(Minghui.org) Falun Dafa practitioners held activities in Dam Square in Amsterdam’s city center on May 13, 2023, to celebrate the 24th World Falun Dafa Day and wish Falun Dafa’s founder, Master Li Hongzhi a happy birthday.

Spring in the Netherlands is bright and sunny. The venue where the event was held was right at the center of the square, and the large banners with the words “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance”, “Falun Dafa is Good” and “Wish Master a Happy Birthday and Celebrate World Falun Dafa Day” shimmered in the bright sunlight.

Practitioners demonstrated the exercises, played the waist drums, and told people about the persecution in China.

Practitioners held an event in Amsterdam on May 13 to celebrate World Falun Dafa Day.

Practitioners gave waist drum performances to wish Master a happy birthday!

A group photo was taken.

The event started at 1 p.m. with an exercise demonstration. The slow, graceful movements accompanied by peaceful exercise music, attracted many passersby. The waist drum troupe dressed in golden costumes, performed pieces such as “Falun Dafa is Good” and “Joyous Celebration.” Many people stopped and watched.

Mr. Silvio Verbeek, the representative for the Falun Dafa Association in the Netherlands, delivered a speech. He introduced Falun Dafa to the passersby, the meaning of Falun Dafa Day and he talked about the persecution by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in China.

Practitioners told people that Falun Dafa is practiced all over the world and that the CCP persecutes practitioners and harvests organs from practitioners while they are still alive. Many people were shocked and they signed the petition that calls for an end to live organ harvesting. The practitioners also gave out small lotus flower keepsakes printed with the words “Falun Dafa is Good.”

People Wish Master Li Hongzhi Happy Birthday

Ms. Hannah, a business administration specialist from England was very touched. She said, “The cultivation method that the Falun Dafa’s founder introduces to the world is very good, along with his spiritual teachings of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance. Today is his birthday. I wish him a happy birthday!”

Ms. Hannah also said, “To be able to learn about Chinese culture is very interesting. I saw your exercise demonstration. The movements are calm but graceful, relaxed, and comforting. I think that this [Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance] is a very good standard to live by. It is good to have authenticity in life; people should also have a heart of sympathy because this is also a form of understanding. On the other hand, being magnanimous can allow one to tolerate some things. This is very good.”

When a practitioner told her how the CCP harvests practitioners’ organs while they are still alive, Ms. Hannah was shocked. She said, “This is terrible. Such an evil thing should not be happening in the 21st century. Just because of abiding by some beliefs, their organs are being snatched away from them, depriving them of their chance to live? This is too cruel, too scary!” She signed the petition which calls for an end to live organ harvesting.

Many people stopped and talked with practitioners. After understanding the truth, they signed the petition that calls for an end to live organ harvesting.

Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance Are Very Important

Ms. Ela Hosseini is an astrophysicist who came from Germany. After learning about the CCP’s harvesting of practitioners’ organs while they are still alive, she said that she knows that China is not a country of freedom. Even in this era, there are still people being killed just because of their faith. Furthermore, this kind of thing is still happening. “There are some people in this world who are fighting to ban the use of animals for experiments. But in China, they are doing live organ harvesting? This is not acceptable. It is too pathetic. So saddening.”

Mr. Fabian Pryor is an IT specialist. He said, “Amid the busy everyday life, we almost lost ourselves. This is the time to find ourselves. Seeing your exercise demonstration, I feel very calm. I totally agree with Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance. People should emphasize these kind and honest values. Thank you Falun Dafa’s founder for letting me learn about the importance of these values that can help me to change for the better. I agree with his initiative and thank him for it!”

A university student from the Netherlands, Petru Miu said, “I obtained more statistics and data about the CCP’s live organ harvesting and learned that there are large amounts of organ transactions there. I do not know how serious the problem is or how much the Chinese people know about the things that are happening in their country. However, I already signed the petition. I think that every signature will help. I will encourage my family and friends to sign the petition too. They all know about the problem [live organ harvesting] in China.”

Dutch property sales manager Elmarie Viljoen learned about Falun Dafa and the persecution that the practitioners face in China for the first time at the event venue. With regard to the CCP’s evil act of harvesting the Falun Dafa practitioners’ organs while they are still alive, he said, “This is very scary. It is ridiculous to persecute those people who have a peaceful belief. Killing and harming them in order to obtain healthy organs is definitely evil.”

Mr. Vincent Basil works at an equipment rental company and he also loves meditating and cultivation. With regards to the CCP’s persecution of Falun Dafa, he said that he cannot understand, “I think that today, in this era, that this kind of thing [organ harvesting] can still happen in this world, is very, very pathetic. This is committing a crime that is out of my imagination.”

He also said, “Satan is controlling the world. Its powers are very strong. You must be a very strong person in order to not fall into its trap. This is why Falun Dafa’s guiding principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance are very important to the world. This is a belief in which I remain steadfast. Therefore, I really respect those people who practice Falun Dafa.”

He added, “I believe that we are going to enter a new era soon. The CCP is going to collapse and will meet its end. During the process when they are being destroyed, they will cause a lot of damage. Therefore, I worry that many people are going to go through pain and hardship like the COVID virus. This is totally a scam that came from the experimental lab in Wuhan.”