Israeli Court Says Chinese Pressured University On Falun Gong Exhibit

In Israel, the Tel Aviv District Court ruled yesterday that Tel Aviv University improperly closed down an exhibit of artwork by Falun Gong members last year because of economic and political pressure from the Chinese Embassy. According to Haaretz, the court concluded that the Dean of Students gave into pressure in order to protect campus funding by the Chinese Embassy of scholarships for students who study in China, a campus Confucius Center where students can study Chinese, and conferences on Buddhism and Chinese philosophy. The two-week exhibit opened on March 3, 2008, but was shut down after only four days. The court ordered the university to host the exhibit for another full week during the upcoming semester, and to pay the two plaintiffs-- student organizers of the exhibit-- NIS 45,000 ($12,000 US) in litigation costs.