(Minghui.org) A protest rally was held on Thursday, June 10 in front of the Chinese embassy in Tel Aviv, demanding to end the persecution of Falun Gong (also called Falun Dafa) practitioners in China and marking 22 years of the establishment of the notorious 610 Office in China.
Practitioners held banners in Chinese, English, and Hebrew that read: “The Persecution Must End!” and “Falun Dafa is Good.” One banner explained that the Chinese communist regime is harvesting organs from living people to sell to the highest bidder on the transplant black market.
Practitioners stood on the sidewalk in front of the embassy in Tel Aviv on Ben Yehuda Street, a major artery for buses and cars. When cars stopped at the red light right next to the banners, some practitioners clarified the truth to the drivers. Others sat in quiet meditation on the sidewalk, and some others gave speeches.
Practitioners holding banners in front of the Chinese Embassy in Tel Aviv
Some drivers honked in solidarity and signaled with hand gestures that they supported the protest.
More and more people in Israel are becoming aware of the destructive nature of the communist regime in China, especially following the coronavirus outbreak during the last year and a half. Many know that the source of the pandemic is a highly contagious virus that originated in China, and that the outbreak was covered up for weeks by the CCP, which caused it to spread all over the world. Many in Israel have already heard about the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China, and they are aware of the fact that the regime is harvesting their organs for profit.
Many of the residents around the Chinese embassy are also aware of the frequent protests held by Falun Dafa practitioners at the site.
Some practitioners gave speeches while others helped passersby sign a petition calling for the end of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
The first speaker was a practitioner from the city of Rishon Lezion in central Israel. He described how the practice first began spreading in China and the many benefits it brought to the people and society at large in China.
He said, “Anyone who chose to learn and practice Falun Dafa came of his own free will and integrated the practice into his daily life according to his personal circumstances. People altered their lives and chose to live according to Truthfulness, Compassion, and Tolerance. After a short while, one could see how this affected the entire society for the better. People became more considerate of others and showed compassion. They behaved honestly in family and in business and acted more truthfully. They became more restrained and less prone to anger, and showed more tolerance. Thus, the entire society in China changed for the better. Falun Dafa brought tremendous blessings to China, and greatly benefited individuals and society. Even the CCP praised the practice in the early years.
“However, 22 years ago, the leader of the CCP at the time, Jiang Zemin, launched a brutal persecution campaign against Falun Gong practitioners and against the values of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Tolerance. For that purpose, he established the 610 Office, which in many ways resembles the Gestapo of Nazi Germany. The 610 Office has the authority to broadcast propaganda in order to slander and demonize practitioners. The authorities were given instructions to arrest practitioners, persecute them, and send them, without trial, to detention centers, forced labor camps, and ‘re-education’ brainwashing centers. The 610 Office is responsible for all types of abuses inflicted on practitioners by the Chinese regime, including organized forced organ harvesting from living practitioners, in order to sell the organs to foreign ‘transplant tourists’ or to the highest bidder.”
The next speaker was a Falun Dafa practitioner from Tel Aviv. She described the 610 Office in detail, “It is important to understand that the 610 Office, established in China on June 10, 1999, plays to this very day a critical role in the Chinese communist regime’s persecution of Falun Gong.
“Jiang Zemin, former CCP leader, established this Gestapo-like organization and named it the ‘610 Office’ after the date it was created. A month after it was established, on July 20, Jiang Zemin launched a nationwide persecution against Falun Gong. This happened 22 years ago today.
“From the very beginning, this extrajudicial agency has operated above the law, with no constitutional basis and with no laws defining its powers. Despite being illegal, the 610 Office has played a key role in executing the persecution policy over the past 22 years and has extremely extensive powers. The 610 Office is heavily funded by the Chinese regime and commits human rights violations against Falun Gong practitioners.”
She went on to say that the 610 Office is responsible for spreading propaganda, tracing and monitoring Falun Gong practitioners throughout China, arresting and imprisoning them, setting up torture and re-education camps, and inciting family members, neighbors, and acquaintances to inform on practitioners.
The central leadership team of the 610 Office was officially disbanded in 2018 but was actually integrated into the Ministry of Public Defense and into the Political and Legal Affairs Committee.
As a result of the 610 Office operations and persecution, millions of Falun Gong practitioners have been detained for varying lengths of time, and tortured. Many have died, while many others are missing and no one knows what happened to them. Families fell apart and many children became orphans and destitute. Many practitioners died as a result of having their organs harvested while they were still alive.
On Saturday, June 19, a number of Israeli Falun Dafa practitioners held a truth clarification activity at the old central bus station in Tel Aviv.
The old Central Station complex in Tel Aviv is a meeting place for Chinese workers who live in Israel. They come here every Saturday morning to buy groceries imported from the Far East and also to meet and spend time together.
Some of the practitioners did the standing exercises while others distributed truth-clarification leaflets in Chinese. Other passersby, Israeli and foreign workers from other countries, also showed an interest in the practitioners who were doing the exercises with Dafa’s unique music. The practitioners told them about the persecution in China and gave them leaflets and other truth-clarification materials.
Falun Dafa practitioners doing the exercises
Practitioners have been holding this activity at the old central bus station about once a month on Saturdays for many years.