Ma'ariv Featured Article (A Weekend Magazine of Israel): To a Chinese Prison and Back
Staff Writer Asaf Hayim, Sofshavua
30 November 2001 (Clearwisdom.net) Lemish decided to travel to the ill-famed Tiananmen Square in
order to participate in meditation protest, even though he knew that in doing so
he risked his life or could possibly disappear in the labyrinth of a Chinese
Prison. Initially his parents tried to dissuade him from doing so, but quickly
they began to assist him to prepare for the complicated operation. Leeshai was
arrested and abused by the Chinese authorities. In the meantime, his mother Dr.
Dafna Lemish tried to persuade the media in Israel that the role of
"distraught mother" is totally inappropriate for her. Since then her
son has been freed, and the hope is that the incident will teach us something
about the status of human rights in the world and the status of women in Israel. At ten minutes before two in the afternoon on 20 November,
Leeshai Lemish together with a co-practitioner approached the appointed meeting
place in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, the capital of China, where 12 years ago
tens of students were killed during protests against the government [note:
Democratic movement for reform and anti-corruption]. 36 practitioners from
all over the world, many of whom had never met one another and knew that they
were to meet 30 meters south of one of the large Chinese flags flying in the
square. All shared the Chinese meditation practice of Falun Gong through which
they develop their bodies and minds, a practice outlawed by Chinese authorities
two years ago.
As they walked from all directions of the Square they stole
looks nervously in search of others who had come to participate in this historic
event. With slight nodding of their heads and warm, friendly glances they found
one another. Without speaking they aligned themselves in rows and then sat down
in the lotus position in order to begin one of the Falun Gong meditation
exercises. An act that could cost them their lives or long years of imprisonment
in a Chinese prison.
Many visitors in the Square gathered around and watched as
some of the practitioners unfurled a large banner on which was written
"Truth, Compassion, Tolerance". The tourists seem to understand that
this incident was not likely to end peacefully as several hundred meters away
were the buildings of the Chinese government. As usual, there were many black
uniformed policemen in the Square, and they assumed there were many more
plain-clothes police there too, as according to rumors there are as many as four
undercover police for every tourist. Suddenly the Square was no longer quiet.
Police began arriving from every direction and police cars stopped next to the
practitioners. While all this was going around them, the 36 continued to sit in
the lotus position in total silence with their eyes shut.
The practitioners had planned to meditate in the Square for
ten minutes, to disband quickly and to return home. But after three minutes they
were being dragged forcefully to the waiting police cars.
From Baseball to a Chinese Prison
Leeshai Lemish, a 23 year old Israeli who has been studying
at Pomona College in California for the last year, came to Falun Gong by
accident, with the help of Michael Jordan. "This all started when I was
playing baseball for the Israel National Team. I was looking for ways to improve
and noticed the influence of my thinking on my game. I had heard that Michael
Jordan concentrated so hard that even after he released the ball he still sought
to direct it to the hoop. I started to imagine before the game how I wanted to
pitch and what I wanted to happen... in one of the games what I had imagined
actually happened, it was like watching a movie - it was as if I knew what was
going to happen." I was amazed to see the influence of the mind on the
game. Soon after I read about a teacher of meditation who works with athletes.
From him I learned that there is much more to our inner selves than success in
baseball, it is about life itself and our understanding of our lives. I began
practicing all kinds of meditation -- Yoga, Zen, Tao Chi, Visual Imaging,
Vipasanna, among others.
"One day on my way to Tao Chi practice in Yarkon Park I
stopped at a table with materials about Falun Gong and began speaking with
Chang, a practitioner from China living in Israel. I quickly found that this is
what I had been seeking, particularly the principles not included in other
approaches about spiritual and physical self-improvement. I began to practice
the exercises, to listen to video taped lectures and I was impressed by the
strength of the work.
"When I came to America to study I found someone nearby
with whom to practice. We passed out flyers inviting others to join us, and each
day new persons came to learn about the exercises. It was then that I learned
about the persecution of practitioners in China. I was really touched by their
stories and plight and decided that I must do something to assist them. At first
we did simple things like pass out flyers. Then we met with mayors and members
of city councils in order to inform them of the activities the Chinese consular
staff in the States who follow our activities, harass practitioners and
persecute family members still living in China.
"Last summer I organized an event in front of the
Chinese Consulate in San Francisco. There for each hour during 12 days a
different practitioner sat in protest of the death of one of the 317 Chinese
practitioners whom we knew had been killed by the Chinese authorities for
practicing Falun Gong meditation exercises.
".... About a month and half ago I heard that
practitioners all over the world were getting organized to go to Tiananmen
Square. This is the heart of China where thousands of tourists visit each day.
Since Falun Gong was outlawed in China two years ago, practitioners have been
coming there from all over China to protest. Some have walked by foot for
thousands of kilometers in order to stand in the middle of the Square in protest
and to chant "Stop persecuting us", until they are arrested. So when I
heard that there were others who wanted to go to the Square, I knew what they
wanted to do."
The Trip
The quiet protest of ten minutes of meditation in Tiananmen
Square was well prepared. Participants did not reveal their intent for fear that
if details were discovered they would be stopped on entry to China. Their
greatest fear was that they would arrest them and that they would disappear, as
has happened to many Chinese citizens over the last several years. The date was
set for 20 November at 14:00 when there would be maximum access to the media in
the United States and Europe. All the details were developed and exchanged via
email. It was agreed that practitioners would make their own arrangements and
arrive individually at the Square five minutes before the set time.
"I only knew a few individuals", said Lemish,
"and we really didn't know how many practitioners would actually show up.
When we arrived we began looking for others. I began to think that we might have
to do it on our own. I knew that it was very likely that we would be arrested
and that even more dangerous things would occur. Our goal was to meditate in the
Square and that is all we planned. We didn't want to limit our actions by
thinking about what might happen after the meditation.
"I began preparing myself a few weeks in advance. I
tried to keep a clear mind, and not to submit to distracting thoughts and fears.
Not to dwell on questions such as 'what could happen?' I devoted myself to more
meditation and especially the lotus exercise in order to develop my capacity to
withstand the pain that I might sustain if I was hit. Pain, such as in ones'
legs, is an opportunity to release undesirable things from one's body. One has
to focus on the pain, not be distracted or escape confrontation with pain. Once
one overcomes fear, its source doesn't exist anymore. I focused on positive
thoughts, and visualized how we would succeed. After all, there is no good
reason why we shouldn't succeed and surprise the world.
"We wanted the Chinese people to know that Falun Gong is
being practiced all over the world and that persecution is not acceptable. We
wanted the Chinese people to know that practitioners from all over the world
have come to help and to explain that the government is lying to them."
Parents Join In
Leeshai's parents - Dr. Dafna Lemish, Chair of the Department
of Communication at Tel Aviv University, and Dr. Peter Lemish - shared in his
secret and even sought to dissuade him from taking part... "a few weeks ago
he hinted that he was involved in something very special," explained his
mother Dafna, "but we didn't know the particulars. As plans developed he
shared the details with us through special emails that we established for this
purpose. We used codes that only family members would understand. For example,
he told us that the events in the Square would take place on the day when his
sister studies for half a day in school, an hour after her last class.
"As the details became known to us, naturally we sought
to persuade him through rational arguments not to risk so much. We feared for
his life, and told him that he is going to participate in a protest against a
dictatorship that tortures and kills. We asked him if he didn't have fears about
what could happen? For example, entrapment by placing drugs in his suitcase and
then sending him to years of hard labor. There is evidence that the dictatorship
in China has not only done things like this, but has pushed Falun Gong
practitioners out of windows claiming that they have committed suicide.
"We argued that he was being naive, and he responded by
saying that they did not believe that with the Olympics approaching the Chinese
authorities would do anything that would damage their international image, that
their strength was in the fact that participants would be coming from many
different countries thus involving many embassies, and that media
representatives from all over the world would be involved.
The Media Question
And, the media did play an important role in the process.
Falun Gong practitioners trusted that the worldwide media would be favorable,
document the events, and give it wide exposure and that pictures of their arrest
would prevent the Chinese authorities from imprisoning them. For this reason,
Dr. Lemish prepared a plan of action.
"They prepared a press statement in advance and as soon
as it was learned that they had been arrested the statement appeared on their
Internet site. Leeshai prepared a personal statement, as well. They prepared a
well-defined plan of action in the event they were arrested. The plan called for
us to seek as much international and local media coverage as possible. Their
planning also included practitioners who accompanied them but who did not
participate in the protest but rather who acted as tourists in order to
photograph and video tape the events, in addition to the media who had been
invited to document the event.
"My second argument was that I didn't think that the
media would make a big issue out of a few practitioners meditating in Tiananmen
Square. This in and of itself isn't news; only if there is violence will it be
news. 'Believe me, there will be news', he said. They knew exactly what they
were about to experience, that there was a very good chance that they would be
arrested, that we would not sit idly by and as a result there would be a lot of
media attention.
"I tried other arguments, for example that the Falun
Dafa Movement and humanity would be better served if he continued to be active
in California and not wasting away in a Chinese prison. This didn't do any good
either. I tried to enter their way of thought. Since they are against all forms
of violence, I argued that 'by protesting you are provoking the police and
giving them reason to use force against you. You are trying to act humanely, but
nonetheless cause them to act violently against you.' I used reverse psychology,
trying to convince him through his own theories. So, I said to him, 'it is as if
you are putting a drink before someone who seeks to stop being an alcoholic'. To
that point he had no answer and said he would talk this point over with others.
I asked if they had thought about the fact that they might actually harm the
Chinese practitioners?
"None of our arguments were effective and I became
convinced that not only would we not succeed in dissuading him, but that I did
not have moral grounds to do so, especially after he said at one point:
"Mother, imagine what the world would be like if Nelson Mandela or
Mahatma Gandhi had given in to their parents' fears? I had to admit that I had
no response to this argument.
"Certainly as a mother one doesn't want to think of her
son in danger, but as a humanist, what could I possibly say to him? It is true
that there would be no change without the courageous acts of those willing to
risk their lives. He also told me, 'this is how you raised me." And, he is
right. He grew up in an activist family aware of social events. From an early
age he participated with us in protests in Israel and in the United States. So I
can't possibly say to him these are one kind of actions, but when the real
crunch comes listen to your mother and father who fear for your life. Peter grew
up in the United States, resisted going to Vietnam and was active there in the
human rights movement. He has been actively seeking to develop coexistence here
and already in 1973 was calling for a two state solution. Leeshai grew up in
such a family and internalized our values.
"When I realized that I could not dissuade him and that
he was prepared to be hit and sustain other forms of violence, I began to think
about how to help reduce the dangers, how to get organized.
Operations Center in the University
".... According to the most likely scenario we thought
he would be arrested and might disappear. Therefore we decided that what we
should do when his arrest becomes known to us was to let the media know
immediately. This would make it all the harder for the Chinese authorities to
hide him. Therefore I made a list of persons to call -- embassies, the emergency
number at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, media persons, persons who know
persons who ...
"and as soon as we heard, I acted just as we planned. I
didn't panic or let myself think for a moment about what could happen. I guess
that in our last conversation with him, when we told him once again how proud we
are and strong we are in our support of him, it was as if we were also
strengthening ourselves. From the moment that we accepted the fact that he was
going, I knew that I had to have total faith in him."
Early on Tuesday morning, about half an hour before the
scheduled time in China, Dr. Lemish arrived at her office and put a "do not
disturb" sign on the door. About ten minutes before her son was to start
his meditation in China she sought to be with Leeshai in his way. "I said
to myself, what you should do now is to sit quietly, to concentrate and to think
positive thoughts. I must admit that I tried, but didn't have patience. I called
Peter who was working in England during these events. We strengthened one
another and hoped for the best. And then I tried to work."
"About an hour and half later I received a call from his
girlfriend in the States. Leeshai called her from the jail to let us know that
he had been arrested and was OK. Immediately I called Peter and we started to
act. I said to myself, OK -- action time, and I began to follow the plans that
we had prepared. Though I was thrust into this against my will, I was there and
had to act to do everything possible to obtain his release, because to sit
around, to do nothing or to cry would not help anyone.
"My first call was to the Emergency Office of the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs. They told me that if Leeshai entered China on his
American passport then the United States would be responsible for him, and that
perhaps this was better since they [the Americans] were a group and it would be
easier to help attain a group's release. Peter was in contact with the American
Consul in Beijing who told him that they were following the situation and
explained that they could keep them for up to four days without allowing those
arrested to speak with embassy officials. This was very difficult. We knew that
he had been arrested and that no one had or might see him in the near future. I
didn't have any idea how long this would continue, if he was safe, under what
conditions he was being held. I prepared myself for the possibility that it
would take a long time."
The telephones did not stop ringing in the Operations Center
she set up in her university office - The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the
American Embassy, news desks of the newspapers and radio stations, internet
sites, Peter from England, her son's girlfriend Sarah in the United States.
"At one point rumors were appearing that Radio China had
reported that they had been arrested and were to be expelled. What most bothered
us was that the Falun Gong site reported that 36 persons had been arrested but
the Chinese reported 35 persons. We worried about the missing person. Actually
there were all kinds of numbers and reports on various sites on the net. No one
really knew what was going on and everyone was quoting one another. This went on
for 24 hours. We imagined all kinds of things happening, but knew that since he
was determined not to sign any declarations that this might be the act that
would send him to prison.
The Arrest
At the same time, Leeshai had been arrested in China. He had
arrived four days earlier with his friend, Brad. The two had gone to a hotel in
Beijing and immediately found the hidden camera that is apparently part of the
facilities in all hotel rooms there. In order to not be suspicious, they
conducted their Falun Gong exercises in a corner of a darkened room where the
camera could not see them. The next morning they went to the Forbidden City and
Tiananmen Square to check out the site. Lemish, "I remember thinking this
is not real. It was as if I living a dream. Here is this huge square filled with
history and here I am a Falun Gong practitioner and no one knows. I said to
myself, I will be here in two days and no one knows what is going to happen.
There is a special quiet there as if everything is OK, but under the surface
something is really wrong".
In the morning of the 20th the two prepared
themselves for a quick exit from China. They put their belongings in airport
lockers in order to be ready for their return flights prescheduled for the late
afternoon of the same day. On the way to the Square Leeshai talked with the taxi
driver in broken Chinese and learned that the driver didn't like the government.
But he restrained himself from telling the driver that they agreed with him and
were on their way to protest against the government. At ten in the morning they
purchased tickets for the Forbidden City in case they had to escape quickly and
find refuge among the hundreds of visitors. They also purchased metro tickets
and found all the possible escape routes.
"During lunch I began to feel all kinds of fears, but I
confronted them and started to settle myself down and to gain inner quiet. I
reminded myself of why we had come - to help others. This helped me to focus on
their plight, not my own. After lunch we walked to the Square, found ourselves
seats on the side and waited. Time passed by slowly and it was hard to prevent
the butterflies from returning to my stomach. At ten minutes to two we started
walking to the appointed spot. We saw some of them from a distance and knew that
we would not be alone. It was reassuring to see people from all over the world,
most of whom did not know one another, united in the mission we had come to
fulfill. We met and shook hands. Then we simply sat down on the ground. We saw
there were many people around us and they were all watching.
"We saw that some of the police were suspicious of what
we were doing. I saw police cars approaching. We said "start" and took
off our shoes. A banner was unfurled in back of us. We placed our right hand in
front of our chests pointing to the sky - in an ancient sign associated in China
now with the fight for human rights.
"We called out once a Chinese sentence and then I closed my eyes. I heard the police sirens,
the shrieking of tires, doors opened and closed, the racing steps of the police.
I closed my eyes because I did not think I was doing anything wrong and I said
to myself to remain there for as long as I could. I heard running all around me,
felt myself smiling inside and I thought to myself -- here I am sitting in
Tiananmen Square with 35 other practitioners from all over the world to bring
our message to the Chinese and to citizens the world over. We all concentrated,
were quiet and giving support to one another. Even though I was in the place
where others have been murdered, I was tranquil.
"As they approached we began to chant the phrase Fa
Zheng Qian Kun, Xie Er Quan Mie. We shouted it out and our voices were
strengthened with each shout. Slowly I began to hear less and less voices, until
finally I only heard my voice. Then I understood that all of them had been
dragged away. There was a lot of noise and confusion. Then I felt several hands
on me. I didn't resist but I concentrated on pulling my weight to the ground.
They pulled my right hand away, but I was able to return it easily, again to the
human rights sign. I said to myself I am staying here, I am heavy, they cannot
raise me. I did feel heavy but then suddenly I felt fear and at that moment they
succeeded in raising me, causing me to stand up and then they dragged me to the
car. As they did so, I shouted "Falun Dafa is good" over and over
until they put me into the police car".
Beatings and Going Home
At the police station the practitioners were able in all the
confusion to use their mobile phones and let the world know that they had been
arrested. In the initial questioning they sought to explain that their actions
were of good intention, but some were hit when they refused to sign statements
written in Chinese. One of the policemen grabbed Leeshai, hit him and shouted at
him in Chinese. "I told him that I knew only a little Chinese and that I
did not understand. He got angry, stood in front of me, cursed and shouted in
English -- 'you came here to make trouble, respect me'. He hit me hard in the
face and I said to him: 'why are doing that?" I repeated other sentences
that I knew in Chinese. He went totally crazy, pushed me up against the wall and
kneed me between the legs. He began to ask me questions, but I refused to give
him information about the others or to speak poorly about Falun".
The practitioners assumption that the government would not
keep them in China, because of the international nature of the group, turned out
to be true and they were expelled from the country after 28 hours in detention.
At 23:45 the next night Leeshai arrived in Vancouver, barefooted - his shoes
left in the Square when he was arrested -- hungry and tired. He called his
mother and in a strong voice filled with happiness, he said -- "I am OK, it
is over."
Don't Want to be a Weeping Mother
Leeshai and his mother came away from these events with
different conclusions. It is not every day that a media researcher finds herself
as one of the actors in an evolving media event, in the role forced upon her as
the mother of a hero who has been innocently arrested and abused. This event
will certainly provide her much professional material, for example for her
research seminar on the image of women in the Israeli media.
"I learned a lot about myself in this event, about my
son, about Falun Dafa. [...] In addition to this I found myself forced to be a
spokesperson for Falun Gong. I began reading in order to speak intelligently,
and I began to understand more and more. I cannot claim to practice the
exercises, but I think all of this has influenced me. I do think of myself as a
rational person, who works in the seat of rationality -- the university. Yet, we
also know that science does not have all the answers to our many questions.
"When I hear about the experiences they had in the
prison and how they influenced the soldiers guarding them, how they sustained
physical blows and didn't feel pain, it causes me to question what we really
know about the spiritual side of our lives. What do we really understand about
all of this? I can't really dismiss it. For a long time I feared that we were
being led into something to with which we couldn't connect, that we would lose
Leeshai, but in the meantime I only see positive things. Falun Gong has no guru,
no money is being made on the side, there are no rituals, no religious
ceremonies. I looked everywhere to find faults, but have yet to find any.
For his part, Leeshai believes that they achieved their goal.
Millions of people heard the message that the world should not be silent in the
face of Chinese persecution of Falun Gong. "There is no rational reason to
beat someone who sits in a public place under the banner 'Truth, Compassion,
Tolerance'. How many people knew about Falun Gong a few weeks ago, and that it
is simply a form of meditation? Many people now know what has been going on, and
that is a change in consciousness that we have contributed. I believe that this
will lead many people to step forward, to give witness to what we know is going
on, to support efforts to tell the truth about human rights violations. That is
what we sought to do, we risked our lives to bring forth these messages.
"..... as for the question about why an Israeli citizen
should risk his life for human rights in China, he seemed to be prepared and
answered quickly: "many people have asked me, why are you not fighting for
the rights of the Palestinians, against social inequalities in Israel, the
destruction of the rain forest, etc. There are many things that are wrong in our
world and I invest much of my time in many of them. But I think that the
situation in China is special because there are two clear opposing forces - a
quiet group of people who seek peace, tranquility and to be good; and their
total opposite. I decided to act because I have not found such dramatic
opposites in any other conflicts. I practice Falun Dafa and it has changed my
life dramatically. I am thankful that I have had the opportunity to act on its
behalf. I wanted to contribute because I cannot imagine people being murdered
today simply because they want to be better persons".
36 practitioners from all over the world, among them an
Israeli, Leeshai Lemish, succeeded in demonstrating on behalf of the rights of
Falun Gong in the heart of China.
Posting date: 12/9/2001
Original article date: 12/9/2001
Category: News & Media Reports