On 1 May, International Workers’ Day, Samidoun Gothenburg in Sweden joined other internationalists on the streets. They protested alongside several organizations, including Framåt kamrater (Forward comrades), Rojavakommittéerna Gothenburg and ATİK Haber Merkezi / AHM.
The demonstrators carried banners with various demands, including “Right to flee, right to stay, right to return,” upholding the rights of Palestinian refugees in Sweden facing repression and denial of residency permits, as well as “Solidarity against repression – solidarity with Khaled Barakat,” highlighting the case of Palestinian leftist writer and international coordinator of the Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa’adat, who was subjected to a political ban and ordered excluded from Germany for four years for his political activities in defense of Palestine.
In a speech given by Samidoun Gothenburg at the event, they affirmed:
“The struggle for the freedom of all political prisoners and all oppressed peoples continues this May First, despite the special circumstances of our time. Political prisoners such as Georges Abdallah, Ahmad Sa’adat, Khalida Jarrar, Müslüm Elma and Abdullah Öcalan continue their struggles for freedom, and resistance to other forms of repression also continue. Our comrade Khaled Barakat continues to fight against the German state’s political ban, deportation and exclusion that has been issued against him. An invisible but very serious form of repression is to be forced to flee and prohibited from finding sanctuary. The situation of Palestinian refugees in Sweden has been created jointly by the Israeli occupation and the Swedish immigration authorities. We end our speech with the following: Fight against the state and capital – No one is illegal!”
A further report on the demonstration and other 1 May activities in Gothenburg is available at the website of Framåt kamrater (Forward Comrades).
