Abrahamson: How will we write the history of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics?
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By: Alan Abrahamson
and last updated 2021-07-23 21:58:43-04
TOKYO â Since the dawn of time, the Olympic Games have stood for the best of us, coming together, moments when we try to bring to life our hopes and dreams.
Destiny has offered these Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games a special calling.
Now the question: how will we write their history?
Postponed by a year because of a worldwide pandemic, the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games got underway Friday night in an island nation now wary indeed of the Olympics with a muted Opening Ceremony, one that sought to pay tribute to the millions lost to the coronavirus. For the first time at an Opening Ceremony, the IOC also formally paid silent tribute to the 11 Israelis murdered at the 1972 Games.
How will we write the history of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics?
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How will we write the history of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics?
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Introduction
The Syrian conflict has entered its tenth year, with a devastating humanitarian and economic toll: the death of 384,000-593,000 people as of December 2020; the forced displacement of an estimated 13.5 million people, almost half of whom are displaced internally, struggling to survive; economic loss of $428 billion from 2011 to 2018 (six times the GDP in 2010); depreciation of the Syrian lira (now 13 times less valuable than before the conflict); high unemployment; the destruction of physical property, including homes, infrastructure, hospitals, schools; and the reality of 90% of the population living below the poverty line. Yet the war has also resulted in significant environmental destruction â a form of damage that receives less attention but represents major potential harm with long-term negative consequences on public health, the economy, and peace itself, and which must be central to any post-conflict relief or reconstruction effort.