On the evening of Monday, 21 April, Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network Europe coordinator, Palestinian activist Mohammed Khatib, was arrested from the street in central Brussels by Belgian police. He had just left the daily demonstration against the Zionist-imperialist genocide in Gaza and throughout occupied Palestine, which gathers each day at 7 pm outside the Bourse in the city center.
During the demonstration, participants noticed a member of the federal police repeatedly photographing Mohammed. When he was later stopped by the Brussels police on the street, they used the excuse of a “threat number” assigned to Mohammed by a state security agency to arrest him from the street and take him to the police station. This “threat score” has also been used on multiple occasions to detain, delay and harass Mohammed while he is traveling or returning to Belgium.
The news of his arrest prompted many friends, concerned community members and supporters of Palestine to call the police station to demand Mohammed’s release and inquire about his health and well-being; meanwhile, dozens gathered outside the police station, holding Palestinian flags and chanting, “Free our comrade!” This spontaneous demonstration in solidarity with Mohammed was forcibly and violently dispersed by the police, who later pursued participants in the gathering through central Brussels.
After being transferred to the federal police and following hours of delay, during which Mohammed never saw his lawyer, he was finally released at around 5 am Brussels time.
This arrest is clearly a form of state harassment targeting a prominent leader, not only of Samidoun, but of the growing movement against the ongoing genocide in occupied Palestine. Mohammed is a visible figure in the movement for justice in Palestine, for the liberation of Palestinian prisoners, and confronting racism and fascism. He has also been repeatedly targeted for repression; most significantly, he is currently facing a clearly politically driven effort to strip him – a Palestinian refugee born in Ein el-Helweh camp – of his asylum in Belgium. He is currently confronting bans on entrance and political activity in both Switzerland (where a 10-year ban was imposed!) and the Netherlands, which were imposed for no other reason than to prevent people from hearing his voice and the clarity of his political perspective. These bans were imposed without even an attempt to present a façade of due legal process and are purely political in nature.
Of course, the attack on Mohammed is not an isolated occurrence. Over the past months, particularly following the rise of the far-right “Arizona” government in Belgium (which also promised in its official program to ban Samidoun, something not currently allowed under Belgian law) as well as the reports from the United States of ongoing fascist attacks and deportations, Belgian police have taken an increasingly aggressive and repressive approach to the Palestine liberation movement, as well as to Arab, Black and other oppressed communities, who have long suffered from police violence and systematic racism. This also mirrors the ongoing and severe repression in many other Western imperialist countries, particularly in Germany, France and the United States. It comes alongside ongoing police training and intelligence sharing between these states and the Zionist regime, at the same time that “Israel” is carrying out a genocide in Gaza and imprisoning over 10,000 Palestinian political prisoners, who are routinely subjected to physical, psychological and sexual torture; starvation; and denial of medical care.
As Palestinians and supporters of Palestine gather daily outside the Bourse to express their outrage against the ongoing Zionist genocide and demand justice for Palestine, they are also facing daily arrests, police violence, and various forms of repression, including an attack by fascists on 12 April. Palestinian youth have been particularly targeted for arbitrary arrests, with, in many cases, detainees noting that they had been called slurs by police or told to “go back where they came from.” On 8 April, two Palestinians were assaulted and arrested at a demonstration outside the Zionist embassy in Brussels, including a Palestinian youth from Gaza demanding an end to the massacre of his family and loved ones. One arrested Palestinian was taken to a closed center (a form of immigration detention) and threatened with deportation before finally being released.
Let us be clear: the targeting, repression and state persecution and harassment of organizers working to stop genocide in Palestine is, in and of itself, aiding and abetting genocide. In addition to the ongoing military trade and alliance, economic support and security cooperation between the European Union and the Zionist regime, this type of repression in and of itself constitutes legally and morally culpable complicity in the ongoing genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity being carried out by “Israel” against the Palestinian people in Gaza and throughout Palestine.
We salute all of those who demonstrated and gathered, called the police station from Brussels and around the world, and raised their voices to demand Mohammed’s release. Together, when we mobilize, unite and organize to defend each other, we can confront criminalization and repression, and we can build and strengthen our movement for the defeat of Zionist genocide, in solidarity with the Palestinian people and their heroic Resistance, and for the liberation of Palestine, from the river to the sea.
We urge all supporters of Palestine to join in the global days of action on April 22, the global strike for Gaza, and April 25, the call to besiege US and Zionist embassies to respond to Gaza’s call for accountability, justice and action. Further, we urge all to participate in the ongoing daily demonstrations at the Bourse in Brussels. The bigger, stronger and more united these actions are, the stronger we will be against repression and for Palestine.
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