Events and actions convened around the world on 15-22 October in an international week of action to demand freedom for Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, the imprisoned Lebanese struggler for Palestine held in French jails for 32 years. Centered in a large demonstration in Lannemezan, France outside the prison where Abdallah is held marking the 32nd anniversary of his arrest, events took place in multiple international cities and locations as well as in many places throughout France.
A brief report on the international actions follows:
13 October, Greece: Postering in Thessaloniki – The Network in Solidarity with Palestinian Resistance postered around the city of Thessaloniki with slogans and messages in support of Georges Ibrahim Abdallah.
More details: http://palestineresist.gr/network/actions/526-abdalla-diktiosi-thessaloniki.html
14 October, New York City: Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network protested outside the Permanent Mission of France to the United Nations, demanding freedom for Georges Abdallah.
More details: https://samidoun.net/2016/10/new-york-city-protest-launches-week-of-action-for-freedom-of-georges-ibrahim-abdallah/
14 October, Magdeburg, Germany: The Network to Free all Political Prisoners and Rote Hilfe of Magdeburg organized a presentation and discussion about the case of Georges Ibrahim Abdallah.
More info: http://rotehilfemd.blogsport.de/
15 October, Paris: The Unified Campaign to Free Georges Ibrahim Abdallah distributed information at the Barbes market and then participated in a stand with Palestine at the place de la Republique in central Paris.
More info: https://www.facebook.com/lecrirouge2014/posts/1417748754919406
15 October, Marseille: The Committtee to Free Georges Abdallah, PACA and FUIQP organized a concert in Marseille in support of Georges Abdallah, with proceeds going to support the Marseille bus to the mass demonstration in Lannemezan.
More info: https://www.facebook.com/FreeGeorgesAbdallah/posts/668047863370141
16 October, Paris: The Unified Campaign to Free Georges Abdallah distributed information in the Saint-Ouen market and participated in a mass emergency solidarity event supporting all accused activists in the social movements.
More info: https://www.facebook.com/elmomechkar/posts/1462988690384882
16 October, Toulouse: Activists of the anti-imperialist collective Coup Pour Coup 31 hit the streets with posters and materials urging wide participation in the protest to free Georges Abdallah.
More info: https://www.facebook.com/CoupPourCoup31/posts/1326540537358764
17 October, Paris: The Unified campaign to Free Georges Abdallah participated in the commemoration at Saint-Michel Bridge of the slaughter of hundreds of protesting Algerians by French police on 17 October 1961, connecting it to the struggle of Georges Abdallah.
More info: 17 October, Grenay: The municipality of Grenay, working with the Communist Party and the Liberez-Les collective, displayed a banner in solidarity with Georges Ibrahim Abdallah. Abdallah is an honorary citizen of Grenay.
More info: https://samidoun.net/2016/10/17-october-grenay-display-of-banner-for-georges-ibrahim-abdallah/
18 October, Paris: The Unified Campaign to Free Georges Abdallah participated in a protest outside the central office of the prison administration in Paris.
19 October, Toulouse: Anti-imperialist collective organized an evening in solidarity with Georges Ibrahim Abdallah and the Palestinian cause, including information, video clips, cultural performances and collective letter-writing to Georges Abdallah.
More info: https://www.facebook.com/CoupPourCoup31/posts/1331204873558997
19 October, Amiens – Campaigners for Georges Ibrahim Abdallah participated in the protest in support of Goodyear workers facing persecution in Amiens for detaining their bosses during a union struggle.
More info: 19 October, Thessaloniki: Mohammed Khatib, Europe coordinator of Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, spoke at the Dromos Center in Thessaloniki about the struggle of Georges Ibrahim Abdallah and the Palestinian prisoners’ movement.
More info: 19 October, Paris: The Unified Campaign to Free Georges Ibrahim Abdallah distributed information at Saint-Denis University about the struggle of Georges Abdallah.
19 October, Brussels: Graffiti tags appeared in prominent locations in Brussels, Belgium in solidarity with the campaign to free Georges Abdallah.
More info: http://secoursrouge.org/Solidarite-internationale-avec-Georges-Abdallah
20 October, Paris: The Unified Campaign to Free Georges Ibrahim Abdallah distributed leaflets and materials in Belleville as part of the Week of Action.
More info: https://www.facebook.com/elmomechkar/posts/1467523616598056
20 October, Milan: Fronte Palestina gathered at the Universita Statale with speakers and music to urge the liberation of Georges Ibrahim Abdallah.
More info: https://www.facebook.com/SamidounPrisonerSolidarity/posts/1351996321500517
20 October, New York City: Joe Catron of Samidoun spoke in New York about the campaign to free Georges Ibrahim Abdallah and the US role in his imprisonment.
21 October, Paris: Protesters gathered at the Place de la Republique before departing on the two buses to Lannemezan from Paris for the national rally.
21 October, Bordeaux: The Liberons Georges Collective held a film screening of “Stop the Wall: 709 Kilometers of Wall” in support of the campaign to free Georges Abdallah and as part of organizing for the following day’s bus.
21 October, Hamburg: Organizers gathered outdoors for a protest and film screening highlighting the struggle of Georges Ibrahim Abdallah.
More info: https://www.facebook.com/SamidounPrisonerSolidarity/posts/1353067328060083
21 October, New York City: Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network protested outside the French consulate to the United States before marching to the Lebanese Consulate, demanding freedom for Georges Abdallah. The event also marked one year of Samidoun’s weekly actions for Palestinian prisoners in New York.
More info: 21 October, Istanbul: Samidoun organized a protest outside the French consulate on Istiklal street in central Istanbul, demanding freedom for Georges Abdallah. They faced police pressure as they distributed Turkish language materials about the case.
21 October, Athens: A number of groups and organizations came for a large demonstration in Athens, Greece across from the French embassy, urging freedom for Georges Ibrahim Abdallah.
More info: 21 October, Bern: Activists in Switzerland flung colored paint at the Bern administration building in solidarity with striking prisoners in the United States rejecting prison slave labor and as part of the international week of solidarity with Georges Abdallah.
More info: https://linksunten.indymedia.org/de/node/194381
21 and 22 October, Vienna: Activists protested outside the French embassy in Vienna, Austria for freedom for Georges Abdallah on the afternoon of 21 October and at noon on Saturday, 22 October.
More info: https://samidoun.net/2016/10/21-22-october-vienna-freedom-for-comrade-georges-ibrahim-abdallah/
22 October, Lyon: Activists protested in the city where Georges Abdallah was arrested thirty-two years prior to demand his release.
More info: https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=923966264376529&id=116919255081238
22 October, Beirut: Activists of many organizations came out to protest at the Lebanese ministry of foreign affairs to demand real pressure and action from the Lebanese government to demand France free Georges Abdallah.
More info: https://www.facebook.com/uldy.ujdl/posts/1149648788405152
22 October, Berlin: The Committees for a Democratic Palestine and other organizations protested on Saturday outside the French embassy to Germany, demanding freedom for Georges Ibrahim Abdallah.
More info: https://www.facebook.com/PalaestinaSolidaritaet/posts/1779450888980093
22 October, Tunis: The Tunisian Committee to Free Georges Abdallah marched down Habib Bourguiba to the French embassy to Tunisia, demanding freedom for Georges Ibrahim Abdallah.
More info: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.728210933999912.1073741889.107500629404282&type=3
22 October, Chicago: Participants in the International League of People’s Struggles – USA conference in Chicago declared their solidarity with the campaign to Free Georges Abdallah.
More info: 22 October, Padua: Fronte Palestina organized an event in Padua in solidarity with Georges Abdallah, including speeches, film and a Skype connection with activists in Lannemezan for the French national protest.
More info: 22 October, Lannemezan: Over 400 people gathered to march outside Lannemezan prison, where Georges Ibrahim Abdallah is held. Buses joined the event from Paris, Saint-Denis, Toulouse, Marseille, Bordeaux and Pau, among others, while a large number of leftist, Palestine solidarity and prisoner solidarity groups joined the protest in a collective demand for Georges Abdallah’s freedom. Participants pounded with rocks on the fences of the prison, making noise to be audible inside the prison walls, and demanded Abdallah’s immediate release.
22 October, Madrid/Brussels: Member of European Parliament Marina Albiol Guzmán of Izquierda Unida (United Left) in Spain expresses her solidarity with the international campaign to free Georges Ibrahim Abdallah.
22 October, Ireland: éirígí members at the grave of the great socialist republican and Irish Language activist Óglach Máirtín Uí Cadhain, demanded freedom for Georges Abdallah, the imprisoned veteran Lebanese Communist, currently serving a life sentence in France for his revolutionary activities.
More info: 24 October, Gaza: Palestinians protested in Gaza City to demand freedom for Georges Ibrahim Abdallah. At the protest outside the International Committee of the Red Cross, participants demanded freedom for Abdallah and all Palestinian prisoners and burned the photos of Benjamin Netanyahu, Barack Obama and Francois Hollande. The protest was organized by the Prisoners’ Commission of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
More info: https://www.facebook.com/SamidounPrisonerSolidarity/posts/1354122431287906
Upcoming Events:
Tuesday, 25 October, Ramallah, Palestine.
5:00 pm, Lecture on Georges Abdallah: Lebanese national, Palestinian cause
Friday, 28 October, Paris, France.
8:00 pm, Evening for Georges Ibrahim Abdallah
Friday, 28 October, Rome, Italy.
8:00 pm, Film screening, dinner and discussion on Georges Abdallah
Samidoun is a member organization of ILPS and 
The event opened with greetings sent to the conference, including from longtime Filipino revolutionary Jose Maria Sison and Palestinian resistance icon Leila Khaled. The video of Khaled’s statement is below:
Various panels highlighted struggles taking place in the US and internationally to confront US imperialism and racism, before ILPS delegates participated in a mass march in the streets of Chicago to remember and demand justice for 
Palestinian organizations and activists are organizing several events to participate in the 
Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network in Istanbul held a protest in front of the French consulate in Istanbul on Friday, 21 October, as part of the 
The protest included the participation of Palestinian diaspora organizers and Turkish pro-Palestinian parties, associations and activists. Despite the police forces’ demand and pressure to cancel the protest, tens of activists were present to express their solidarity with Georges Abdallah.
A press statement by Samidoun was read during the protest emphasizing their strong solidarity with George Abdallah and condemning the French government’s support for the Israeli state and its occupation and colonization of Palestine. The statement and speakers affirmed that George Abdallah will be free, whether sooner or later, and is an example who teaches all revolutionary movements in the world the meaning of the continuous struggle against Zionism and its imperialist allies.
Protesters chanted, spoke and distributed a Samidoun 
The event in Istanbul came alongside related actions in the United States, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, the UK, Palestine, Italy, Lebanon, Austria, Greece and elsewhere in support of Georges Abdallah. Abdallah has been imprisoned for 32 years in French prisons for alleged involvement in attacks by Lebanese resistance organizations in France in the early 1980s targeting US and Israeli officials, during the Israeli occupation of Lebanon. With a long history of involvement in communist, revolutionary and Palestinian movements, including involvement with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Abdallah’s case is a symbol of international support for Palestinian resistance and the international struggle of Palestinian prisoners. He has been eligible for release since 1999 and yet has been repeatedly denied parole, including through the intervention of the highest levels of the French state after judicial victories.
See 
A few days ago, it was reported by the family of Ameer Spitan–a 27-year-old graduate of Birzeit University (with degrees in political science and journalism) and social media journalist from the occupied Palestinian village of Beit Dooku (located approximately 10 miles northwest of Jerusalem)–that he was arrested by the Palestinian Authority (PA) and sent to a detention center in Jericho. No charges have been filed, and the PA will not let his family visit or receive any information about him. Ameer is the son of a first cousin of USPCN co-founder Hatem Abudayyeh, and his only two brothers, Saed and Mohammad, are currently in Israeli jails under administrative detention.
Over 400 people took to the streets in Lannemezan, France on Saturday, 22 October to demand freedom for Lebanese struggler for Palestine 
Participants from across France as well as international organizations gathered to demand Abdallah’s immediate release, marching through the streets of Lannemezan to the prison gates. Demonstrators banged on the prison gates with rocks and flagpoles while firecrackers were thrown to ensure that Abdallah and his fellow prisoners inside would hear the call of their supporters demanding freedom.
Buses came to the demonstration from across France, including two buses from Paris, as well as collective transit from Toulouse, Marseille, Bordeaux, Pau and other cities and towns. Participating organizations included Coup Pour Coup 31, Secours Rouge, OCML Voie Proletarienne, the Unified Campaign to Free Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, the Collective for the Freedom of Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, EuroPalestine-CAPJPO, FUIQP (United Front of Immigrants and Popular Neighborhoods), Le Cri Rouge, the Maoist Communist Party, and a number of prisoner solidarity and left organizations, including supporters of Turkish, Kurdish and Basque prisoners and Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) activists working in solidarity with Palestine, including some of those currently facing persecution for
Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network participated in the demonstration in partnership with 
The rally also included speeches by many organizations, including a direct message of support from Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, who said that “In the Zionist jails, in Morocco, from the isolation cells in Turkey to those in Greece, in the Philippines and elsewhere in Europe and around the world, it is always the same: judicial persecution is only one element of a wide range of actions against revolutionary and pre-revolutionary movements. Of course, this panoply of measures and legislation continues to expand against even more comrades, while in general there are times of crisis shaking the pillars of the global system.”
Palestinian leftist writer 
The massive march in Lannemezan was the central event of a week of events including actions in New York City, Chicago, Milan, Padua, Rome, Paris and its suburbs, Lyon, Bordeaux, Martigues, Magdeburg, Hamburg, Berlin, Athens, Thessaloniki, Brussels, Bern, Ramallah, Gaza, Beirut, Tunis and elsewhere.
Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network urges the continuation and escalation of popular campaigns in France and internationally for the freedom of Georges Ibrahim Abdallah. We look forward to working with Coup Pour Coup to build the movement to free Georges Abdallah and all of his fellow Palestinian prisoners, in Zionist and imperialist jails.
Protesters in New York City rallied outside the consulate general of France on Friday, 21 October before concluding with a march to the nearby consulate general of Lebanon. The demonstrators remained outside the French consulate, hosting an evening event, for several hours, distributing large numbers of leaflets about Abdallah’s case. Numerous passers-by took interest in the case and the protest, including attendees at the consulate’s event.
The protest was watched constantly by four NYPD officers from the “Counterterrorism Bureau” throughout the demonstration. Participants chanted “Free, free Georges Abdallah!” outside the consulate and while marching to the Lebanese consulate to call on the Lebanese state to take action to pressure the French government to release their imprisoned citizen.
Following the demonstration, activists commemorated the one-year anniversary of Samidoun activities in New York City at the Solidarity Center and prepared for their 
Abdallah was originally imprisoned on charges of holding a false passport; after years of detention, including a promised prisoner exchange in which France reneged on its commitment to release Abdallah and his own lawyer serving as a spy for French intelligence, he was later charged and then convicted for armed actions by the Lebanese Armed Revolutionary Fraction (LARF) which targeted American and Israeli officials, killing two. These events took place during the Israeli occupation of Lebanon – Abdallah has a long history of resistance to Zionist attacks on Lebanon and support for the Palestinian people’s struggle. He remains a committed revolutionary Communist and organizes alongside other political detainees, including Basque prisoners, and Arab prisoners, inside French prisons. He refused meals for three days earlier this year in solidarity with Palestinian hunger striker 
Photos by 
