Tel Aviv, Israel: Protesting 11 Years of Persecution of Falun Gong (Photos)

(Clearwisdom.net) On the evening of July 20, 2010, dozens of Falun Dafa supporters gathered in front of the Chinese Embassy in Tel Aviv, Israel to mark eleven years of persecution of Falun Gong in China. They said "enough" to the Chinese regime's persecution of Falun Gong and demanded the release of practitioners imprisoned in China.

Practitioners gather in front of the Chinese Embassy in Tel Aviv, Israel, to mark 11 years of persecution of Falun Gong in China

Peaceful protest in front of Chinese Embassy in Tel Aviv on July 20, 2010

Commemorating Falun Gong practitioners killed in the persecution over the last 11 years

Hoping not to commemorate a 'Bat Mitzvah' of the persecution of Falun Gong in China

The Israeli actress Sarit Vino-Elad sent a letter to be read in the rally:

"11 years of persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China - this is one anniversary I could do without. 11 years of persecution which won the title 'a new kind of evil.' 11 years in which people who support 'Truth-Compassion-Tolerance' are being persecuted, arrested, tortured, raped, murdered, forced to 'donate' their organs while still alive and healthy."

"I am not a Falun Gong practitioner", she said, "I know only a little about it, yet each time I spend time with practitioners, I wonder how the Chinese government ever thought it could sell to the world that these people are dangerous?"

"A little more than 11 years ago I gave birth to my oldest daughter. I've always tried to teach her that lying is not good, that understanding the other and being empathic to him is important. In other words - I tried to teach her truth, compassion and tolerance."

"She was born just before the terrible day in which the persecution of Falun Gong in China began. Had we lived in China, had I chosen to educate her as I do, it is very likely that I and she were both persecuted, may be even already been done for ...."

"In a few months we will celebrate my oldest daughter's 'Bat Mitzvah' (at age 12). I pray that the world really wakes up, and that next year we will not meet again in front of the Chinese Embassy to commemorate a 'Bat Mitzvah' to the genocide in China."

A passer-by was astonished. He said, "This is the quietest demonstration I've ever seen in my life"

Two Chinese who work in Israel and fear persecution if they were to return to China called Chinese Embassy staff and implored them not to cooperate with the persecution. They read a list of 30 places in the world where lawsuits have been filed against the Chinese regime officials involved in crimes against humanity in the persecution of Falun Gong.

An Israeli resident originally from China told about his sister, Xiong Wei, who had been arrested and imprisoned in China for two years for handing-out Falun Gong flyers.

Ms. Eleonora Shifrin, a journalist and human rights defender, said in the rally that when she had first heard about the persecution in China she was not the least surprised. She said she knew what communist regimes are like, because her family was persecuted by the communists in the Soviet Union. Shifrin's husband was imprisoned for many years in a Soviet gulag. She pointed out that communist regimes always persecute spiritual beliefs because spiritual beliefs contain high moral values which are in sharp contrast to the nature of communist rule.

Mrs. Ora Feidman from the Israeli Falun Dafa Association spoke of the uncompromising courage of the Falun Gong practitioners persecuted in China. She said that the Chinese regime requires educational institutions in China, even universities, to teach that Falun Gong is bad. She said high bonuses are given for arresting practitioners and their "transformation" through torture and brainwashing. She added that the courts in China cooperate with the Chinese regime, while against the Chinese constitution itself, and against the rights of innocent people.

"We urge the Israeli government, its ministers and lawmakers, to join other governments and parliaments to call for an end to the persecution of Falun Gong, which has now lasted over 11 years," said Feidman.