Samidoun Palestinian Prisoners Solidarity Network salutes our comrades in “Young Struggle” for their continuous work against imperialism and their struggle for the inalienable rights of the Kurdish people, and we republish their statement against the ban by the German state on Palestinian Prisoner’s Day actions in Berlin after a nationwide smear campaign against Palestinian organising in Germany, and especially Samidoun. Following is their statement:
Fight against repression and against the German state!
On Saturday 08.04 a demonstration, organized by Samidoun Network, took place in Berlin Neukölln. More than 1000 people participated in the demonstration, among them Palestinians, Arabs, internationalists and many more. The goal was to send a sign against the Israeli settler policy and the ongoing attacks of the Zionist state against Palestinians and for a liberated Palestine. However, as it is so often the case in Germany, this alone is enough of a basis to criminalize organizations and the entire movement. Shortly after the demonstration, a video went through the German media and social media that allegedly showed a person at the demonstration shouting “Death to the Jews.” A few things need to be clarified here.
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- The police were on site with large forces, including some interpreters. However, during the demonstration there were no signs of such a slogan being shouted.
- On the video it is not clearly understandable which slogan is shouted there. In addition, it is also not identifiable which person shouted the slogan.
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Yesterday, 13.04 it was announced that the two Berlin demonstrations on 15 and 16.04 , on the Day of Palestinian Prisoners, were banned. As in the previous year, there is great Israeli aggression during Ramadan against the Palestinian people. Palestinians are targeted and the rage about this drives the people here to take to the streets and demonstrate. The German state pretends to be the moral guardian who would stop anti-Semitic agitation and uses this as a basis to criminalize the Palestinian liberation movement. In reality, however, it only represents its own imperialist interests. Berlin, as the capital of the Palestinians in Europe, is of course particularly important for German policy. A large Palestinian diaspora naturally means that the reaction in the streets is also gaining momentum and the German state wants to put an end to this.
These bans are, as the comrades of Samidoun correctly describe in their statement, a tool in the hands of reactionary forces that want to criminalize the Palestinian liberation movement globally.
Since last Saturday’s demonstration, politicians have been talking about bans against the PFLP (Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine), and Samidoun Network has also been targeted. While the most progressive parts of the movement are criminalized, the Union takes advantage of this to tighten asylum laws; “the imported anti-Semitism should not be rewarded with a German passport”. These brazen statements are attempts to withdraw legitimacy from the Palestinian liberation struggle and to paint it as fundamentally reactionary. Germany is the world champion in exporting anti-Semitism. The hypocritical attempts to shift this onto the Palestinians and all Arabs are clearly motivated by racism in order to anchor their own right-wing fantasies in the masses.
We are one month away from Nakba Day, and we are seeing, as we did last year, an intensified agitation against the Palestinian liberation movement. Nakba Day, also called the Great Catastrophe, marks the beginning of the displacement of the Palestinian people by the Zionist occupation. This day is a day of struggle for the Palestinian liberation movement worldwide. It is our task as revolutionaries to work for the liberation of all oppressed people, including the Palestinian people. With the current attacks of the German state, it must be clear to us where they lead; To further demonstration bans.
Last year, together with other groups in Berlin, we founded the “Revolutionary Solidarity Alliance” in response to the demonstration bans on Nakba Day. With the slogan “class struggle instead of repression” we created a basis to give a revolutionary answer to their attacks. This year, too, we must stand united against the repressive policies of the German imperialist state and its interests. We live in a state that wants to stop the revolutionary forces of this country, but we will resist.
We want to make it clear:
“Take to the streets on Nakba Day. We will not let revolutionary politics be outlawed”
“We will not let them take the streets from us, let’s strengthen solidarity with the Palestinian liberation struggle”
