Take action 12-19 June: Week of Action to Free Georges Abdallah

Join the international week of action between 12 and 19 June for the liberation of Georges Abdallah! Georges Abdallah is a Lebanese Communist struggler for Palestinian liberation imprisoned in France since 1984 and the longest-held political prisoner in Europe. The call for this international week of action was launched by the Unitary Campaign for the Liberation of Georges Abdallah and supported by a joint appeal signed by Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network and the Collectif Palestine Vaincra, alongside many other organizations, emphasizes that “Your release is our determination and our commitment, so that this 37th year of detention that you face, strong in your conscience, with constant resistance, may finally be the end of this ‘little eternity that is life imprisonment.'”

The call emphasizes, “We, the signatories of this text, are launching a call to amplify, coordinate and converge, in particular, our mobilization, from 12 to 19 June 2021, in France and around the world, for a week of national and international actions for the release of Georges Abdallah.”

Events and actions are being organized in France around the world, including the French national demonstration in Paris on 19 June as well as a solidarity video and art action in Austin, Texas. These mobilizations are an important occasion to escalate the campaign for the liberation of Georges Abdallah, who has become a Palestinian, Arab and international symbol of the struggle against imperialism, Zionism and reactionary Arab regimes.

Take action!

We urge all supporters of Palestine to join activities in your city or organize initiatives to highlight the case of Georges Abdallah and demand his liberation. Here are some examples:

  • Print, distribute and post these posters (image above and downloadable here) calling for the liberation of Georges Abdallah in your community.
  • Organize a screening of the new film, Fedayin, the Struggle of Georges Abdallah in your community. The film is fully subtitled and available in English, French, Arabic, Italian, Spanish, and German. To organize a screening, please contact vacarmesfilms@gmail.com
  • Protest or deliver a letter demanding Georges Abdallah’s release at the French consulate or embassy in your city.
  • Include Georges Abdallah’s liberation – and the liberation of Palestinian prisoners – in demonstrations, actions and vigils for Palestine and the boycott of Israel in your city.
  • Participate in the mobilization on social networks using the hashtags #MacronLibérezAbdallah and #FreeGeorgesAbdallah. Use the Facebook profile decor to draw attention to the case.
  • Write Georges Abdallah and send him solidarity messages (individually or as a collective action of your group). Send letters to:

Monsieur Georges Ibrahim ABDALLAH
2388/A221 CP de Lannemezan
204 rue des Saligues
BP 70166
65307 LANNEMEZAN
France

Contact us at samidoun@samidoun.net for more information or to let us know about your action or send us a message on social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram)

Who Is Georges Ibrahim Abdallah?

A Lebanese Arab struggler for Palestine, Georges Abdallah has been imprisoned in French prisons since 1984, convicted on charges of participation in armed actions by the Lebanese Armed Revolutionary Faction, working to fight off colonialist and Zionist invasions in Lebanon.

From his youth, Georges Abdallah was an activist, working first with the Syrian Social Nationalist party and then with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). With the PFLP, he resisted and was injured by Israeli forces invading Lebanon in 1978. A committed Communist and internationalist, he views the Arab struggle for liberation from Zionism and imperialism as part and parcel of the international workers’ struggle for liberation from capitalism.

The Lebanese Armed Revolutionary Faction (LARF) was formed to fight off and resist U.S., Israeli and other imperialist attacks on Lebanon. Georges Abdallah was accused of participating in attacks on U.S. and Israeli military officials in France.

He has been eligible for release since 1999 yet continues to be denied parole, despite having parole requests approved several times by French judges. The Lebanese government has officially asked for his release, and he is asking to be deported to Lebanon. Yet the French state has intervened at the highest levels, alongside the U.S and Israeli regimes, to deny Georges Abdallah’s parole requests.

In fact, in 1985, the French government agreed to a prisoner exchange – to release Abdallah in exchange for a captured French diplomat. Instead, the diplomat was released – and Abdallah remained in prison. His own original lawyer was in fact a spy working for the French state and reporting on him to the highest levels of French intelligence; all of which was used against him in court.

People throughout France and around the world have campaigned for his freedom for decades. His brothers and loved ones in Lebanon lead the International Campaign to Free Georges Ibrahim Abdallah. He is considered to be part of the Palestinian prisoners’ movement by Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

His case represents also the coherence of U.S., Israeli and European colonialist interests in the imprisonment of Palestinian and Arab strugglers for liberation and the attack on the Palestinian people.