Solidarity with Tom Martin, facing repression by the French state

Tom Martin, an anti-imperialist and anti-Zionist activist in Toulouse, is being subjected to repression by the French state.

On 7 October 2026, at 6 a.m., officers of the RAID (the equivalent of the GEO in the Spanish state), armed with military-grade weapons, broke down the door of his home, searched it, and seized his books, computer, and phone. Our comrade was detained for 12 hours and even subjected to psychiatric examinations.

The reason? A Facebook post that he allegedly shared on 7 October 2023, which supposedly constituted “glorification of terrorism.”

The state’s classic accusation!

Once again, solidarity with the Palestinian people is being criminalized, in an attempt to equate support for their legitimate resistance with terrorism.

Unfortunately, Tom’s case is not an isolated one: hundreds of people in France have suffered the same treatment. In 2024 alone, nearly 1,000 cases were opened on charges of glorification of terrorism over similar matters.

Activists are persecuted for their opinions, while organizations are dissolved and outlawed. Indeed, the “Collectif Palestine Vaincra,” of which Tom was a member, was dissolved by the French state.

This repression exposes France’s complicity with Israel and its determination to silence those who denounce colonialism and genocide against the Palestinian people. This complicity also implicates the Spanish state, which must end all forms of cooperation with Israel and stop contributing to impunity for its crimes.

Samidoun and the Barcelona Anti-Repression Platform strongly condemn the repression suffered by our comrade and express our full solidarity with him.

We share below our comrade’s words following his detention:

“Three years later, one thing must be remembered: these searches, these detentions, and these trials are a microscopic drop in the ocean compared to what the Palestinian people have endured through three years of genocide in Gaza and 78 years of settler colonialism in Palestine.

Now more than ever, we must all unite to confront this criminalization. Now more than ever, our mobilization must be directed, above all, toward the Palestinian people struggling for their liberation and the liberation of their land, from the river to the sea.

And let us be clear about one thing: solidarity is our greatest weapon!

Palestine vivra! Palestine vaincra!