United States: Organ harvesting appeal from Falun Gong practitioners on Venice boardwalk in California

Ever since the crimes of harvesting organs from living Falun Gong practitioners were publicised, several activities have been held on Venice boardwalk to bring these brutal crimes against humanity to light. Some of them were held at the same time as Wenyi Wang made her appeal against the persecution of Falun Gong at the White House.

Our booth was not particularly large, but it was large enough to appeal to the consciences of the masses of people passing by. People continually passed us, some showing and demonstrating their artworks, others trying to sell something. A local here once told me: “When you come to California, you should first visit Disneyworld, and then Venice Boardwalk.”

Our booth amongst the art displays

As a group, we realised that it is important to carefully think about how we can best integrate into the environment. At first, we noticed that many of the artists were shocked to see a collection of posters depicting torture at our booth. Later, we realised that we should be demonstrating the peaceful and harmonious aspects of our practice. We decided to demonstrate the Falun Gong exercises and to send forth righteous thoughts more often. The pictures showing torture scenes were placed farther back, whereas the books and pamphlets about the persecution were put up front.

We were only allowed to distribute flyers from the booth but many people came to watch us do the exercises and send forth righteous thoughts. Some quietly signed the petition. Many accepted our flyers and asked questions about the persecution and the organ harvesting from Falun Gong practitioners. Some people had watched on television when, during a state ceremony on the White House lawn, Ms Wenyi Wang, an Epoch Times reporter, demanded Hu Jintao, the leader of the Chinese Communist Party, to stop the persecution of Falun Gong.

I still remember that after seeing Wenyi’s appeal on television one American couple said: “There are no human rights in China”. I think that many Americans have seen information about the terrible persecution and the cruelty of organ harvesting from live victims on television.

Impressions

A group of bodybuilders passed our booth and I handed one of them a flyer. A little later, he came back and wanted to donate some money. Another young man passed us and asked for a flyer, which he started to read with much interest. Many people were happy to accept our printed materials.
Our group was not large but we acted as one body. Most practitioners from our group attended all of the activities. Whenever someone was not able to come, he or she would support us with righteous thoughts. I could feel a deep connection with the population of this area. It was clear to us during those days that it was important to clarify the truth and to ask people for their support.