New Orleans Protest - Day by Day
The people who were at the ATA-cosponsored New Orleans travel conference this past weekend to protest Aruba were kind enough to e-mail me updates day by day. The organizer and ringleader of this particular protest I do not feel comfortable naming until I check with her, but here's the posts I got this past weekend:
Day One (June 29, 2007)
"There was good exposure for the cause today in New Orleans! Although some protestors were unable to come, last minute, and there are just 3 of us, the banners and signs are being noticed and are as well placed as possible. We can only place signs on public property and Hilton Hotel security made us take down a banner they thought was too close to their property. The World Trade Center made us move signs in their lawn, near the sidewalk. Otherwise, there were no problems.
People were walking up to us and talking about the case, asking questions. Some were arrogant or rude and refused to take the nice brochures we were passing out. Others seemed extremely interested in the case and very sympathetic to Natalee’s family. Several even made it a point to tell us THEY are not going to Aruba!
Among the most interesting people we spoke with was a travel agent from Ontario who has 5 children and who showed a great deal of interest in this case. Another man, a Native American, works in the Caribbean as a boat captain, and he was VERY angry about the anti-American sentiment he encounters that when he goes to countries in the Caribbean…and about Natalee’s case.
Overall, the reception was good and we found many of those who passed by very, very caring and very sympathetic toward Natalee's family. We were impressed and pleased. There are other New Orleans tourists besides the travel agents who are passing by and talking to us.
We’ll be going back tomorrow and Sunday to continue our protest..."
I will be posting more as they arrive; hopefully the organizers will send us an overall report this coming week. In the meantime, Scared Monkeys has some photos up:
http://www.scaredmonkeys.net/viewtopic.php?t=1003&start=140
Day One (June 29, 2007)
"There was good exposure for the cause today in New Orleans! Although some protestors were unable to come, last minute, and there are just 3 of us, the banners and signs are being noticed and are as well placed as possible. We can only place signs on public property and Hilton Hotel security made us take down a banner they thought was too close to their property. The World Trade Center made us move signs in their lawn, near the sidewalk. Otherwise, there were no problems.
People were walking up to us and talking about the case, asking questions. Some were arrogant or rude and refused to take the nice brochures we were passing out. Others seemed extremely interested in the case and very sympathetic to Natalee’s family. Several even made it a point to tell us THEY are not going to Aruba!
Among the most interesting people we spoke with was a travel agent from Ontario who has 5 children and who showed a great deal of interest in this case. Another man, a Native American, works in the Caribbean as a boat captain, and he was VERY angry about the anti-American sentiment he encounters that when he goes to countries in the Caribbean…and about Natalee’s case.
Overall, the reception was good and we found many of those who passed by very, very caring and very sympathetic toward Natalee's family. We were impressed and pleased. There are other New Orleans tourists besides the travel agents who are passing by and talking to us.
We’ll be going back tomorrow and Sunday to continue our protest..."
I will be posting more as they arrive; hopefully the organizers will send us an overall report this coming week. In the meantime, Scared Monkeys has some photos up:
http://www.scaredmonkeys.net/viewtopic.php?t=1003&start=140
posted by Dan in Tx | 2:54 PM
2 Comments:
please visit my site check the song i wrote to the holloway family
www.thepasionshow.com please see the "natalee" tab,click on it
Note that the above link is misspelled. The website is actually www.thepassionshow.com
Thank you very much for your support, Ms. Engel. This family needs all the help they can get.
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