(Minghui.org) Falun Dafa practitioners in Philadelphia held a rally in Chinatown on Sunday, September 26, 2021, to focus attention on the ongoing persecution of Falun Dafa in China. They also celebrated the resignations of over 380 million people from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Practitioners held a rally in Philadelphia’s Chinatown on September 26.
Elected officials and the general public expressed their support. State Representative Mary Isaacson issued a proclamation and State Senator Sharif Street spoke at the rally. Other speakers included representatives from Doctors Against Forced Organ Harvesting (DAFOH), an organization that is focused on stopping this atrocity perpetrated by the CCP.
Practitioners hold a banner during the rally to end the forced organ harvesting in China.
Event coordinator Alex Luchansky said the CCP is a “transnational criminal organization.” He said that, since seizing power decades ago, the Party has lied to the Chinese people, as well as to the world, and brutalized its own people. He hoped the rally would help more people recognize this and stay away from the totalitarian regime.
“Had the CCP not lied, this pandemic could have been avoided,” he said. “Now the disaster has spread all over the world and affects every one of us. We must take action to stop the harm from continuing by rejecting the CCP.”
During the event, 25 Chinese people quit the CCP organizations. Besides the CCP itself, the affiliated organizations include the Youth League and the Young Pioneers.
Pennsylvania House of Representatives Issued a Proclamation
State Representative Mary Isaacson initiated a proclamation that was issued by the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. Part of the proclamation read, “The House of Representatives of Pennsylvania takes great pride in recognizing the efforts, inspiration, and on special occasion, the bravery and courage of the residents of the Commonwealth and their efforts to improve our lives and the lives of people around the world.”
Representative Mary Isaacson initiated a proclamation for the event.
The proclamation also read, “The CCP has killed over 80 million Chinese through numerous political campaigns in the past decades, including the Cultural Revolution, the Tiananmen Square Massacre, the persecution of Falun Gong, the suppression of Uighurs, and the retaliation following recent protests in Hong Kong.
“Falun Dafa practitioners, who make up the largest group of persecuted people in China, have been illegally imprisoned and severely tortured for the last 22 years. Many have been killed through the government’s program of forced organ harvesting.”
“The House of Representatives acknowledges the 382 million who have quit the CCP for the positive step to secure their own future, and also for the safety they bring to the U.S. and the rest of the world.”
State Senator: This Persecution Should Not Occur on This Planet
State Senator Sharif Street addressed the rally
State Senator Sharif Street, representing District 3 since 2017, also attended the event. “I came here because I want to support freedom of expression,” he said. “I know Falun Dafa [practitioners] have challenges with respect to being able to practice their religion and their cultural expressions.”
Senator Street called for an end to the atrocity. “We certainly want to strongly encourage the Chinese government to stop the persecution that occurs in China,” he said. “We don’t want this persecution to occur anyplace on this planet.”
The Harm of Communism
Addressing the rally, Dr. Jessica Russo said the CCP has done immeasurable damage to China. Besides killing innocent people, it also destroyed a 5,000-year-long great civilization. But the harm of communism is not limited to China. “Here in the United States, the CCP and communist ideology have undermined our education system, workplace, government, and media,” she said.
Dr. Jessica Russo stressed the importance of rejecting the CCP.
She pointed out that the CCP’s victims are not only the Chinese but all of mankind. “Saying no to the CCP is important to the Chinese. Similarly, it is also critical for every one of us. The United States, as well as every organization, company, and individual needs to reject the CCP. Only by doing so will we regain our freedom.”
DAFOH Representative: Ample Evidence
Ann Corson, Editor-in-Chief of the DAFOH newsletter, reviewed how the forced organ harvesting tragedy was identified. In 2006, the evidence became available showing that the CCP harvested organs from prisoners of conscience. These organs were then sold for profit by the CCP to patients in China and around the world.
Ann Corson, Editor-in-Chief of Doctors Against Forced Organ Harvesting newsletter, spoke at the event.
Ms. Corson thanked the medical, legal, and media investigators for their huge efforts to expose this issue over the years. She said that ample evidence indicates that forced organ harvesting has taken place on a large scale across China for 20 years. This was largely driven by China’s lucrative organ transplant tourism industry.
In March, the China Tribunal in London announced that it had concluded that large-scale forced organ harvesting has taken place in China over the years. Falun Gong practitioners are a main—and probably the only—source of these organs.
Ms. Corson urged more people in the medical community and in society at large to take action to end the crime of forced organ harvesting that targets Falun Dafa practitioners and other prisoners of conscience.
Government Officer: We Cannot Remain Silent
Many passersby stopped to listen to the rally, talked with practitioners, and signed the petition calling for an end to the tragedy.
Government official Michael Smith said he was glad to see forced organ harvesting being discussed publicly because it has not widely been reported on by the media. He had heard about organ harvesting that targeted practitioners before but did not know the details. From the concrete evidence he heard on September 26, he learned the crime is real and that it continues.
“This [forced organ harvesting] is disgusting. I will see what I can do to help to spread the information,” he said. “For a serious issue like organ harvesting, we need to inform people so that they will not become part of it.”
He said that remaining silent means acquiescence and that is not what we want. He thanked practitioners for their efforts to raise awareness. He feels this might be a starting point towards a real change and stopping this serious crime.
Brian Roenelt said staying informed and making the right decisions are important.
Brian Roenelt from New Jersey said he was shocked to hear about the persecution of practitioners in China, especially the forced organ harvesting. He said it was a horrible tragedy and that the most frightening part was that many people know about it but choose to ignore it.
He thinks it is our responsibility as citizens to stop and listen to what speakers say about this. “The more people pay attention to this, the sooner it will change,” he said. “It may only take a few minutes to learn what is going on, but it makes a big difference—the lives of millions of people could be saved.
Background: What Is Falun Dafa?
Falun Dafa (also known as Falun Gong) was first introduced to the public by Mr. Li Hongzhi in Changchun, China in 1992. The spiritual discipline is now practiced in over 100 countries and regions worldwide. Millions of people have embraced the teachings, which are based on Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance, and learned the five gentle exercises and experienced uplifted health and well-being.
Jiang Zemin, former head of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), perceived the spiritual discipline's growing popularity as a threat to the CCP's atheistic ideology and on July 20, 1999, issued an order to ban the practice.
Minghui.org has confirmed the deaths of thousands of practitioners as a result of the persecution over the past 22 years. The actual number is believed to be much higher. More have been imprisoned and tortured for their faith.
There is concrete evidence that the CCP sanctions the harvesting of organs from detained practitioners, who are murdered to supply the organ transplant industry.
Under Jiang's personal direction, the CCP established the 610 Office, an extralegal security organization with the power to override the police and judicial systems and whose sole function is to carry out the persecution of Falun Dafa.
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Category: Rallies & Protests
