On Tuesday, 11 July, the Lebanese TV channel Al Mayadeen conducted an interview with a member of the Collectif Palestine Vaincra (a member organization of the Samidoun NetworK) about the mobilization for the release of Georges Abdallah. Tom Martin, speaking for CPV, emphasized the significant growth of the campaign in support of the Lebanese Arab communist struggler for Palestine imprisoned in France since 1984, as illustrated by the recent open letter addressed to Emmanuel Macron, co-signed by 14 national organizations and calling upon the French President to put an end to the political-judicial persecution of Georges Abdallah.
He further noted that the continued detention of Georges Abdallah was first and foremost a political decision by the French authorities, as evidenced by a note from the DST, the French intelligence service, in 2007 which stated that “the release of Georges Abdallah would undoubtedly constitute , in Lebanon, an event. He will probably be celebrated as a hero on his return to his country, and also by different movements engaged in the revolutionary struggle.” During the interview, he further recalled that the continued detention of one of the longest-held political prisoners in Europe is one of the many examples of France’s neocolonial policy toward Lebanon, as evidenced by the recent visit of Jean-Yves le Drian in Beirut. Asked by the journalist about the possibility of the release of Georges Abdallah, he emphasized this outcome depends on collective mobilization and that everyone had to take their responsibilities to make Georges Abdallah’s freedom a reality.
Interview below (in Arabic):
