(Minghui.org) Falun Gong practitioners gathered downtown near Rotterdam’s Chinatown on September 23, 2023, and the European Tian Guo Marching Band performed several songs, catching the attention of passersby.
The beautiful music was performed in front of several large banners with information about Falun Dafa, including the messages “Falun Dafa spreads in the world,” “The world needs Truthfulness-Compassion -Forbearance” and “Stop persecuting Falun Gong.” Passersby accepted booklets from Falun Gong practitioners, searched for Falun Gong on the Internet, or talked to practitioners. Everyone seemed to want more information.
“Hearing the music playing, we came to find out who was playing,” one woman said. “[It's] very nice music, I knew my boyfriend would like it, so I sent the video to him.”
“Music is a great way to get people together, because people love music, and it’s a great way to present ideas,” the woman said.
On September 23, 2023, the European Tian Guo Marching Band performed next to Chinatown and in the city center of Rotterdam, the second largest city in the Netherlands, to let more people know about Falun Gong and understand the truth.
People not only heard the beautiful music but also obtained information from Falun Gong practitioners.
A young woman happily reads a leaflet.
Falun Gong practitioners from many European countries traveled to Rotterdam to present Falun Dafa to the local people through performances, rallies, and parades with the Tian Guo Marching Band. They also informed people that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has brutally persecuted Falun Gong practitioners for the past 24 years and called on everyone to stop the persecution and the CCP’s crimes of harvesting organs from Falun Gong practitioners.
College Students Support Stopping the Persecution
Jaad Fateh, a college student studying international business, saw the band playing in the rain in Rotterdam. After talking with practitioners, he learned that Falun Gong teaches people to be good people according to Truthfulness-Compassion -Forbearance. “I think everyone should strive to follow such values and stick to their beliefs, which is very beautiful,” he said.
Fateh said that the CCP’s persecution of Falun Gong is terrible and it should not have happened. “Stick to your beliefs, this is a basic human right. Everyone should have such a right,” he said.
Fateh signed the petition calling to stop the CCP’s persecution of Falun Gong, and said, “The more people sign, the greater its influence.” He also said, “Other countries should help to stop [the persecution] because if the CCP has no pressure from other countries, it will continue.”
He praised the efforts of Falun Gong practitioners: “I think it’s amazing that so many people have come here. They are united. I think it’s really good; peaceful petitions send a message.”
Miccttell, a college student studying video production, said he was willing to support ending the CCP’s crimes of persecuting Falun Gong practitioners and organ harvesting by signing his name.
“Persecution is not good, not only in China but also for people all over the world. It would be better without persecution and it should be stopped. Harvesting organs from living people is not a human thing, and we should think of them [persecuted Falun Gong practitioners]. I hope there will be a change, so I will sign,” he said.
Björn, who stopped with Miccttell, is a software development student. He said he wanted to share the message that he had learned that day and tell his friends why Falun Gong practitioners played the music today and why they held activities. He told practitioners, “The most important thing is that you bring people together here.”
Students from Mainland China Watch the Parade and Learn the Truth about Falun Gong
The band’s performance also attracted two young Chinese students. One girl mentioned that she knew very little about Falun Gong, and had only heard about Tiananmen “self-immolation” and that Falun Gong was banned in the mainland. One practitioner told her that the “self-immolation” was a plot directed by the CCP, and told them about Dafa’s popularity in the mainland before the persecution, and how it has spread around the world.
The practitioner also told them that Falun Gong had no organization, but only taught people to correct their behavior in accordance with the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, and Falun Gong practitioners have benefited physically and mentally from these teachings. Falun Gong practitioners advised the two young women to pay attention to quitting the CCP and its affiliated youth organizations, and also shared the Minghui website with them, hoping that they could learn more.
In the afternoon, the Tian Guo Marching Band traveled from Rotterdam to Dam Square in Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands. After holding a rally, practitioners held a parade led by the band. The procession passed through Amsterdam’s Chinatown, the downtown area in front of the train station, through the bustling streets, and finally back to Dam Square.
At 5:00 p.m., Falun Gong practitioners started their parade from Dam Square and passed through Chinatown and the city center, attracting passersby along the way.
Marloes van de Pol, who teaches philosophy at a university, recorded the march on her phone. She learned from a banner that the CCP was persecuting Falun Gong practitioners, and she choked up: “The persecution is really bad, those people should not be persecuted.” When she further learned that over the past two decades, Falun Gong practitioners have been resisting the persecution in various ways to uphold their faith, she said, “The more people know, the more they will lend a helping hand.”
German Tourists: Persecution Should Not Happen
The message on display in Dam Square reminded Cedric and Julia Egge of Hamburg of seeing Falun Gong practitioners in their own city. They stopped and signed the petition calling for an end to the persecution.
Julia said, “[The persecution] is inhumane. It should not be allowed to happen today; it should be completely prohibited. Because everyone’s life is of equal value, we cannot tolerate [persecution].”
“It’s important that Falun Dafa practitioners hold events on the street and tell people about it,” Cedric said. “It is sad that this is not possible in China, and I think people should have the right to voice their opinions.”
Cedric believes that the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance are “absolutely important.”
“People should care about others so that society can function, and if everyone acts according to their own wishes, especially with such serious crimes as organ harvesting, it will not work,” he said.
Daria, a Kazakh girl now living in Germany, had heard of Falun Gong. She agreed with Falun Gong’s principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, and said, “All people need to follow these principles, and I also believe that all people want to be better, want to be better for others, and help others.”
Daria, a Kazakh girl living in Germany, hopes to help stop the persecution.
Daria signed the petition in support of Falun Gong practitioners. “I think this persecution is really terrible, and I really hope that [the signature] will help. And hopefully, everything will be fine,” she said. “I believe that if we are kind to others, the world will also be kind to us.”
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