(Minghui.org) “There are moments in history when people choose to stand—not out of power, but out of conscience. Not out of anger, but out of quietness. April 25, 1999, was such a moment,” said Eric Aharon, an Israeli Falun Gong practitioner, who opened the first of two activities held by practitioners in Tel Aviv to mark 27 years since the April 25 Appeal in Beijing.

Eric Aharon spoke at an event on April 23, 2026 to commemorate the April 25 Appeal.

The first activity took place on Thursday, April 23, 2026, outside the Chinese Embassy building in Tel Aviv. The second activity was held on Saturday, April 25, 2026, in Neve Sha’anan – Tel Aviv’s “Chinatown” – exactly 27 years after 10,000 Falun Gong practitioners peacefully appealed to State Appeals Office in Beijing, calling for the release of 45 practitioners arrested in Tianjin, a fair environment to practice Falun Gong, and to refute the slanderous article about Falun Gong.

Remembering the April 25 Appeal

Speakers at the event near the Chinese Embassy explained the background of the April 25 appeal. In April 1999, an article published in Tianjin misrepresented Falun Gong. Practitioners went to the relevant authorities to clarify the facts. However, riot police were then sent to disperse them, which resulted in practitioners being beaten, and 45 practitioners were arrested.

More than 10,000 practitioners traveled to Beijing on April 25 to appeal for their release and to ask the government to recognize their lawful right to practice.

Aharon continued, “They carried no weapons. They shouted no slogans. They sought no power. They asked for only one thing: to clarify the truth.”

Although the matter was resolved peacefully that day, three months later, on July 20, 1999, Jiang Zemin, then-head of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), launched a nationwide persecution of Falun Gong. The persecution has continued for almost 27 years.

Practitioners Raise Awareness Outside the Chinese Embassy

Outside the Chinese Embassy, practitioners displayed banners and signs calling on the CCP to stop persecuting Falun Gong. Some signs drew attention to the CCP’s state-sanctioned forced organ harvesting from prisoners of conscience, especially Falun Gong practitioners.

Israeli practitioners commemorate the 27th anniversary of the April 25 Appeal in front of the Chinese Embassy in Tel Aviv on April 23, 2026.

Yaacob Ostrovsky, an Israeli practitioner who began practicing Falun Gong before 1999, said he still remembers hearing Chinese state television reports claiming that Falun Gong practitioners set themselves on fire in Tiananmen Square. He said he immediately knew the report was false because Falun Gong practitioners are taught to cherish their lives. Speaking in front of the embassy, he said, “The moment I heard that, I knew it was not true. I just read in the book that practitioners must protect lives and not harm or endanger themselves or anyone else. So, I immediately realized that this didn’t make sense; this wasn’t true.”

The principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance, Aharon said, are not only spiritual values, but basic conditions for a healthy human society.

“When these values are harmed, it is not a problem for one group alone. It is a problem for all of us. It is a problem for all humanity.”

The Chinese Embassy recently relocated to a busier neighborhood, so cars slowed to read the signs, and passersby from the many offices and institutes were curious about the event. They stopped to read the signs, watch as practitioners did the exercises, and to learn more about the persecution in China. Many were deeply disturbed after learning about the persecution and forced organ harvesting, and thanked practitioners for raising awareness outside the Chinese Embassy. Some accepted informational materials and handmade lotus flowers, while others signed a petition calling for an end to the persecution.

Passersby Express Support

Several passersby responded with support. At the beginning of the activity, a woman who worked at a media company in a nearby office building stopped to photograph the event. After a practitioner invited her to learn more, she accepted an informational flyer. She said that she identified with the activity being held, and felt that what is happening in China is wrong.

Another woman stood for a long time reading the materials displayed on the table. She expressed her support, read the information carefully, and signed the petition calling for an end to the persecution. Toward the end of the activity, another woman drove up, parked her car, and came over to the practitioners. She said she wanted to stand with them and signed the petition.

Flyers were handed out in neighboring streets. One woman came out of a nearby building with a serious expression. After receiving a flyer introducing Falun Gong, she was visibly moved and said: “How did you know that I needed this so much at this very moment?”

Raising Awareness in Tel Aviv’s Chinatown

After the formal activity in front of the Chinese Embassy, the practitioners continued their activities in Tel Aviv’s Chinatown on April 25, this time as a heart-to-heart message from Israeli practitioners of an ancient Chinese meditation practice to Chinese people living and working in Israel.

On weekends, the area becomes a busy gathering place for foreign workers, most of whom are Chinese, who come to shop at local stores, buy groceries, and socialize. Practitioners demonstrated the Falun Gong exercises, displayed banners and truth-clarification programs on a television screen, and distributed informational materials in different languages.

A practitioner addressed the Chinese people in Chinese, telling them why practitioners were there and reminding them to cherish Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance—the principles of Falun Gong. The practitioner said that people could see that Falun Gong is practiced freely in Israel, and that the police officers and municipal inspectors routinely patrolling there have a positive attitude toward practitioners.

Many Chinese people took photos of practitioners doing the exercises, or showed videos of practitioners doing the exercises to their families while talking to them on video calls. Others who regularly saw practitioners on Saturdays gradually became familiar with their peaceful presence and sincerity. Nineteen Chinese people withdrew from CCP organizations that day.