Netherlands: Exposing the Persecution on Dam Square in Amsterdam

Falun Gong practitioners held an event in well-known Dam Square in Amsterdam on July 21, 2012, to protest the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)’s persecution of Falun Gong. They set up poster boards and demonstrated the exercises.

Practitioners demonstrating the exercises on Dam Square in Amsterdam.	A student is moved to tears after hearing the facts of the persecution.
Passersby talk to practitioners about Falun Gong on Dam Square.

A UK tourist asked “Why?” several times after reading about the persecution of Falun Gong. After listening to a practitioner’s explanation, he said he would write to parliament members to help stop it. He left with informational flyers to share with his family.

In front of the poster boards, a student from Southern Europe placed her bag on the ground and stood quietly. Later she told a practitioner that, since her youth, she had sensed more things than other people and that being in the vicinity made her feel at ease. She asked for the practice site in Amsterdam to learn Falun Gong. She teared up when she heard about how Falun Gong practitioners have suffered.

Many tourists from Italy, Russia, Israel, and South Korea were drawn to the exercise demonstration. They took informational flyers in their languages and asked about finding practice sites when they returned home.

There were also many Chinese tourists on the square. Some of them took photos of the practitioners and their event. Many read the poster boards about Falun Gong and the CCP persecution. Several of the Chinese tourists were surprised to find out that “self-immolation incident on Tiananmen Square” was staged by the CCP. After hearing about the movement to quit the CCP and its affiliated organizations and the reasons why is it important, they withdrew immediately. They shook hands with the practitioners before they left.

Due to the CCP’s propaganda, some Chinese tourists did not dare to accept informational materials. A practitioner encouraged one such person who walked quite a distance from the site, saying, “Don’t trust the CCP’s lies. Everyone has to make a choice between right and wrong.” The tourist then accepted the informational materials and came to read the poster boards. Some tourists that did not dare to accept materials still took photos of the protest.