(Clearwisdom.net) Jaffa, usually referred to as Tel Aviv, is the second largest city in Israel, bordering the eastern Mediterranean. The population is mostly Jewish; Arabs account for only four percent. Surrounding the city of Tel Aviv are a group of cities such as Bat Yam, Holon, Ramat Gan, Petah Tike Wa, Rishon LeZion, Ramat-Sharon, Hertz Australia, and other cities, with a total population of over three million. It is the most expensive city in terms of cost of living in the Middle East.
Tel Aviv was established in 1909, so it is about a hundred years old. It was constructed by a group of Jewish immigrants who wanted to evade the expensive housing prices in the neighboring city of Jaffa. Gradually, the development of Tel Aviv surpassed Jaffa, which was mainly dominated by the Arabs. Two years after the founding of Israel in 1950, Tel Aviv and Jaffa were amalgamated into one city named Tel Aviv–Jaffa. Jaffa was an ancient city with a history of four thousand years. Tel Aviv today is considered to be Israel's international financial center. It is also the country's cultural capital. In 2003, Tel Aviv White City with its Bauhaus buildings was honored as a world heritage site by UNESCO.
In Hebrew, Tel Aviv means a “Hill of Spring” and the original meaning of Jaffa is “Beautiful.” Falun Gong's peace and beauty have been brought to Tel Aviv–Jaffa. It is just like its name in that it also brings the spring to this city.
May 13, 2006, Israeli Falun Gong practitioners gathered in Tel Aviv to celebrate World Falun Dafa Day.
May 13, 2009, Israel's practitioners celebrate the 17th anniversary of Falun Dafa and also wish Master Li Hongzhi happy birthday.
Falun Gong (also known as Falun Dafa) was first introduced in China in May 1992 and has been embraced by over 114 countries and regions around the world over the past 18 years. Falun Gong reveals the characteristics of the universe: Truthfulness-Benevolence-Forbearance. It emphasizes the value of virtue. Practitioners generally become healthy and their mind natures are upgraded. Hundreds of millions of people benefit from the practice both physically and mentally. Even in the war-ridden Middle East, including Israel, people have benefited from it.
The Hebrew version of Zhuan Falun is published, the Falun Dafa Association established
After the practice was introduced in Israel in 1997, more and more people began to learn Falun Gong. In November 2001, the Israeli Falun Dafa Association was established and became a legally registered organization. People from all parts of the country now enjoy the light of Truth, Compassion and Forbearance. There are practice sites in major cities from Nahaliya in the North to Ai Late (the Red Sea Rivera) in the South.
In April 2002, the Israeli Falun Dafa website in Arabic was officially launched: http://www.falundafa-arabic.org/ Beginning on September 30, 2002, Israeli Falun Dafa practitioners held a six-day International Experience Sharing Conference and parade activities. During the conference, the hosting party announced the official release of the Hebrew version of Zhuan Falun.
December 2009, group practice during the Israeli Falun Dafa Conference
Experience sharing conferences are a good opportunity for practitioners to exchange and share their cultivation understandings. On December 26, 2009, the 7th Israeli Falun Dafa Experience Sharing Conference was held in Tel Aviv. Practitioners from Israel and Europe attended the conference.
Group practice on the beach, a special invitation in Tel Aviv
Group practice near the beach
In the past 13 years, many people in Israel have learned about Falun Gong, either from seeing practitioners do the exercises outside or from hearing about it from their friends or relatives. Right now there are over 29 practice sites in Israel. Besides being able to download Falun Gong books from the Internet, people can also see group practice on the beach. They can contact those practitioners directly if they want to learn Falun Gong.
During the “One Hour before the Sunset” activities in 2005, learning how to practice Falun Gong became popular in Tel Aviv.
Those who originally came to sunbathe or swim began to learn how to practice Falun Gong.
In 2005, the Tel Aviv City government invited Falun Gong practitioners to host “One Hour before the Sunset” activities in front of City Hall. For a few weeks, every Thursday practitioners taught residents how to practice Falun Gong. Learning Falun Gong became popular in Tel Aviv. Sometimes there were over one hundred people, including tourists, learning Falun Gong at one time.
Exposing the CCP's brutal persecution of Falun Gong
On July 20, 1999, the CCP began to suppress Falun Gong. It has been confirmed that, so far, at least 3,400 Falun Gong practitioners have been persecuted to death. Hundreds of thousands have been sent to prisons or forced labor camps. Thousands have been sent to mental hospitals and many have been forced to have injections that damage the central nervous system. Countless practitioners have been sent to brainwashing sessions and some have had to leave home in order to avoid being persecuted. Many labor camps have perpetrated appalling atrocities, such as the harvesting and selling of organs of living Falun Gong practitioners for organ transplants.
On July 20, 2006, on the occasion of war between Israel and Lebanon, Israeli Falun Gong practitioners hosted a truth-clarification photo and anti-torture show in the center of Tel Aviv's Rabin Square, protesting the CCP's persecution of Falun Gong practitioners.
Practitioners create a simulation to expose the CCP's live organ harvesting.
On April 26, 2009, practitioners rallied in front of the Chinese Embassy in Tel Aviv to condemn the brutal persecution of Falun Gong.
On July 19, 2009, to protest the 10-year persecution of Falun Gong in China, practitioners assembled in front of the Chinese Embassy in Tel Aviv. Representatives from some non-governmental organizations joined the rally to support Falun Gong.
Knesset (Congress) member Eitan Cabel sent Falun Gong practitioners a letter of support. The next day, Israeli practitioners exhibited a “Live Simulation of Torture” in the tourist area in Tel Aviv and continued to expose the truth of the CCP's persecution of Falun Gong practitioners.
People listening to an explanation of the “Live Simulation of Torture”
On August 31, 2009, the International Truth-Compassion-Forbearance Art Exhibition opened in Tel Aviv and was up for one week. During the exhibition, viewers listened to the guide explain the works. Many were touched by the superb skills demonstrated by the artists as well as the content of the paintings. The exhibit helped people learn the truth about Falun Gong and the truth about the CCP's persecution of innocent practitioners in China.
Mainstream media concerned about the persecution
In mid April, 2002, the website for Israel's major newspaper Israeli Yedioth Ahronoth published a positive report on Falun Gong. It also gave a favorable evaluation to the design of the Israeli Falun Dafa website (www.falundafa.org.il) and suggested that people read that website to learn more about it. Within only a few days, hundreds of people downloaded and read Falun Gong books and learned the truth about the CCP's brutal persecution of Falun Gong. After learning the truth, many people came to learn the exercises and study the Fa.
On May 13, 2002, World Falun Dafa Day, Israeli Yedioth Ahronoth interviewed practitioners and published a positive report on Falun Gong
On April 3, 2006, Maariy, a widely read Israeli newspaper, published a headline report entitled “Live Harvesting of Organs from Humans,” which was about news from Sujiatun Concentration Camp in Shenyang.
On October 23, 2006, the Jerusalem Post in Israel published an article entitled “Searching for the Truth,” which introduced Falun Gong to its audience and exposed the CCP's human rights abuses against Falun Gong practitioners.
In August 2007, major newspaper Israeli Yedioth Ahronoth reported that four men in Israel were suspected of being involved in intermediary organ trading and that some of the organs were from Falun Gong practitioners in mainland China.
In March 2008, the International Truth-Compassion-Forbearance Art Exhibition was held at Tel Aviv University. A guide explains the background of the painting.
In March 2008, students in Tel Aviv University hosted the International Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance Art Exhibition. They were interfered with by the CCP and had to take down the exhibition halfway. The case went to court. On October 1, 2009, the Jerusalem Post reported on the decision of the local court of Tel Aviv, which said “the university gave in due to pressure from the Chinese Embassy and that was against the freedom of speech [laws].” The university was instructed to give the students another week to display the exhibition and pay the costs of litigation that students paid in the amount of 45,000 Israeli currency units.
Some have protested the CCP's brutal persecution
Signing to protest the CCP's persecution of Falun Gong
People who learned about the truth about Falun Gong signed to protest the persecution
In recent years, more and more members of the international community have condemned and denounced the CCP's inhumane persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. On January 28, 2008, Israeli National News reported that the chief rabbi of the northern city of Kiryat Motzkin, David Drukman, said the Jews must take the lead in condemning the CCP's killing of Falun Gong practitioners in order to harvest their organs and must strongly condemn what is happening now in China, that only animals can do such evil things.
Three months before this report, over 220 rabbis, academics, and politicians signed a petition calling for an end to the CCP's brutal persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China. Among the signatories were 8 Knesset Members (Hendel and Levy from National Union, Melchior and Cabel from Labor, Kachlon of Likud, and Oron, Gal'on and Vilan of Meretz). Over 40 rabbis signed, including Rabbis Chaim Druckman, Shlomo Aviner, Yuval Cherlow, Shmuel David of Afula, as well as Temple Mount loyalist rabbis, Moshe Feiglin and leaders of his Jewish Leadership group, and more.
(Note: Jewish rabbis are a special class. They are mainly scholars and teachers and they are the symbol of the wise. A rabbi's social status is extremely respected. Even kings often invited them to the palace to teach.)
