March 1, 2020 Your Neighborhood — Your News®
LOCAL
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PAGE 11
Queens Public Library pulls photo exhibit
following protests from Tibetan community
BY BILL PARRY
Queens Public Library removed
a controversial photo exhibit from
its Elmhurst branch on Feb. 22 following
protests by the Tibetan
community.
Students for a free Tibet and the regional
Tibetan Youth Council and their allies
argued the exhibit sponsored by the Chinese
Consulate was propaganda and was
unacceptable in Queens, which has one of
the largest diaspora communities of Tibetans
in the world.
“The Chinese Consulate and its affiliate
made the decision to discontinue the
exhibit,” Queens Public Library said in
a statement. “We thank the Tibetan community
for the ongoing conversations with
us, and we look forward to future collaborations
with them.”
More than 200 Tibetan community
members and supporters joined to celebrate
the victory of the campaign and
organized Tibetan cultural dance outside
the Elmhurst Library. Congressman Tom
Suozzi, who sits on the Executive Commission
on China, joined the celebration.
“Congratulations! This is a big victory.
Because there is a lot of money involved, a
lot of bureaucracy involved, but in the end
the truth prevailed,” Suozzi shouted into
a bullhorn. “We should thank the library
people for removing this exhibition and
we should thank all the supporters and
organizers. This is a very serious issue.
The American people need to realize how
China treats its own people not only Tibetans
but the Uyghur, the students in Hong
Kong and we have to stand up for human
rights for all the people throughout the
world. I will continue to fight for you. Congratulations
on the victory of the Tibetan
people.”
A member of Students for a Free Tibet
raised the issue during Mayor Bill de Blasio’s
Forest Hills town hall on Feb. 19. The
mayor acknowledged that “no one has suffered
more than the Tibetan people” since
the independent country was invaded by
China in 1959 and continues to be occupied
today.
Tibetan protesters declare victory after Queens Public Library pulled a controversial photo exhibit from its Elmhurst branch.
Photo courtesy of Students for a Free Tibet
“I didn’t have any reason to believe that
any of our library systems would present
the Chinese government point of view,” de
Blasio said. “I would’ve assumed the other
way around, honestly, and I’d be getting the
complaint from the Chinese government.”
Former political prisoner Nyima Lhamo,
a niece of the late religious leader Tenzin
Delek Rinpoche who died in Chinese
custody while serving a sentence on charges
of “terrorism and inciting separatism,”
supported the Elmhurst protests.
“After escaping Tibet and eventually
moving to Queens, I didn’t think that I
would still be confronted with Chinese
lies about my people,” Lhamo said. “Inside
Tibet, thousands of human rights defenders
and activists like us are still being silenced
every day. Today is a major victory
for Tibet, but we must continue fighting to
amplify and uplift the voices of those still
inside Tibet.”
The protesters said the exhibit showed
several pictures of Tibetans and Tibet that
aimed to educate viewers using distorted
facts about the political status of Tibet.
The exhibit depicted Tibet as a place where
freedom of religion and language rights
are respected, lies which whitewash China’s
brutal human rights atrocities.
“This is a huge victory for Tibet and
the Tibetan community in Queens. The
decision of the Chinese consulate to shut
down their propaganda exhibition at the
Queens Library shows that activism and
truth are more powerful than propaganda
and dictatorship,” Student for a Free Tibet
Executive Director Dorjee Tseten said.
“This is also a lesson for other institutions
to be careful of similar propaganda efforts
by the Chinese government. We must continue
to hold libraries, universities and
all economic institutions accountable for
sharing accurate information.”
Reach reporter Bill Parry by e-mail at
bparry@schnepsmedia.com or by phone at
(718) 260–4538.
Vol. 98 No. 9 UPDATED EVERY DAY AT QNS.COM
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