By Mel Fabrikant
My avid Taiwanese friend, Dr. Michael B. Yeun, invited me to accompany him to the start of a hundred mile walk for the independence of Tibet and the Dalai Lama’s return.. It’s difficult to ignore a cause espoused by such people as Steven Seagal and Richard Gere. It’s more inspiring when one learns that the march will be headed by the Dalai Lama’s 85 year old brother, Taktster Rinpoche and his wife, Kunchok Norbu.
We met the group across the street from the Chinese Embassy on 42nd Street and 12th Avenue where in addition to the Tibet protesters, about 12 women from the Falun Gong or Falun Dafa were posed in the Lotus position, their shoes along side and silently praying the entire time we were across the street from the embassy.
Professor Larry Gerstein, President of the Board of Directors of the ITIM (International Tibet Independence Movement) was the organizer of this march and despite his in depth planning ran into snags from the start. This delayed the starting time and subjected the marchers to more of the sun’s scorching rays and heat.
To start, there was a problem with the confirmation of the marching permits, a police sergeant had to be summoned and conferences with the powers that be before permission was given to set out towards Battery Park, lunch and a trip on the Staten Island ferry to the ending point on Bay Street in Rosebank.
While many of the police personnel were courteous, let me say that after having experienced the 5 day run/march of the Taiwan group from Philadelphia through Delaware, Maryland and Washington, DC, (http://www.paramuspost.com/article.php?story=20070322185727838&query=Taiwanese) the officers assigned to protect this group along the Manhattan route were not very pleasant.
I was not allowed to follow the police vehicles even if I stayed a reasonable distance behind them. Professor Gerstein, in the water supply back up van, was chastised by the officers and despite the scorching weather, was chased away from the group as well. He mentioned he was told that supplying water to these citizens, some of them senior citizens, should have been thought of beforehand. How callous can human beings be?
This was a shock, especially to me, since I had traversed the streets of Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington driving alongside the marchers without a single protest from our protectors. DC was the only place where I was asked to follow behind the two motorcycles accompanying us. The officers later explained to me, very politely, that they were used to each other’s hand signals in addition to the radio contact and my vehicle between them was a hindrance.
Yes, there was a lot of traffic, Battery Park was jammed and to my dismay, I learned that the Staten Island ferry hadn’t transported vehicles since 911. Found out a lot of people didn’t know that either. That caused me to hightail it out of Manhattan and over to Staten Island where I waited several hours for the group to arrive, hot and exhausted.
One of the humorous incidents occurred when Professor Gerstein and the police sergeant were discussing the permit plans on the street. A man walked up to the officer and asked him where the Chinese Embassy was. DUH!
Mike and I, after a brief respite, escorted the other vehicles to the church in Staten Island where they would be spending the night before proceeding on the rest of the one hundred mile march. These people are to be commended for their stalwart support of their cause.
For more photographs, http://www.paramuspost.com/mediagallery/album.php?aid=608
