Local Tibetans Respond to Violence in Native Country

This is the first of a two-part series examining how local Tibetans are responding to the violence between China and Tibet.

The thick black fumes and deafening clamors of political turmoil may be halfway across the globe, but the recent outbreak of violence in Tibet hits home for many in Ithaca.

Palden Oshoe, a Tibetan who lives in Ithaca, has not called his eldest siblings in Tibet, Western China since news of the riots broke.

“They were in southern Tibet where there is not much riot. But to call them would be a risk, because [the Chinese] are keeping track of every call coming in,” Oshoe said.

Ithaca is home to about 50 Tibetans, including Tibetan Buddhist monks in the Namgyal Monastery, the North American seat of Dalai Lama.