May
18
2010
Jan
25
2010
Media and New Religious Movements: The Case of Falun Gong
by Leeshai Lemish
A paper presented at The 2009 CESNUR Conference, Salt Lake City, Utah, June 11-13, 2009
Introduction
“Which is the world’s largest group of prisoners of conscience – that is, peopled jailed for their beliefs or views?†Few educated media consumers in the West know the correct answer. It is Falun Gong adherents jailed in China; and it’s not even close. Continue reading
Jan
24
2010
GUEST COLUMN
A Chinese trek from Israel to California Center for the Arts
ESCONDIDO, California–What’s an Israeli doing in a Chinese show? I’m asked this almost as often as I’m asked, when checking in at the airport alongside a hundred Chinese dancers and musicians – “Are you part of this group?â€
The answer to the latter question is: “No, and yes.†
Continue reading
Jan
21
2010
Leeshai Lemish: The Games are over, the persecution continues
Posted: October 07, 2008
The Olympics are over, but don’t look away from China just yet. The fates of thousands of ordinary Chinese arrested ahead of the Games hinge on what we do this autumn.
For people like my Chinese-American friend Si Yang, these roundups have struck too close to home. In April, Si called his parents in Hebei province only to discover that 20 officers had shown up and taken away his father and sister. Continue reading
Jan
20
2010
The Faith Column
Being a Falun Gong practitioner
Posted by Leeshai Lemish – 18 August 2008 10:16
Often in the news but rarely understood, Falun Gong is regularly associated with Chinese human rights issues. Leeshai Lemish gives his understanding of what Falun Gong practitioners actually believe
I would have laughed if ten years ago you told me that my search for a meditation practice would land me on Beijing’s blacklist. Continue reading
Jan
20
2010
The Faith Column
Why is Falun Gong banned?
Posted by Leeshai Lemish – 19 August 2008 09:34
Leeshai Lemish looks at the history and causes of the Chinese Communist Party’s campaign against Falun Gong
‘If Falun Gong is benign, why is the Chinese government afraid of it?’ After nine years of persecution this basic question remains common. I’ll try answering it here. Continue reading
Jan
20
2010
The Faith Column
China’s other world
Posted by Leeshai Lemish – 20 August 2008 10:11
Leeshai Lemish tells of his and Ethan Gutmann’s journey into the persecution of Falun Gong
It was 2:00 am and we were sitting on the floor of a Bangkok slum. We had a flight to catch the next morning, but after interviewing Falun Gong refugees for a week we still couldn’t pull away from what they were telling us.
‘At first I thought it was just me. But then, one after another, more Falun Gong practitioners were brought into our cell’, Chen Jie said. ‘Their bellies, chest and backs were also covered with black bubbles from Continue reading
Jan
20
2010
The Faith Column
Falun Gong: defying the odds
Posted by Leeshai Lemish – 21 August 2008 10:01
Leeshai Lemish talks about Falun Gong’s resistance and the complicity of the West
If this persecution is so severe, why is it so rarely in the news and why isn’t more being done about it? Continue reading
Jan
19
2010
From the WACC’s journal Media Development, 2008/1 – Communication and Poverty:
‘Unworthy’ victims? Chinese suffering in Western media, by Leeshai Lemish
Jan
19
2010
Down the Mekong: Why Leave China for Cambodia?
Leeshai Lemish
10/16/2004
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Christian, a Falun Gong practitioner, and a Tibetan Buddhist are sitting in a restaurant. It sounds like the beginning of a bad joke, but it’s not funny to the three refugees who abandoned China in search for a persecution-free country and ended up in Cambodia. Take one young man, for example. When I met him in Cambodia for the first time, he looked like he would have a nervous breakdown if someone didn’t get him out to a safer place soon. Continue reading