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MP Rabbi Michael Melchior said in the rally that he will
do anything to make the world notice what is going on in China. (Tikva
Mahabad/The Epoch Times) |
ISRAEL—A rally called for an urgent
discussion on the persecution of Falun Gong in China, in front of the Israeli
parliament, the Knesset, in Jerusalem on Wednesday afternoon. Twenty-two Israeli
members of parliament have called for an urgent discussion on the persecution of
Falun Gong, the peaceful spiritual practice banned in China in 1999.
The rally also marked nine years since
the persecution of Falun Gong began in China, with the participation of
religious leaders, intellectuals, MP Rabbi Michael Melchior, and human rights
supporters.
Roy Bar Ilan, spokesman of the Falun
Gong Israeli Information Center, explained that during the past nine years the
Chinese regime has been persecuting the practitioners of Falun Gong, by using
extremely cruel means.
“In fact, in China, about 100 million
people are denied of their fundamental rights because of their belief,” said Bar
Ilan.
As for the Israeli angle, Bar Ilan
replied: “All Falun Gong practitioners living in Israel, who are law abiding
civilians, are bluntly discriminated against. For example, no Israeli Falun Gong
practitioner is allowed to participate in the Olympics—neither as a competitor
nor as a spectator.”
“The objective of the rally,”
explained Bar Ilan, “is to support the government in taking a moral stance and
addressing the facts. We should not allow a ‘business as usual’ approach with
China to go on while ignoring the genocide taking place against Falun Gong
practitioners.”
‘If We Don’t Raise Our Voice, Who Will?’
“I came here to raise my voice against
organ trading,” said Father Abu Hatum Masud, a Greek Catholic priest from
Nazareth, referring to the evidence found on the harvesting of vital organs from
live Falun Gong practitioners taking place in China.
According to an investigative report
conducted by two Canadian lawyers, Falun Gong practitioners are gathered in
concentration camps and then taken to surgery for removal of their organs for
on-demand transplants, without sufficient anesthesia. Most practitioners are
killed during the process, or later when they are immediately thrown into a
crematorium.
Abu Hatum Masud said that the Israeli
Government should raise its voice against such atrocities.
“We still remember what happened in
the 40’s. If we don’t raise our voice against such things, who will?” he said,
and also stated that the regime is also suppressing Catholics and
Tibetans.
Men of Letters Are Free from Political Considerations
Chairman of the Hebrew Writers
Association, Balfour Hakak, said: “I came here on behalf of the intellectuals in
our country. As Jews we remember how the world kept silent while Jews were being
murdered. Hitler interpreted this silence as an acceptation of the world to his
wrong doings. Being the next generation of Holocaust victims, we should raise
our voice against the Olympic Games in China.”
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Chairman of the Hebrew Writers Association, Balfour
Hakak: |
Hakak also said: “I came also to raise
my voice against president Peres's upcoming visit to China. The president of
Israel is a moral role model. When Peres shakes hands with the Chinese president
Hu Jintao, he will actually convey him the message that China is exempt from
punishment.”
“Men of letters are usually free of
political considerations. The people of the world tend not to act against China
because China is an economic power. Men of letters do not have such
considerations. The Jewish people should raise their voice for other nations
too. Not only when Jews are offended should the Knesset hold a discussion,” said
Hakak.
“Any human action is like a prayer,”
said Menachem Fruman, rabbi of the settlement Tkoa, “sometimes it is accepted,
and sometimes not. I came here to pray to God that the injustice done to [Falun
Gong] practitioners in China, the Tibetans – the injustice of the strong abusing
his power – will stop.”
Rabbi professor Haim Cohen from
“Rabbis for Human Rights,” said: “Let us all pray as Falun Gong does, not only
with our hands but with our actions as well. Let parliament all over the world
hold indoor discussions [about the Falun Gong], but also at parks, churches and
synagogues.”
MP Rabbi Michael Melchior Expresses His Support
MP Rabbi Michael Melchior came during
the rally to express his support. He said that he will do anything so the whole
world will notice what is going on in China, and that crimes cannot be hidden
under the mask of a sports event.
Michael Melchior declared at the rally
that he intends to present the Israeli president and chairman of the Knesset the
report by the Coalition to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong (CIPFG),
which contains data on 1.2 million people from around the world who signed a
petition for stopping the persecution in China, and information about the
persecution.
In his speech at the rally, Melchior
said, “During history we wanted to bring the world’s attention to the situation
of the Jewish people, and it was also hard to raise the public awareness to
something so distant from the eye, distant from the heart.”
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Father Abu Hatum Masud, a Greek Catholic priest from
Nazareth: “We still remember what happened in the 40’s. If we don’t raise our
voice against such things, who will?” (Tikva Mahabad/Epoch
Times) |
“I have read quite a lot of material
about Falun Gong, and I understand why the values of Falun Gong threaten the
communist regime in China. There are really deep values of tolerance and the
pursuit of truth, which can be really very threatening,” he
added.
‘Communism is Bad’
The husband of journalist Eleonora
Shifrin was a Prisoner of Zion for many years in the former USSR. “Communism is
bad,” Shifrin said in the rally, “It is bad for all mankind. People still don’t
realize how bad it is. It is against humanity in its entirety.”
Shifrin explained that the Chinese
regime is afraid from the strong faith of Falun Gong practitioners, because they
cannot be intimidated.
‘In the Name of Humaneness’
”We stand here not as Falun Gong
practitioners, but in the name of humaneness,” said Dr. Chen Yechezkeli,
philosophy lecturer. He said that although people say that the Olympic Games
should be separated from politics, in fact the Olympiad has a political meaning,
and the purpose behind it is to unite people and cultivate the spirit of
brotherhood among human beings.
“I call leaders of
nations, if not to boycott the Olympics, to at least express their concerns and
fears in regard to human rights in China and all over the
world.”