Defend Palestinian activists: The Netherlands upholds entry ban on Mohammed Khatib

In a blatant escalation of political repression, the Dutch state has rejected the appeal of Mohammed Khatib, Europe coordinator of Samidoun, upholding his two-year entry ban into the Netherlands. 

In October 2024 the Dutch state banned Mohammed Khatib from entering the Netherlands, in an effort to stop him from speaking at Radboud University. This entry ban and the court’s rejection of Khatib’s appeal, only reinforces the Dutch government’s commitment to criminalizing any dissenting voice that speaks out in support of the Palestinian resistance and the thousands of Palestinian political prisoners struggling inside Zionist detention camps.

Meanwhile the fascist Dutch state, alongside it’s other imperialist allies, continues their unconditional support for the ongoing Zionist genocide in Gaza. Therefore, this is not just an attack on Khatib as an individual or Samidoun as an organization: it is an attack on the entire Palestine movement, as it is precisely these repression tactics that are allowing the Dutch government to continue their complicity in genocide and colonialism. As NATO’s warmongers gather in the city of the Hague and ships carrying Zionist weapons parts enter the port of Rotterdam, the Dutch state continues to brutalize and criminalize anyone that dares to resist this complicity in genocide and the colonial occupation of Palestine. The Palestinian diaspora resisting the destruction of their homeland are faced with threats of deportation, protesters stopping arms shipments for the Zionist entity are arrested and students throughout the imperial core are faced with police brutality for protesting their universities ties with the Zionist entity.

While we are outraged at these intensifying repression efforts, we also know that it speaks to the strength of our movement that, since the heroic Al-Aqsa Flood operation and  start of the Zionist genocide in Gaza, has been able to mobilize the biggest demonstrations for Palestine in history and unite millions across the world for the Palestinian liberation struggle. Let us continue to unite, defend each other and confront repression and criminalization, for a free Palestine from the river to the sea.

We will continue to fight the entry-ban of Mohammed Khatib and call upon the Palestinian diaspora and their supporters in The Netherlands to support him in this fight and continue intensifying the struggle for an end to the genocide, an end to the occupation and a liberated Palestine from the river to the sea. ​​​​​​