(Minghui.org) On July 31, 2017, a Falun Dafa practitioner from Israel broadcast a program on "Kol HaGalil" (The voice of Galilee) Radio, a local community station sponsored by the Regional Council and Israeli National Radio.

The station announced a one-time opportunity for people in the region to broadcast for two hours and present a topic close to their hearts. A local practitioner saw this as a great opportunity to broadcast a program on Falun Dafa and to invite people from his area to join the local exercise sites.

After giving an introduction to Falun Dafa (also known as Falun Gong), the practitioner said, “I practice it myself, and I feel it makes me more calm... These principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance are important to me. Falun Dafa helps me be positive and gets rid of things like jealousy, competitiveness, being critical, thinking badly of others and of myself, and so on ... I realize that there is nothing better I can do with my life.”

“Furthermore, Falun Dafa is suitable for our contemporary times and lifestyles. One can practice and cultivate him or herself within society, with family and friends, and at work, and still not miss out on anything. You just improve yourself and become a better person in every aspect of your life.”

During the two-hour program, the practitioner played music composed and performed by Falun Dafa practitioners from all over the world. He also interviewed several practitioners. “This practice gives me a feeling of relief,” said Rachel, who began practicing at age 18. Today, she is the mother of a 10-year-old who is also practicing and is the fourth generation of Falun Dafa practitioners in the family.

Another interviewee also began practicing at age 18, when he was a soldier in the army. He said the practice helped him in difficult situations, both in his military service and in his subsequent studies. “Falun Dafa gave me inner balance and a quiet heart,” he said.

The program discussed the persecution of the practice in China, which began on July 20, 1999. Much of the story of the persecution was conveyed via songs, such as "Feels Like 1936 Again" (which compares the 2008 Olympics in China to the Munich Olympics in 1936) and also in an interview with Dr. Israela Yablonka, who is involved in raising awareness of the persecution.

Dr. Yablonka told how, from the very beginning, Falun Gong was very popular in China, and even the government encouraged people to go out and practice it in public parks to improve their health.

But when the former chairman of the Communist Party became aware that tens of millions were practicing Falun Dafa, he set up an agency called the 610 Office, whose sole function has been to persecute Falun Gong practitioners, who are still being tortured and subjected to brainwashing in the authorities' attempts to force them to renounce the practice.

Dr. Yablonka and other volunteers have screened the films Free China and The Bleeding Edge, which depict the cruelty practitioners in China endure.

Dr. Yablonka also spoke of China's state-sanctioned killing of practitioners for their organs, some of which are harvested while the practitioners are still alive and are then transplanted into patients who pay high prices.

Another person who was interviewed gave an example of how the persecution has extended far beyond the borders of China.

Zion Xiong, originally from China, is an Israeli citizen. In the interview, he said that when the persecution in China began, he was listed on the Israeli Falun Dafa website as a contact person. The Chinese Embassy in Israel summoned him for a “conversation” and threatened him, telling him to “think twice” if he had any intention of entering China again.

At the time, he was working for an importer of goods from China. He used to fly to China once every two months for work. Two months later, when he applied to renew his Chinese visa, the embassy turned him down. This made it very difficult to continue his work.

Zion's sister, Xiong Wei, also practices Falun Gong. After she studied in Berlin, she started working for a German company and was sent to work in China. In 2002, she was telling people in Beijing about the persecution of Falun Gong when police arrested her and held her in a labor camp for two years without any legal process.

While Zion petitioned the Israeli government for help, Wei's German friends from university sought help from the German government. Wei was released after two years. She eventually fled China and was granted a work visa in Germany.

Zion says that, in Germany, his sister is free to practice Falun Gong and is not threatened with jail for telling people that Falun Gong is good.

Zion asked his listeners, “Falun Gong is based on the values of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. If someone is against these values, then what are that person's values?”