From 18 to 21 May, in La Sarraz, Switzerland, Contre-Attaque & Autonomie organized the Les Dissidentes festival , bringing together hundreds of people for numerous activities to promote radical and intersectional ecology. The Collectif Palestine Vaincra, a member organization of the Samidoun Network, participated in several events during the festival.
The Collectif was invited to speak as part of the “Internationalist Perspectives” roundtable, together with multiple organizations and collectives. Addressing over 100 people gathered for the event, the Collectif speaker addressed the commitment to the liberation of Palestine from the river to the sea as an integral part of anti-imperialist struggle. The speaker underlined that supporting the Palestinian cause is not only support for the Palestinian people in their legitimate fight for justice, dignity and liberation, but it is also support for ourselves, in our struggle against our countries’ imperialism.
It is in the name of the defense of imperialist interests in this region, first British, then Western in general and American in particular, that the Palestinian people have been the target of brutal colonization for more than 100 years now. To understand this is to understand that the Palestinian people face three enemies: imperialism, Zionism and the reactionary Arab regimes. In this way, the Palestinian cause has a Palestinian, Arab and international dimension through which we each have responsibilities, not in humanitarian support, but in mutual aid in the common struggle, an anti-imperialist struggle. In this sense, the liberation of Palestine is an important lever for the Arab revolution and the struggle against the Western imperialist powers. It is for these reasons that the defense of the Palestinian cause is a central Arab and international cause.
Secondly, the Collectif spoke about the process that led to its in March 2019. The Collectif Palestine Vaincra is the result of the convergence of Palestinian, Arab and internationalist activists around the international Samidoun network and the work of a dozen years as part of the mobilization for the release of Georges Abdallah, the Lebanese communist struggler imprisoned in France for 39 years. It is the fruit of this militancy and these meetings which enabled the Collectif to develop an approach which broke with the dominant currents of the Palestine solidarity movement.
In the evening, the Collectif Palestine Vaincra and Secours Rouge Geneva co-hosted a discussion following the screening of Fedayin, the fight of Georges Abdallah. Bringing together more than fifty people in a packed room, this discussion highlighted the importance of developing the international campaign of solidarity with the man who has become the longest-held political prisoner in Europe. In particular, the Collectif underlined that supporting his release is not only supporting a man who has remained faithful to his revolutionary principles despite nearly 39 years in prison, but is also supporting the Palestinian people and the legitimacy of their resistance. In conclusion, Secours Rouge reviewed the various activities currently carried out in Switzerland within the framework of support for the 75 years of Palestinian resistance since the Nakba, in particular the exhibition and the debate planned for 25 to 27 May in Geneva.
Thank you to Contre-Attaque & Autonomie for organizing this festival which has made it possible to continue and promote the work of solidarity with the Palestinian resistance in Switzerland carried out by many organizations and collectives, from the Collectif Sud Global to Samidoun Suisse and Secours Rouge Geneva and RJZ / Aufbau .
Source: Collectif Palestine Vaincra
