes
to attend the Games of the XXVth Olympiad in Barcelona, under the
Olympic flag, without any indication of nationality and despite the
embargo imposed by the United Nations Security Council.
The IOC
also reached an understanding with the states of the former Soviet Union
whereby they were able to participate as a single team.
1896
As
the pioneer of the modern Olympic Games Pierre de Coubertin
incorporated the idea of peace in this movement. Coubertin was
convinced that peace education could only be effective if theoretical
learning was accompanied by personal experience. Olympic sport was the
very means to achieve this aim. Sport in the sense should become an
instrument to reform economy and politics and thus society as a whole:
“The Olympic Games will be a potent, if indirect factor in securing
universal peace”. “Wars break out because nations misunderstand each
other. We shall not have peace until the prejudices which now separate
the different races shall have been outlived. To attain this end, what
better means than to bring the youth of all countries periodically
together for amicable trials of muscular strength and agility?” (Pierre
de Coubertin 1896). Coubertin was convinced that peace education could
only be effective if theoretical learning was accompanied by personal
experience. Olympic sport was the very means to achieve this aim. Sport
in the sense should become an instrument to reform economy and politics
and thus society as a whole: “[…] the Olympic Games will be a potent, if
indirect factor in securing universal peace”. (2000_MÜLLER, N. (Ed.).
Pierre de Coubertin. Olympism. Selected Writings. Lausanne).
Athens organizes the first Olympic Games of the modern era in 1896 . The Games of the I
st Olympiad
- were a landmark in the history of Olympism as the first Olympic Games
of the modern era. The first celebration of the modern Olympic Games
took place in its ancient birthplace of Athens. The Games attracted 241
athletes from 14 nations, with the largest delegations coming from
Greece, Germany, France and Great Britain. Evaluating and looking back
on the Games of 1896 Coubertin writes in more realistic tones: “ One may
be filled with a desire to see the colors of one’s club or college
triumph in a national meeting, but how much stronger is the feeling when
the colours of one’s own country are at stake! It was with these
thoughts in mind that I sought to revive the Olympic games. I have
succeeded after many efforts. [I hope] it may be a potent, if indirect,
factor in securing international peace.”
1894
The
International Olympic Committee is established, with the goal of
contributing to a peaceful future for humankind through the educational
value of sport.
776 BC
According to
legend, the ancient Olympic Games were founded by Heracles (the Roman
Hercules), a son of Zeus. Yet the first Olympic Games for which we still
have written records were held in 776 BCE (though it is generally
believed that the Games had been going on for many years already). At
this Olympic Games, a naked runner, Coroebus (a baker from Elis), won
the sole event at the Olympics, the stade - a run of approximately 192
meters (210 yards). This made Coroebus the very first Olympic champion
in history. From 776 BC Olympic Games were presumably held without fail.
Greek historians used the Olympiads as a way of reckoning time that did
not depend on the time reckonings of one of the city-states. (
See Attic calendar.) The first to do so consistently was
Timaeus of
Tauromenium.
Nevertheless, since for events in the early history of the games the
reckoning was used in retrospect, even though Greek historians gave them
dates later, it is not clear which events occurred during which
Olympiad.
An Olympiad started with the games, which were held at
the beginning of the Olympic new year, which fell on the full moon
closest to the summer solstice. (After the introduction of the
Metonic cycle
about 432 BC, the start of the Olympic year was determined slightly
differently). If you want to know more, see: Valerie Vaughan The Origin
of the Olympics: Ancient Calendars and the Race Against Time .
http://www.onereed.com/articles/vvf/olympics.html
A truce (in Greek,
ekecheiria,
which literally means "holding of hands") was announced before and
during each of the Olympic festivals, to allow visitors to travel safely
to Olympia. An inscription describing the truce was written on a bronze
discus which was displayed at Olympia. During the truce, wars were
suspended, armies were prohibited from entering Elis or threatening the
Games, and legal disputes and the carrying out of death penalties were
forbidden. Another international truce was enforced during the annual
Mysteries, a religious rite held at the major sanctuary site of Eleusis.
The truces of Olympia and Eleusis not only allowed worshippers and
athletes to travel more safely; they also provided a common basis for
peace among the Greeks. (
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/Olympics/truce.html )