Monday, September 28, 2009

Political Dissidents Fight for Release of Tiananmen Square Hero


NEW YORK – At a press conference in lower Manhattan, twenty years after the horror of Tiananmen Square, Chinese dissidents met to discuss the imprisonment of one of their heroes, Tiananmen Square leader Zhou Yonjun, by the Chinese government.
Zhang Yuwei’s child was five months old when her fiancĂ© disappeared almost a year ago. A political protestor living in forced exile in Los Angeles, CA, Zhou Yonjun was visiting his ailing parents in China when he was arrested by authorities and placed in a prison in his hometown of Shenzhen. Originally, the charge against him was espionage. Later, it was changed to financial fraud. Members of the China Support Network, a group of people who are fighting for democracy and freedom in their homeland, believe that ‘Major Zhou’ is being held as a political prisoner.
Zhou is a hero among Chinese freedom fighters. He led the first student march into Tiananmen Square in 1989. And as the leader of the Student Unions of Beijing Universities, he acted as the voice of the students during the response to the “June 4th Episode,” as the day when the government opened fire on student demonstrators in Tiananmen Square is referred to in China. Twenty years later, he has been arrested and is being held in a Chinese prison for the third time since 1989. The first was directly after the event, from 1989 to 1991. The second was in 2001.
“The capture of Zhou is proof that Tiananmen Square political persecution is carried on into the present day,” said John Kusumi, founder of the China Support Network. “Major Zhou is a political prisoner; not a criminal.”
Li Jinjin, attorney and chair of China’s Judicial Watch, agrees.
“There is no legal basis for this case,” the Nassau County, N.Y. resident said. “Why is [China] so interested in pursuing a permanent resident of the US? The answer is political persecution. The Chinese government sees Zhou as a threat because he is a political dissident who has continuously promoted a democratic China.”
Ye Ning, 58, of Queens, N.Y., is a criminal defense attorney who is involved with many international cases. He has been in the US for “20 some-odd years” and has no intention of returning to China because he believes that the Chinese government has gotten even worse in terms of human rights issues since the atrocities of Tiananmen Square.
“Now they have very sophisticated computer systems and technology to overlook and monitor dissidents and religious activities,” he said. “The human rights abuse has been accelerated because the Chinese government is too smart and sophisticated.” Ning refers to himself as an “armchair revolutionary,” one who talks and writes, but does not make his thoughts into action.
“Major Zhou is not this type of person,” he said. “He puts his ideals into action.” According to Ning, this is why the Chinese government still views him as a threat 20 years after Tiananmen Square, and why they keep locking him up every chance they get. They do it to “silence and neutralize him in order to stop him from causing further troubles,” he said. Ning believes that it is up to the international community to put pressure on the Chinese government to release Zhou.
“If this case is allowed to pass under the international community, other cases will come,” he said. “We are here to call for international awareness of this most serious development.”
John Kusumi agrees. “President Obama is going for his first visit to China to meet the Dalai Lama,” he said. “We hope he carries our concerns with him.”
Zhang Yuewie, Zhou’s fiancĂ©, has been living in Los Angeles, CA for the past four years and has no interest in returning to China because “the government is always trying to control people’s heads…[and] they’re still angry at him from Tiananmen Square” she said. “They still think he’s a threat. What is wrong with supporting democracy and freedom? There is nothing wrong with it. We are looking forward to his return to this country – to freedom.”

Speeches, Bagpipes and Love are in Evidence at the Port Authority 9/11 Memorial Service


Many dignitaries and elected officials are in attendance at the Port Authority of NY and NJ Remembrance service on September 11th, 2009. Lining the front pews of St. Peter’s Church at the corner of Barclay and Church Streets in lower Manhattan are, among others, Governor David A. Paterson, Governor Jon. S. Corzine, and Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. They have gathered today with members of the New York and New Jersey Port Authority community in remembrance of the eighty-four members who were lost on September 11th, 2001.
“It provides us with a certain sense of community. We’re a family,” says 75-year-old retired Port Authority employee Vic Guarnera of New Jersey. Guarnera was in Tower Two when the first plane hit. Ever since, he has experienced digestive problems, nightmares, and “psychological trauma.” Although he has concerns about the fact that “they’ve cut off the medical funding,” he feels lucky every day that he was not one of the eighty-four members of his company who perished. “When the alarm goes off you say ‘thank God,’” he says, fighting back tears.
Following the attack of September 11th, 2001 Vic has struggled to understand the event that took away so many of his friends and colleagues. He began reading the Koran to try and get inside the minds of the terrorists. “There’s a lot of stuff about having the authority to enforce someone else’s becoming a Muslim. And if they don’t wish to convert, they are your enemy.” Although, he believes there are dangerous extremists from every religion. “It’s just like Christians. They can pray next to you in a church and then the next day blow up a building. I know some very good, peaceful Islamics.”
Despite the perfunctory speeches of the politicians, when the bagpipes of the Port Authority Police Pipes and Drums begin, the camaraderie between the Port Authority people is evident. Guarnera greets his former colleagues affectionately, many of whom he remembers from the morning of 9/11. One man gives him a friendly pat on the back. “Sam had a stroke on the way down,” he explains. There is much hand-holding and embracing and not a dry eye in the house during the reading of the 84 names of the deceased.
Although Corzine assures his audience that “we are better prepared today than we were on September 10th, 2001,” Guarnera is not wholly convinced. “There are going to be more events,” he says. “They have the choice of time and location. We don’t know what that is.” And although he believes that invading Iraq “started to let them know that we mean business – that we’ll go after them the way they came after us,” he worries that “our politicians do not have military service experience. They don’t know what it means to be charged with the responsibility of protecting us.” Guarnera thinks that we should be looking to WWII for inspiration on how to fight the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. “I’m old enough to remember that,” he says. “In WWII we were united in a common cause and if this isn’t a common cause, I don’t know what is.” He is concerned that there is confusion as to what our “common cause” in Iraq is, among politicians and the general public alike. “You don’t go there to create Democracy. You go there to knock out a threat,” he says.
Since the events of September 11th, 2001, Guarnera has written about his experience, spoken to children about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and spent a lot of time with his former colleagues, many of whom have become close friends. From the intimate atmosphere of the memorial ceremony, to the warm interactions of the members of the Port Authority community, it is evident that the sentiment felt by the group is embodied in Reverend Kevin V. Madigan’s sermon: “In the end, love is stronger that death.”

Colorful Characters Dot the Drab Landscape of the 9/11 Memorial


It was a cold and gray morning in lower Manhattan and hundreds of people had gathered around the World Trade Center site in order to remember or share their opinions on the events of September 11th, 2001.
A group of South Asian men, some wearing turbans, holding signs reading “Human Rights Coalition Against Radical Islam” and “Promoting Human Rights by Confronting and Defeating an Anti-Human Rights Ideology were among the crowds.”
“We want to show the American Public that radical Islam is very dangerous,” said Narain Kataria, Founder and Secretary of the Indian American Intellectuals Forum (IAIF). A resident of Elmhurst, N.Y., Kataria, a Hindu leader originally from India, has been in the U.S. for forty years.
“Because of political correctness there is no open dialogue about radical Islam,” he said. There are many Muslims in his group who are themselves against “radical Muslims” because “the greatest victims of radical Muslims are other Muslims.” And Kataria has his own ideas of how these “radical Muslims” should be dealt with.
“If we can’t stop Saudi Arabia through peaceful means, then we have to cut off access to their bank accounts and seize their oil fields,” he said.
Only a few blocks away stood another band of men who were wearing “Investigate 9/11 tee shirts.” Young and stocky, wearing baseball caps and chains, Dominic Andreana and Richie Andreana Jr. of Staten Island believe that there is a complicated conspiracy behind the events of 9/11 which involves the U.S government.
“This organization was started by victims’ family members who say they were lied to,” said Richie – “60% of people – that’s 6 out of 10 – on the 911 Commission say they were lied to by the government.”
Added Dominic, “there’s a lot of shaky evidence – a lot of unanswered questions – like
they found Thermite in the dust of the World Trade Center. That’s a government explosive – how did it get there?”
William Peery, 53, of Vermont, a fit looking man wearing ‘outdoorsy’ clothes, with a soft voice and a focused stare, also wears an “Investigate 9/11” tee shirt. He holds a sign reading “Justice for the Victims of 9/11.” Peery, who is weary and suspicious of the government’s investigation of the terrorist attacks, has visited Ground Zero on Sept. 11 for the past four years.
“Mainstream media has really let the world down,” he said. “They didn’t question that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. They just did what the government told them to because they’re all owned by giant corporations and these parent companies profit hugely whenever wars happen.” This is the reason for Peery’s concern over the 9/11 investigation. He believes that instead of searching for the truth behind what happened, U.S. reporters simply answered to the government, telling the public only what the White House wanted them to know. He is part of a group called “We Are Change” which in his opinion, does delve deeper in search of the truth by practicing “ambush journalism” which uses aggressive tactics in order to “embarrass people in the highest levels of government.” He considers their technique to be similar to the style of Michael Moore, but more cutting-edge and not as humorous.
“Oil companies in Texas negotiated with the Taliban to run a pipeline for oil from Afghanistan to Iraq and the Iraqi government has to pay the oil companies money for accessing their own oil. Exxon Mobile has made the greatest profit any company ever has in the history of planet Earth. They created an artificial oil shortage.” He also adds that the area we are now fighting in Afghanistan is rich in oil as well.
Amidst the theorists and lobbyists, one man stands quietly apart. Paul Keckler, 29, of Harrison, New York awaits his brother and uncle at the entrance for family members of the deceased. Eight years ago today, Keckler was a college student who woke up at 10:00am to 57 voicemails. He turned on the T.V. to breaking news reports that the World Trade Center had been attacked. It was a day he would never forget.
“I knew at that moment what had happened to my father, Gary, a trader. He was in the second tower. The name’s Keckler. It is what it is.” Although he admits that the ceremony brings him little if any peace, he says that he comes every year because “there is no physical place. No remains of the body. And it’s good to get together with some family and remember the old man.”
He Glances towards the “Investigate 9/11” group handing out pamphlets and having their tee shirts photographed by press and tourists alike.
“It’s part of the world we live in. They’re allowed their opinion. It’s great that they’re allowed to wear that kind of stuff and express their opinion. I personally don’t believe in it.”
Keckler has more faith that the US government is trying to protect its citizens. He doesn’t believe that another 9/11 could happen. Or maybe he just hopes this is the case.
“I mean, my brother works at Grand Central Terminal. Let’s just leave it at that.”

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Interviews in the Rain

I went to the 9/11 Memorial at the World Trade Center yesterday and interviewed a lot of people for my ‘Writing and Reporting the News’ class. I felt so bad because they all poured their hearts out to me but because I had a word limit I couldn’t use all of their stories in my article! I met one guy who worked for Marsh McLennan at the time whose office was on the 95th floor in the 9th tower. He was on the express bus coming into the city for work from Brooklyn on the morning of September 11th, 2001 when he received a call from his wife telling him the first plane had struck. Over 300 of his colleagues and friends were killed that day. One of his colleagues was the only person to escape from the 78th floor. He believes that the people he knew died slow and painful deaths due to the pages he and other colleagues who had not gotten to work yet were receiving on the two-way pagers the company supplied them with. Messages such as, “What’s going on? There’s an airplane wing in the conference room” and later, “Walls are burning,” “We’re trapped,” “Friends, goodbye.”“When I watch the tape of people jumping I think I can recognize some of them,” he says. “I can’t be sure because it’s too far, but they were trapped. They had nowhere to go. If I was there I would have jumped.”To add insult to injury, he said the company tried to act like nothing had happened afterwards. “They didn’t do anything for the survivors. They just repleneshed people and acted like ‘life goes on. We have to work.’ They just wanted to hush it down.” It’s so hard to listen to a story like that.The other thing that was hard was trying to write down what people were saying as they said it . It’s impossible not to miss anything and you have to get it right when you’re quoting them on it!