Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network is currently participating in a series of events organized by a coalition of groups in Switzerland. The week of action, for #Nakba75, includes exhibitions, cultural events, demonstrations and political events highlighting the Palestinian people’s liberation struggle through 75 years of ongoing Nakba.
As the call to the week noted, “The history of oppression of the Palestinian people is at the same time a history of resistance. In the 7Os, the revolutionary left of Palestine became a leading force in anti- colonial resistance, combining the struggle for a liberated Palestine with an internationalist revolutionary perspective. Palestine became an important reference point for the revolutionary left worldwide. Internationalists from all over the world joined the struggle for a liberated Palestine and carried it back to the Western metropolises with militant actions.”
The week is organized by an array of groups, including Lotta Basel, Phoenix, Secours Rouge, RJBW, RJB, RJZ (revolutionary youth organizations), Anakbayan, Palastina Kommittee Basel, Rote Hilfe and Revolutionary Aufbau.
On Saturday, 20 May, crowds in Zurich rallied at Ni-Una-Menos Platz or Helvetiaplatz before marching through the city. The march, organized by the Zurich Palestine Committee, was strong and unified, involving Kurdish, Tamil and other internationalist organizers alongside Palestinian and solidarity activists. “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!” rang out through the streets of Zurich, accompanied by a strong call to “Boycott Israel!”
On Sunday, 21 May, Mohammed Khatib, the Europe coordinator of Samidoun Network, will speak in Basel at 3 pm at Gewerkschaftshaus, Rebgasse 1, on the past and present of internationalism in struggles for a liberated Palestine. The event will look back at the struggles of the 1970s and 1980s and discuss the strategies of the Palestinian revolutionary left, today and historically. The event will be accompanied by an exhibition of the posters of Marc Rudin, often known as Jihad Mansour, the Swiss artist and revolutionary who joined the Palestinian cause and designed many of the movement’s iconic posters of the 1970s and 1980s.
This event will be followed on Tuesday, 23 May by a new event in Zurich featuring Mohammed Khatib, speaking about the same topic, and also accompanied by a Marc Rudin exhibition, at 7:30 pm at the Volkshaus, Stauffacherstrasse 60.
A week later, on 30 May in Basel (7 pm, at the same location) and 31 May in Zurich (7:30 pm, same location), Samidoun Geneva will join a panel with several other speakers on repression targeting anti-Zionist organizing in Germany and throughout Europe.
In Geneva itself, Secours Rouge, together with Samidoun and other organizations will organize an exhibition of Marc Rudin’s work from 25 to 27 May at L’Almacen, 6 rue des Grottes in Geneva.
Mohammed Khatib will join the event on Thursday, 25 May at 7 pm for the opening of the exhibition along with a talk on how to support the Palestinian resistance. This event will be followed by a closing event on Saturday, 27 May at 8 pm, where organizers will screen the film, “Fedayin: Georges Abdallah’s Fight.”
Earlier in the month, organizers hosted several events, including a lecture on the ongoing Nakba by Palestinian feminist Budour Hassan, film screenings information meetings and other actions.
