News and Activities from Around the World -- November 2, 2005

Issued by Clearwisdom Net

At 11:00 a.m. on October 28, 2005, a representative of Falun Gong practitioners in Singapore read the Falun Dafa Association Announcement published on October 9, 2005 in front of the Chinese Embassy, warning all people who have participated in the persecution of Falun Gong to immediately stop the persecution, abandon their evil path and choose to be good.

Representative of Falun Gong practitioners in Singapore reads the Falun Dafa Association Announcement in Chinese in front of Chinese Embassy

The announcement states that "At this critical historical moment, the Falun Dafa Association has made a special announcement: From today on, overseas Falun Gong practitioners will file civil or criminal lawsuits against all important government or CCP officials who participate in or continue to implement the persecution of Falun Gong and as a result, commit new crimes in addition to those they have already perpetrated against Falun Gong."

The announcement sternly points out that "Ever since the publication of The Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party, Chinese people have more clearly recognized the nature of the CCP and the evil nature of the persecution. More than 4.8 million have withdrawn from the CCP and its related organizations. Heaven's destruction of the CCP is a historical inevitability. Gods must punish those criminals who have sinned against Falun Dafa. Those who refuse to do the right thing and instead continue to follow Jiang's scoundrel regime's persecution policies will be severely punished as perpetrators of unforgivable crimes."

The announcement points out compassionately in the end, "However, one of the purposes of the sacred FA of Falun Gong is to save people, including people in all social statuses. Even for those who have committed wrongdoings, there is still an opportunity for them to abandon the evil path and choose to be good. For all those who have committed crimes against Falun Gong but want now to correct their mistakes, they can submit, under safe circumstances, a guarantee statement or regret letter to Minghui (Clearwisdom Net) or to any regional Falun Dafa Association to be archived. We will not investigate the various crimes of those who are determined to correct their mistakes. However we will continue to monitor their actions."

After reading the announcement, practitioners entered the gate of the Visa Department of the embassy, put the letter on the desk and asked the gate guard to deliver the document to the ambassador. The gate guard was very nervous, tried to give the letter back to practitioners, and rudely drove the practitioners out of the gate. He finally threw the letter outside the gate.

Practitioners told him that China is a country with 5,000 years of civilization. We only delivered a letter and asked him to transfer it. The embassy staff behind the gate guard also looked nervous. While saying, "We don't want it," they claimed to want to "report it to the police."

It is reported that since the date of the publication of the announcement, a Global Monitoring and Tracking System has been formed, consisting of human rights organizations and individuals located in nearly 300 cities in more than 70 countries. The World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong (WOIPFG) coordinates its operation. New cases of severe persecution are documented and filed daily. Periodically, the cases will be compiled and released to the public, while the names of the perpetrators and those who give them their orders are added to the list of people to be monitored. When they leave China, appropriate legal action can be taken against them.

On October 26, a Chinese and a Western practitioner visited Stewarton Academy in Stewarton, near Glasgow, Scotland. They were invited by Modern Studies teachers to give presentations about Falun Gong to two fifth-grade classes during their Peace and Justice week.

Chinese practitioner tells the class about his experience of persecution in China

The western practitioner first introduced Falun Gong to the pupils, who had not heard of it, giving a brief history of when the practice was first brought out to the public in China in 1992, when it gained rapid popularity and awards from the Chinese Communist Party due to its life-changing effects on practitioners, who strive to live according to the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance.

She then spoke of how the then leader of China, Jiang Zemin, feared that the popularity of Falun Gong would be a threat to his own power. When seventy to one hundred million practitioners numbered more than the Communist Party membership he developed a deep hatred towards the practice. He banned Falun Gong, persuading the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to align with his vendetta. Since the CCP has a history of brutally targeting people who are seen as anti-CCP in various campaigns, and it propagates lies, incites hatred and promotes struggle, the core principles of Falun Gong and its peaceful activities were irrationally seen as a danger to the stability of China.

She outlined some of the brutal treatments meted out to practitioners, particularly highlighting the unjust treatment of children who practice or whose parents practice, such as being denied a proper education and being forced to write defamatory statements about Falun Gong before taking exams. Children are made homeless and orphaned when their parents are forcibly arrested and tortured to death by the CCP. The practitioner asked the pupils their views on the information given throughout the presentation, and they were shocked.

Next both practitioners showed some of the gentle Falun Gong exercises.

They then showed a DVD about rescuing the orphaned children of Falun Gong practitioners. Not only were the two practitioners visibly moved to tears, but many of the pupils, boys and girls, wiped away tears. Following on, the Chinese practitioner spoke of his personal ordeal in a forced labor camp in China, how he had been tortured severely, and how he missed his young daughter, whom he had only spent one year with because he was detained. He spoke of his sadness over the fact that his daughter didn't know him, because she was too young to remember him, and although he was lucky to leave China and come to the UK, his family was still in China. He also asked for the pupils' support through signing petitions.

The students were moved by his talk and asked him questions about his family and his experiences. One girl was really worried about when he would see his daughter again.

A petition to help rescue the orphans and another one to ask the Prime Minister to strongly appeal to the current leader of China, Hu Jintao, to stop the persecution when he comes on a State visit to the UK in November, were eagerly signed by both students and teachers. They also asked to keep some petitions to pass around the school. Many pupils took VCD's and leaflets about the persecution.

The teachers asked if they could keep the informative banners that the practitioners had hung up in the classroom, so that they could put them up at the entrance of the school for all to see. They also said they would write letters through the local Amnesty group to their MP's. They warmly thanked the practitioners for coming. The teachers also offered to pay the practitioners' expenses, but since all activities are free in Falun Gong, the teachers then decided to give a donation to the fund to rescue the orphans out of China. A photographer from the Irvine Times, a local paper, came and took photographs to go with an article the paper is publishing about the Chinese practitioner's experience in the forced labor camp.

After the workshop finished and the pupils went to their next lesson, they only wanted to talk about Falun Gong and the persecution rather than do their next lesson.

The next day they were again talking about the persecution and one teacher said that they had been really moved by hearing about it.

Source: http://clearharmony.net/articles/200510/29582.html

Falun Gong practitioners in Israel held activities to clarify the truth about Falun Gong during a Film Festival on Oct. 18, 2005. Their first stop was Akko, the most ancient port city in the world. The earliest historical records of this city date back to 1500 B.C.

People in Akko enjoy listening to the true story of Falun Gong.

Practitioners demonstrated the Falun Gong exercises, distributed flyers and displayed picture boards. Many people were fascinated and imitated the exercise movements. They listened carefully about facts of the persecution. Many signed their names to condemn the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China.

Practitioners headed for Haifa after spending a few days in Akko. The sponsor of our activities arranged a booth for us in a park where a film festival was being held. We set up display boards, some practitioners demonstrated the exercises, and some taught children how to fold paper lotuses.

When we gave two young men our flyers and told them the principles of Falun Dafa, and that the world needs "Truthfulness, Compassion and Tolerance," they said, "It is very important that the world needs 'Truthfulness, Compassion and Tolerance'!" They were shocked to hear about the persecution of Falun Gong in China. One of them came back to ask us where he could learn Falun Gong and if there were any free introductory lessons. When we told him all Falun Gong teaching was free, he was surprised and looked very grateful.

Many people happily took our flyers and listened to our truth-clarification. Things are changing. People are awakening. Falun Dafa is spreading wider and wider in the world.

Falun Gong exercise teaching during film festival in Haifa

Under the invitation of the Principal of EB Comstock Middle School, Falun Gong practitioners went to the school to teach the Falun Gong exercises. Twenty to thirty students and teachers learned the exercises in the gym.

A Falun Gong practitioner introduced Falun Gong, its health effects, its wide spread in the world, the CCP's persecution of Falun Gong, practitioners' peaceful resistance and support of justice using slide shows. Students and teachers couldn't help shaking their heads when they saw the part about persecution, but their frowns turned to smiles when they saw pictures of Falun Gong practitioners' peaceful appeals and Falun Gong's wide spread in the world.

Students and teachers learned the first two sets of Falun Gong exercises. One practitioner served as the main teacher. Two others demonstrated the exercise movements in the front. Others helped correct the students' movements.

Students learn hand gestures.

Teachers learn the first exercise.

Most students in EB Comstock are black or Hispanic. The school hires security guards to keep order because it is very difficult to discipline some students. A sensor is installed at the school entrance to prevent students from carrying arms. Principal Huckaby is very concerned about the discipline of the students.

Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Zheng is a teacher of mental arithmetic. She was invited to EB Comstock to teach mental arithmetic and took the opportunity to introduce Falun Gong to the school principal, who immediately invited Falun Gong practitioners to give a lecture at the school.

After learning the first two exercises, Principal Huckaby liked Falun Gong so much that she invited practitioners to give lectures on a regular basis. She said she would distribute flyers to parents and invite them to learn Falun Gong too.