*North Jersey Circassians 'in exile' launch Olympic protest*
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*by Andrea Alexander,* NorthJersey.com - February 8, 2010

February 8, North Jersey - Circassians in North Jersey are headed for the
Winter Olympics in Vancouver with a message to the world: If you let the
2014 games go on as planned in Russia, you’ll be skiing on the graves of
our oppressed ancestors.

Members of the Circassian Cultural Institute in Totowa are leading a
campaign with their sister organizations worldwide to stop the 2014 winter
Olympics from being held in Sochi, Russia, the former capitol of their
historic homeland.

They say Russia’s armies brutally drove their ancestors out of the area
between the Black Sea and Caucasus mountains nearly 150 years ago. Since
then, it’s been life in exile for descendants of the survivors, and they
don’t want to see worldwide celebration and games in the same location.

On Wednesday, 10 members of the institute plan to leave for the Vancouver
Olympics to call attention to their history. They are going to join members
of a Circassian community from California in protest at Russian Olympic
event venues while the world has its eyes turned on the games.

Read more:
http://www.circassianworld.com/new/diaspora/1429-nj-circassians-prote...

http://www.northjersey.com/wire/North_Jersey_Circassians_in_exile_lau...