On the morning of Saturday, 12 February, Samidoun Région Parisienne organized a solidarity Palestine stand during the Aubervilliers market in the suburb of Paris, France. The stand this month was organized as part of the global call to boycott PUMA, the German sportswear brand that sponsors the Israel Football Association. The IFA is an institution rooted in Zionist colonialism that even includes six teams in illegal colonial settlements in the occupied West Bank of Palestine.
Through its sponsorship of the IFA, PUMA participates in the sportswashing of Israeli apartheid. Among the teams it sponsors are these six settlement teams as well as Beitar Jerusalem, known for its refusal to recruit Arab Palestinian players and the supremacist chants and songs of its fans and supporters. Through its sponsorship of colonialism and apartheid, PUMA is complicit in these policies just as Zionist colonialim is expanding its attacks in the Naqab, Jerusalem and throughout occupied Palestine.
Members and supporters of Samidoun distributed flyers for two hours, hearing many expressions of solidarity with Palestine and expressions of disapproval and distaste for PUMA’s sponsorship of these apartheid policies. As in the previous action for the release of Ahmad Sa’adat, many people showed solidarity by taking photos calling for the boycott of PUMA.
After the Palestine stand, activists and supporters of Samidoun then went to the anti-racist march organized by the La Vérité Pour Adama collective. State-sponsored racism, which is a constant and violent presence in working-class neighborhoods in France, draws its source from France’s colonial reality. We joined the rally and march underlining our resolute commitment to anti-racism and anti-colonialism.
On this occasion, Assa Traoré, anti-racist organizer and the sister of Adama Traoré, killed in French police custody in 2016, reaffirmed her support for the Lebanese communist and Palestinian resistance fighter Georges Abdallah, imprisoned in France for more than 37 years.
Samidoun Région Parisienne plans to organize stalls regularly at the Aubervilliers market and other actions for Palestine. Do not hesitate to contact us by email or on our various social networks (Facebook , Twitter and Instagram) if you wish to participate!
