On Wednesday 6 September 2023, the Lebanese channel Al Mayadeen organized a special program on the occasion of the second anniversary of the Freedom Tunnel operation, when six Palestinian prisoners escaped from the maximum security prison of Gilboa. This program took place with the participation of a member of the Collectif Palestine Vaincra, alongside Sahar Francis, director of Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, Violette Dagher, president of the Arab Commission for Human Rights, and the lawyer Amani Ibrahim who defends the prisoner Mahmoud Al-Ardah, the leader of the Freedom Tunnel operation.
Watch the video (in Arabic):
During the interview, the spokesperson of Collectif Palestine Vaincra, a member organization of the Samidoun Network, underlined that the Palestinian cause is also an Arab and international cause. Palestinian prisoners are not only held in Israeli jails, but also in the prisons of the accomplices of the Zionist project: the Palestinian Authority , Arab reactionary regimes (like Egypt or Saudi Arabia ) and Western imperialist powers. For example, he mentioned the cases of the three Holy Land 5 Palestinians detained in the United States, the prisoners of Palestine Action in Britain,the case of the Palestinian organizer Amin Abu Rashed in the Netherlands and of course the Lebanese communist Georges Abdallah imprisoned in France since 1984. In particular, he recalled “that work has been developed at the international level in order to support Palestinian prisoners, and solidarity with them must be built on the basis of popular support and by international organizations concerned with Palestinian rights, such as the Samidoun network which works in about 15 countries and mobilizes to support Palestinian detainees and raise their voices at the international level, because it is a global struggle against colonialism and imperialism.”
In addition, the activist recalled that Georges Abdallah has just filed a new request for release, which must be understood as a call to intensify the mobilization for the one who has become the oldest political prisoner in Europe. For over 15 years, this campaign has aimed to break the political isolation of this Arab struggler and to inspire many organizations, unions and political parties today to mobilize in support of his liberation. He called for mobilization and participation in the march on Saturday October 21 in Lannemezan, France, in front of the gate of the prison in which he is detained in order to demand his release and that of all the 5100 men, women and children unjustly detained by the Israeli occupation.
Regarding the commemoration of the Freedom operation , the representative of the Collectif Palestine Vaincra saluted these heroic prisoners by reaffirming our support for all the Palestinian prisoners who are the true leaders of the Palestinian resistance which continues to fight until the return and liberation of Palestine from the river to the sea.
