Two young boys stand at the front of a growing crowd outside the Namgyal Monastery in Ithaca. One boy, Tenzin Lekdup, holds the red, blue and yellow flag of Tibet. His friend, Tenzin Loden, waves an American flag. Lekdup and Loden, standing side-by-side, help lead a pro-Tibetan march throughout Ithaca last Friday.

“Without any sense of hatred, we walk peacefully and then verbally we say this prayer wishing everybody [to] have more compassion, which is the root of happiness for everybody,” said Palden C. Oshoe, president of the Tibetan Association of Ithaca, about participating in the march.

Friday’s event, attended by nearly 80 people and organized by the Namgyal Monastery, occurred one week after violence shook the Tibetan capital of Lhasa. Thirty ongoing protests for Tibetan autonomy are confirmed in three eastern Chinese provinces, said José Cabezón, professor of Tibetan, Buddhism and culture for the University of California, Santa Barbara.

“What initially began as a peaceful protest by monks escalated when the Chinese government took the protesting monks into custody ... ,” he said.

China began its occupation of Tibet, a region located in western China, in 1950. In 1959, the Tibetans made a failed attempt to overthrow the Chinese authority, which led to the exile of the Tibetan government and the Dalai Lama, Tibet’s political and religious leader. The recent protests began March 10, the anniversary of the 1959 uprising.

Since March 14, the Chinese government has reported 22 deaths, and Tibetan rights groups have reported 140 deaths, according to an article yesterday by the Associated Press. Witnesses reported seeing Tibetans torch Chinese shops and cars. Chinese troops entered the region, locking down the capital.

As China begins its Olympic ceremonies with Monday’s flame-lighting ceremony, the Tibetans are using the world spotlight to express their grievances with Chinese authority, Cabezón said.

“There is no freedom of speech or freedom of protest, especially in these Tibetan areas,” he said. “As soon as these people take to the street, they’ll be arrested, especially if they’re monks.”

Weiqing Su George, who is from China and lectures on Chinese languages at Cornell University, said the protesters were not peaceful or innocent, and Chinese forces had to take action to stop the violence.

“[The protesters] burnt shops, they burnt cars which caused some deaths, and I completely support the Chinese government by going over and trying to stop that,” he said.

Much of the unrest could be solved if a high-ranking Chinese official would talk with the Dalai Lama, Oshoe said.

“I think it would truly be a great success for China if they talk to the Dalai Lama,” he said. “... I think that this could be an opportunity to really move in an unprecedented way.”

While some protesters want Tibet to have complete independence from China, most Tibetans are asking for autonomy, allowing them to freely practice their religion, elect their own leaders and decide their own internal policies, Cabezón said.

Dhondulp Zhurhang, a member of the Namgyal Monastery, which is the North American seat of the Dalai Lama’s personal monastery in India, said the Tibetan community in Ithaca is working hard to inform Ithacans about the violence.

“We may be a small town, but we are doing whatever we can do,” he said. “We want the Chinese to sit down with His Holiness the Dalai Lama and talk.”

Tenzin Lodoe, a Namgyal teacher and translator, said the Tibetan community in Ithaca is trying to educate the town about the recent events. During the march, he handed out letters from the Dalai Lama and information packets about the violence.

“We can give more information to people all over the world,” Lodoe said. “This is a free country.”

If Americans learn more about Tibet, he said, they will want to support the Tibetan movement.

“The people of this country understand freedom, and if they see us marching they will want Tibetans to have these freedoms as well,” he said.

Susan Higginbotham, an Ithaca resident and student at the Namgyal Monastery, said the march was a very emotional event.

“Being there was very, extremely moving,” she said. “Just standing out there with signs and getting people thinking or asking questions.”

Oshoe said the best way for Ithacans to make changes in Tibet is to educate themselves about the situation and remain politically active.

Higginbotham said because of her close ties to the Namgyal community, she feels she must do everything she can to help the Tibetans.

“We feel helpless that we can’t do anything and that’s why it’s so important to do these marches and sign these petitions and write letters,” she said.

Many of the marchers in Ithaca said they sympathize with the Tibetans’ cry for freedom and felt compelled to take part in supporting that cry from their homes in New York. After participating in last week’s protest and a candlelight vigil on March 18, many said they would continue to attend demonstrations in the future.

“The idea is to show ongoing support,” said Higginbotham. “You haven’t reached everybody by [marching] just one time. By marching at different times, you reach different people.”

The Namgyal Monastery will hold another march at 6 p.m. tomorrow. The marchers will meet outside of the Namgyal Monastery on 412 N. Aurora Street.

Oshoe said that while Ithacans and other Tibetan allies around the world hold rallies and marches to show support, Tibetans in China will continue to be in danger.

“It’s the Tibetans who are dying … who are the real courageous ones, who risk their life and who care so much,” Oshoe said.