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“Free Georges Abdallah!” The call echoes throughout France and around the world in October 2022 month of action

The month of October 2022 marked a month of international mobilization for the immediate release of Georges Abdallah, a Lebanese Communist resistance fighter for Palestine imprisoned in France since 24 October 1984. Gathered around an international appeal initiated by the Unitary Campaign for the Liberation of Georges Abdallah and supported by many organizations, including Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network and the Collectif Palestine Vaincra, various support committees organized rallies, solidarity stands, screenings of the film  “Fedayin: Georges Abdallah’s Fight” , displays and distribution of leaflets, as well as other actions in support of the longest-held political prisoner in Europe. On Saturday October 22 in front of Lannemezan prison, this month culminated in the national demonstration for the release of the Lebanese communist struggler which brought together more than 1,000 people to demand his freedom.

Below are just some of the actions throughout France and internationally during the month, as gathered by the Collectif Palestine Vaincra:

FRANCE
Paris/Paris region

 

The Unitary Campaign for the Liberation of Georges Abdallah organized many initiatives during this month of October, in particular the organization of a Parisian bus for the Lannemezan demonstration. For the launch of the campaign, they organized a support meal on September 23 at the UL CGT trade union building in the 18th arrondissement, which brought together many people.

In addition, they organized other initiatives, including press tables at universities and during other events, as well as several gatherings in Ménilmontant and Château Rouge on 30 September and 7 and 14 October.

Samidoun Paris Banlieue organized several initiatives as part of the month of mobilization for the release of Georges Abdallah.

In particular, these activists organized a solidarity stand in Aubervilliers, a campaign of displays and distribution of flyers in different places in the Paris region as well as a presence in support of Palestine and Georges Abdallah in several demonstrations.

During Ivry Decolonial Week, Kathy Peltier expressed her support for the release of Georges Abdallah. She is the daughter of Léonard Peltier, activist of the American Indian Movement unjustly imprisoned in the United States since 1976.

https://twitter.com/SamidounPB/status/1580490250727481344

During a rally organized by CAPJPO-EuroPalestine  on 24 September, several speakers called for the release of Georges Abdallah.

On 10 October, the Collectif Boycott Apartheid Israel Paris-Banlieue and the AFPS Paris-Sud organized an information table in support of Georges Abdallah and the Palestinian prisoners on the campus of the University of Paris-Cité (Diderot).

A few days earlier, on 25 September, they had carried out an awareness and information campaign in Paris 13th arrondissement, highlighting these same issues.

On the occasion of the march against the high cost of living and climate inaction organized by the NUPES on 16 October, members of the Collectif 65 for the release of Georges Abdallah were present and visible to challenge the various left-wing parties and parliamentarians present on the case.

In Val-de-Marne, the Ligue de la Jeunesse Révolutionnaire reported that a banner had been posted demanding Abdallah’s freedom on the offices of the local council.

Toulouse

The Collectif Palestine Vaincra, a member organization of the international Samidoun network and a leading force in the campaign to free Georges Abdallah, organized numerous stands in the city center of Toulouse and in the working-class district of Bagatelle and at the University of Mirail, distributing more than 12,000 flyers. Despite the attempted intimidation by the municipal police, the numerous distributions of flyers made it possible to reach thousands of people.

During the mass labor union demonstration on 29 September, the Collectif unfurled a large banner above the demonstration attracting the attention of thousands of people.

On October 11 at the Maison de Quartier de Bagatelle, the Collectif organized its fourth local screening of the documentary “Fedayin: Georges Abdallah’s Fight,” which brought together many people. In addition, the Collectif was also present during the Tadamun Festival in Montbrun-Bocage on the weekend of 15-16 October, holding a liberature table and speaking at an event on the case of Georges Abdallah. During this same weekend, the Collectif participated in anti-colonialist initiatives linking the fight of the Algerian people against French colonization to that led today by the Palestinian people in the face of Zionist colonization. Once again, Georges Abdallah was honored during these events.

At the same time, the CPV initiated  a united local appeal for the release of Georges Abdallah which was signed by more than 30 local organizations. Finally, more than a hundred people from Toulouse took part in the demonstration on 22 October with the organization of a bus, a mini-bus and carpooling.

On the eve of the Lannemezan march on 21 October, the Collectif organized a closing event of the month of mobilization that brought together more than a hundred people in the Toulouse Bourse du Travail, which displayed for the occasion a large banner.

Comminges

In this region south of Toulouse, a new support committee for Georges Abdallah was founded thanks to the support of several unions and organizations (particularly LFI , the PCF and the Union Syndicale Solidaires). The latter organized several actions, in particular screenings of “Fedayin: Georges Abdallah’s Fight” in Soueich on October 13 and in Valentine on October 21. In addition, they organized several carpools from Saint-Gaudens and Cazère to participate in the demonstration on Saturday October 22 in Lannemezan.

Tarbes

Throughout the month of mobilization, the Collectif 65 for the release of Georges Abdallah organized multiple actions for the freedom of Georges Abdallah. For example, they held a solidarity stand for the release of Georges Abdallah at the Fête de l’Humanité 65 on 1 October in Tarbes.

Auch

Collectif 32 for the release of Georges Abdallah postered for the release of Georges Abdallah throughout the month of mobilization and participated in several demonstrations with signs and banners.

Toulon

On 17 October in Toulon, the association “Les Varois pour la paix et la justice en Méditerranée” (VPJM) and several groups organized a rally to demand the immediate release of Georges Abdallah.

Bordeaux

The Collectif Libérons Georges 33 participated in the mobilization through the organization of its annual bus for the Lannemezan demonstration as well as through solidarity actions for Georges Abdallah, in particular on 18 October during a trade union demonstration and during of a Trio Joubran concert on 20 October. In addition, the UJFP Aquitaine devoted its radio program “Histoire(s) de Palestine” on 17 October to the subject of Georges Abdallah.


Clermont Ferrand

On 18 October, the AFPS 63 organized a distribution of leaflets during the trade union demonstration as well as a solidarity stand in the city calling for the immediate release of Georges Abdallah.

Niort

On Saturday October 22 in Niort, Action Antifasciste Deux-Sèvres and several organizations gathered to demand the immediate release of Georges Abdallah.

Annecy

The Collective for the Liberation of Georges Abdallah 74 mobilized on several occasions in Annecy, in particular during the one-day strike of 18 October by displaying a banner and flags of support in the trade union demonstration.

Marseille

In Marseille, several associations, political organizations and solidarity activists organized activities during this month of mobilization, in addition to the bus trip for the Lannemezan demonstration. For example, the Young Communists 13 organized a screening of a film on Palestine, as did the ANC, which again screened “Fedayin: Georges Abdallah’s Fight” in its office. A poster campaign also took place in many streets of Marseille, in addition to the growing solidarity of the UD CGT 13 which renewed its support for Georges Abdallah during its congress and during a rally.

Lyon

On Friday, 7 October during a football match in Lyon, two supporters of Georges Abdallah invaded the field to make his case widely visible.

On Friday, 14 October, in front of the Palace of Justice, the Collective 69 in support of the Palestinian people organized a rally in support of Georges Abdallah bringing together several dozen people. On the outskirts of the demonstration, people in solidarity were attacked by far-right thugs, underscoring their strategic alliance with supporters of the Zionist colonization of Palestine.

Saint-Etienne

On Saturday 22 October, several associations and organizations in the city (BDS 42 , JC de la Loire, LJR ) organized a support rally bringing together dozens of people. Several posters also demanded the immediate release of Salah Hamouri, a French-Palestinian lawyer imprisoned by the Israeli occupation since March 7.

On 2 October, the Young Communists of the Loire organized a new screening of “Fedayin: Georges Abdallah’s Fight” in front of an attentive public eager to better understand the political and judicial history of this case. This film was also screened on 24 September at the closing night of the Mahmoud Darwish fortnight.

Tourcoing

The CGT Tourcoing organized a screening of “Fedayin: Georges Abdallah’s Fight” on 30 September, with the presence of Saïd Bouamama, author of “L’Affaire Georges Ibrahim Abdallah” published by PMN editions.

Divion

On Friday 21 October, the Communist Party of France of Divion and Houdain organized a meeting in solidarity with Georges Abdallah in the presence of activists from various trade union and political organizations.

Grenoble

The Ligue de la Jeunesse Révolutionnaire created several poster collages in Grenoble neighborhoods in support of the release of Georges Abdallah. In addition, the Collectif Libérons Georges Abdallah 38 organized a new screening of “Fedayin” on 14 October.

Haute-Marne

In Chaumont and Langres in Haute-Marne, two screenings of “Fedayin: Georges Abdallah’s Fight” were organized on 29 and 30 September by the Palestine 52 Association in the presence of the Collectif Vacarme(s) Films and the Collectif Palestine Vaincra.

Rennes

In Rennes on 22 October, the Jeunes Revolutionnaires organized a screening of “Fedayin” in order to reaffirm their solidarity with the man who has become a symbol of Palestinian resistance.

Brest & Guingamp

Posters were displayed in these two Breton cities in support of the release of Georges Abdallah during this month of mobilization.

Lanester

During the Fête de l’Humanité  in Brittany on October 22 and 23, displays on various stands called for the release of Georges Abdallah.

Limoges

The Student Union Federation and several associations organized a rally for the release of Georges Abdallah on 15 October.

LEBANON

Saida & Beirut

On October 22 and 23 in Saïda and Beirut, Lebanon, several rallies were organized for the release of the Lebanese communist Georges Abdallah, imprisoned in France since 1984.

These rallies were organized by groups including the Lebanese Campaign to Free Georges Abdallah and the Democratic Popular Party.

Many Palestinian and Lebanese organizations were present alongside the family of Georges Abdallah to denounce the continued detention of the longest-held political prisoner in Europe. Former prisoner and leader of the Lebanese resistance Anwar Yassine was also present in Saida.

TUNISIA

Tunis

On Saturday, 22 October a rally was organized in front of the French embassy in Tunis by the Tunisian Committee for the Liberation of Georges Abdallah.

USA
New York City

During a rally organized on October 13 in New York, activists from Samidoun NY/NJ unfurled a banner for the release of Palestinian prisoners, including Georges Abdallah.

CANADA

Vancouver

On the occasion of a screening of “Fedayin: Georges Abdallah’s Fight” organized by Samidoun Vancouver on October 18, supporters took a solidarity photo calling for Abdallah’s liberation.

Toronto & Montreal

The Palestinian Youth Movement – ​​PYM, Palestinian and Jewish Unity, SPHR McGill, the Arab Left Forum, Actions 4 Palestine and various organizations organized rallies in support of Georges Abdallah on October 22 in Toronto and Montreal.

GERMANY

Berlin

During October, Samidoun Deutschland organized several information stands in the streets of the German capital, highlighting its support for the release of Georges Abdallah.

Hamburg

On October 7, Bündnis gegen imperialistische Aggression (BgiA) in Hamburg organized a rally with Samidoun Deutschland in a popular district of the city in support of Georges Abdallah.

The evening before, the Network for Freedom for all Political Prisoners organized an evening of information and discussion in solidarity with Georges Ibrahim Abdallah. A representative of Samidoun and a representative of Ak Palestine intervened at the event.

Cologne

Samidoun Deutschland postered in the streets of Cologne to demand the immediate release of Georges Abdallah and to call for the March for the Return and Liberation of Palestine organized in Brussels on October 29th.

SPANISH STATE

Madrid

During an anti-colonial demonstration on 12 October in Madrid, the contingent of Samidoun España displayed several banners in support of Palestine and posters for the release of Ahmad Sa’adat and Georges Abdallah. In addition, Samidoun Spain also organized a new Madrid screening of “Fedayin: Georges Abdallah’s Fight” on 8 October with CGT Metal, the metalworkers trade union.

NETHERLANDS

Amsterdam

At the end of a screening of “Fedayin” on 14 October in solidarity with Georges Abdallah, supporters of Samidoun Nederland took a photo to reaffirm their solidarity with the Lebanese communist activist unjustly imprisoned in France.

BELGIUM

Charleroi

The Plate-forme Charleroi-Palestine , a member organization of the international Samidoun Network, organized an awareness-raising action for the release of Georges Abdallah on the Place de la Digue on 21 October.

Namur

During an event of the Anarchist Federation of Belgium, solidarity with Georges Abdallah was displayed.

SWITZERLAND

Zürich

The Revolutionary Youth of Zurich – RJZ produced a mural calling for the release of Georges Abdallah as part of the month of international mobilization.

Geneva

On October 11, during a conference organized by Secours Rouge Geneva with Mohammed Khatib, the European coordinator of Samidoun , solidarity with Georges Abdallah was reaffirmed as part of the international mobilization of October 2022.

ITALY

Bologna

Giovani Palestinesi d’Italia organized a contingent for the release of all Palestinian prisoners during a demonstration in Bologna on 21 October. On this occasion, posters for the release of Georges Abdallah were displayed along the route as part of their participation in theInternational Week of Support for Palestinian Prisonersinitiated by the Palestinian Youth Movement.

GREECE

Athens

During the month of international mobilization for the release of Georges Abdallah, several initiatives were organized in Athens. On September 22, the organization Action Populaire unfurled several banners in support of the Lebanese communist in the Greek capital.

On October 7, the Anti-Imperialist Front organized a screening of “Fedayin” in the presence of Mohammed Khatib from Samidoun and Jalil Muntaqim, a former political prisoner of the Black Panther Party for 49 years, bringing together more than 170 people.

On October 19, the Network in Solidarity with the Palestinian Resistance organized a conference in the presence of sociologist Saïd Bouamama on the occasion of the Greek release of his book “L’Affaire Georges Ibrahim Abdallah” . Several speeches were also read or listened to on this occasion, in particular by the United Campaign for the Liberation of Georges Abdallah, by Georges Abdallah himself and from various political prisoners imprisoned in Greece.

The next day, Friday October 20, a rally was organized in front of the French Embassy in Athens with the support of many organizations. This brought together over 100 people who chanted slogans in Greek and French to free Georges Abdallah, who has become a symbol of the anti-imperialist struggle in the world.

IRELAND

Arklow

Irish socialists from the town of Arklow took a solidarity photo for the release of Ahmad Sa’adat and Georges Abdallah.

ENGLAND

Manchester

On Saturday, 1 October, Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism! (FRFI) Manchester organized a stand in a main street highlighting support for Georges Abdallah and the Palestinian prisoners.

TURKEY

Istanbul

The Friends of Palestine Against Imperialism and Zionism organized a screening of “Fedayin” in the premises of the DIP in Istanbul on 22 October. On this occasion, the participants wrote several support cards and took a photo to underline their commitment to the liberation of the Lebanese communist.

This overview of actions and initiatives for the release of Georges Abdallah during this month of October 2022 is certainly incomplete. Nevertheless, it shows the immense diversity of support for the Lebanese communist struggler for Palestine throughout the world. The month of international mobilization for his release is coming to an end but the initiatives will multiply until his release, including in Brussels on 29 October, where thousands marched through the European capital to support the Palestinian resistance and its imprisoned fighters, including  Georges Abdallah!

Georges Abdallah’s message to the annual march for his liberation as he enters 39th year of imprisonment

The following message by Georges Ibrahim Abdallah was read out to the march at Lannemezan prison demanding his liberation on 22 October 2022 by Suzanne LeManceau, longtime activist for his liberation. The annual protest drew over 1,000 people  to call for the freedom of the Lebanese Arab Communist struggler for Palestine imprisoned in France for over 38 years:

Dear comrades and friends,

At the dawn of this 39th year of captivity, knowing that you are gathered here brings me a lot of strength and warms my heart. No matter what those who are watching and spying on this gathering think, the warmth of your mobilization and the enthusiasm of your commitment make light of these abominable walls, this barbed wire and the watchtowers; they collide with the deadly everydayness of the cells and allow us to glimpse glimmers of victories taking shape on the horizon.

Comrades and friends, your various solidarity initiatives that you have developed in this international month of action, bring a scathing refutation to those who bet on the breathlessness of your mobilization.

Certainly in this international campaign, “Ofer” and the other Zionist jails have your full attention and the expression of your active solidarity is always even more invigorating for those who have been imprisoned for so many years.

Dear Comrades, dear friends, the inter-imperialist contradictions occupy the forefront of the international scene, against the background of the global crisis of the world capitalist system. They are exacerbated more and more and are spreading on a planetary level, and as always in such circumstances, imperialist propaganda is in full swing. It seems pointless to dwell at length on the pseudo-arguments about the wicked aggressors and the poor victims. But comrades, let’s not lose sight of the fact that imperialist and inter-imperialist wars are inscribed somehow in the genetic code of capitalism. That is why, in the space of a century, capitalism is pushing humanity to the brink of world war for the third time. The crisis of this moribund capitalism in its phase of advanced putrefaction is the crisis of truly existing globalized capitalism, and its agony will only end in a victory for communism…

Comrades, certainly there is room for other futures than submission to the criminal dictates of capitalism and the barbarity of imperialist and inter-imperialist wars.

Dear comrades, dear friends, let’s not allow the imperialist propaganda unleashed these days to obscure what is happening in Palestine in full view of everyone. Faced with the emergence and affirmation of a new generation of Resistance fighters, particularly in the West Bank, the Zionist military indulges in the worst excesses, killing young and old alike every day, destroying homes, confiscating new lands under false pretenses, and lately encircling towns with a complete blockade. The Resistance confronts! It is up to men and women of good will to do the same at the regional and international level.

May a thousand solidarity initiatives flourish in favor of Palestine and its promising Resistance!

Solidarity, all solidarity with the Resistance fighters in Zionist jails and solitary confinement cells in Morocco, Turkey, Greece, the Philippines and elsewhere around the world!

Solidarity, all solidarity with the proletarians in struggle!

Honor to the martyrs and to the popular masses in struggle!

Down with imperialism, its Zionist watchdogs and the Arab reactionaries!

Capitalism is nothing but barbarism, honor to all those who oppose it in the diversity of their expressions!

Together, Comrades, and it is only together that we will be victorious.

To all of you Comrades and Friends my warmest communist greetings.

Georges Ibrahim Abdallah

Message by Bechir Ben Barka to the March for Return and Liberation

Bechir Ben Barka, the son of Moroccan revolutionary leader Mehdi Ben Barka, who was forcibly disappeared in Paris on 29 October 1965, issued the following statement of greetings and solidarity to the March for Return and Liberation in Brussels on 29 October 2022, organized by the Palestinian Alternative Revolutionary Path Movement (Masar Badil):

On behalf of the Mehdi Ben Barka Institute – Living Memory, I salute your gathering which is being held within the framework of the “March of Return and Liberation of Palestine”. This action is an opportunity to affirm the unwavering support of progressive and democratic forces around the world for the just struggle of the Palestinian people to defend and realize their national aspirations and rights.

This struggle is manifested by its resistance in all forms to the colonial occupation, by its resistance to the apartheid regime of the Zionist state, by its resistance to the inhumane blockade of Gaza, by its resistance which is organized even within the Zionist prisons. Allow me to convey, through you, all my solidarity to the valiant Palestinian people.

I would have liked to participate with you in person in this march but, as you have pointed out in your appeal, 29 October marks an important date in the history of the peoples’ struggle for their emancipation and progress. 57 years ago, on 29 October 1965, Mehdi Ben Barka was kidnapped in Paris. Today, the truth has still not yet been fully established on the exact circumstances of the disappearance of one of the main leaders of the Moroccan opposition and a symbol of the international movement of solidarity of the peoples of the Third World. At the time of his abduction, he was chairing the preparatory committee of the Tricontinental Conference of Solidarity of the Peoples of Africa, Asia and Latin America, to be held in Havana in January 1966. Since then, every year, on 29 October, a gathering for truth, memory and justice is held in front of the places where this crime took place.

The Moroccan political responsibilities in the kidnapping of an important leader of the opposition and of the Third World lie at the highest levels of the state and are undeniable. This criminal action is part of what is called “the years of lead” during which the only answer brought to the popular struggles for democracy, social justice and dignity were repression, kidnappings, torture and physical eliminations.

The neocolonial, imperialist and Zionist implications and complicities at the level of the intelligence services of France, Israel and the United States are also undeniable and are proven.

Agents of the Moroccan secret services came to France to recruit the team responsible for the kidnapping. The French intelligence agency, the SDECE (today, the DGSE) closely followed the preparations for the criminal operation and did nothing to stop it. The American CIA had agents stationed in the Moroccan secret service in Rabat, and they were worried about the Tricontinental Conference in Havana which Mehdi Ben Barka was organizing, that was intended to organize international solidarity, in particular against the actions of the USA in Latin America and Vietnam.

The Israeli Mossad served as a logistical support point for the Moroccan secret services. This was provided in exchange for the recordings of the closed-door meetings of the heads of Arab states gathered in Morocco in 1965 during a strategic summit, given to the Mossad by King Hassan II. It was also on its own behalf that Israel wanted to eliminate a political leader who had denounced Zionist penetration in Africa, including through the South African apartheid regime and the Portuguese colonial regimes. In a conference in Cairo, organized by the Palestinian student union, GUPS, in April 1965, Mehdi Ben Barka stated that “the Palestinian question is an integral part of the problems of the global liberation movement in Africa, Asia and Latin America. It is a revolutionary Arab movement against imperialist machinations…” This is the profound reason for the complicity of the Moroccan regime with the neocolonial and imperialist interests, and the Zionist state, to eliminate a Third World leader. Today, the shameful normalization between Morocco and Israel in the political, economic, military and security fields, only confirms the long-term, criminal ties between the two regimes. This is a stab in the back of the Palestinian people and an insult to the sentiments of the Moroccan people, who deeply share in the Palestinian cause and its aspirations.

In conclusion, and wishing the March every success,  allow me to reiterate the words of Mehdi Ben Barka in 1965: “The Palestinian cause must count on the solidarity and support of progressive and revolutionary forces in Africa and around the world.”

Long live international solidarity with Palestine and its people.

Bechir Ben Barka

 

Mass mobilization for the liberation of Georges Abdallah marches to the prison gates

On Saturday, 22 October, over 1,000 people marched to Lannemezan prison to demand the immediate release of Georges Abdallah, the imprisoned Lebanese Arab Communist struggler for Palestine imprisoned in France since 1984. This mass demonstration, the 12th annual march, was a great success that followed extensive work by many organizations, collectives, campaigns, associations, unions and political parties during a month of action for Abdallah’s freedom.

The Collectif Palestine Vaincra — a member organization of the Samidoun Network — organized a collective bus from Toulouse, accompanied by a mini-bus and multiple carpools to accommodate over 100 people seeking to travel to Lannemezan to show solidarity with the man who has become a symbol of Palestinian resistance. This mobilization was reinforced thanks to the mobilization of more than 30 local organizations uniting their voice around a common call for action.

https://twitter.com/Collectif_PV/status/1583768717867220992

Many committees and campaigns for Palestine and for the liberation of Georges Abdallah participated in the march, including the Collectif Palestine Vaincra, Samidoun Paris Banlieue, Samidoun Spain, Palestinian Alternative Revolutionary Path Movement (Masar Badil), Unitary Campaign for the Liberation of Georges Abdallah, Couserans-Palestine, Palestine Volvestre, the French Jewish Union for Peace, CAPJPO-EuroPalestine, Collectif Boycott Apartheid Israel Paris Banlieue, BDS committees, AFPS sections including its president Bertrand Heilbronn, Collectif 65 for the liberation of Georges Abdallah, Liberons Georges 33, CLGA 74, Comite Action Palestine and Liberons Georges 38.

Political organizations from across the left participated, including EELV, the French Communist Party, France Insoumise, Union Populaire, NPA, Revolution Permanente, UCL, PCRF, LO, PRCF, PCOF, LJR, JR, Popular Front of Turkey, PEPS, MJCF, Young Communists 13, Communist Party of Belgium, and others, as well as trade unions (SUD/Solidaires sections, the CNT and several CGT departments), associations like the League for Human Rights, anti-racist and anti-fascist organizations (FUIQP, Toulouse AntiCRA, AFA Tolosa, MRAP, Collectif unitaire franco-Algerienne, BRIC), and support committees for political prisoners like Secours Rouge Arabe and campaigns for Musa Asoglu and Basque prisoners.

This diversity of organizations supporting Georges Abdallah highlights the growing, dynamic and multifaceted campaign that has increased support for the imprisoned Lebanese communist growing each year.

The Collectif Palestine Vaincra organized a bloc in the demonstration around the slogan “Freedom for Georges Abdallah! Freedom for Palestine!” together with Samidoun Spain, the Masar Badil and the Samidoun Paris Banlieue. Many people joined the contingent to chant in French and Arabic in support of the Palestinian resistance, against Zionism and imperialism, rushing through the streets of Lannemezan displaying Palestinian flags and placards in support of Georges Abdallah, the Palestinian resistance and the liberation of Palestine from the river to the sea. The demonstrators urged the boycott of Israel and the liberation of Palestinian prisoners, including Ahmad Sa’adat, the General Secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and Salah Hammouri, the French-Palestinian lawyer held without charge or trial under administrative detention and who recently carried out a 19-day hunger strike.

As the marchers arrived at Lannemezan prison, they chanted, “Georges Abdallah, your comrades are here!” lighting sparklers to be seen and heard even from inside the prison walls. Suzanne LeManceau read out Georges Abdallah’s statement for the occasion underlining his revolutionary commitment to the Palestinian resistance:

“The warmth of your mobilization and the enthusiasm of your commitment make light of these abominable walls, this barbed wire and the watchtowers. They collide with the deadly everydayness of the cells and allow us to glimpse glimmers of victory emerging on the horizon. Comrades and friends, your various solidarity initiatives that you have developed in this international campaign month reveals a scathing denial to those who bet on the breathlessness of your mobilization. In this campaign, Ofer prison and all the Zionist jails have all your attention and, quite naturally, the expression of your active solidarity is always more invigorating for those who have been imprisoned there for so many years…Faced with the emergence and affirmation of a new generation of resistance fighters, particularly in the West Bank, the Zionist military indulges in the worst excesses: killing young and old alike every day, destroying homes, confiscating new lands under spurious pretenses and lately encircling towns for complete blockage. Resistance confronts! It is up to men and women of good will to do the same at the regional and international level.”

LeManceau, a longtime activist for Georges Abdallah’s liberation, concluded the reading of the Lebanese communist’s statement with a tribute to the young Palestinian martyr Oday al-Tamimi, who resisted with arms in hand until his last breath against the Zionist colonial forces.

Then, many declarations were read by various solidarity organizations, including by an activist from the Collectif Palestine Vaincra. In her speech, she affirmed: “Today, we are happy to be by your side to demand the immediate release of Georges Abdallah! We are all the more so since Macron and his government have tried to silence us by dissolving the Collectif, as well as the CAP and many anti-fascist, anti-racist and Muslim organizations. Thanks to your exemplary solidarity, we are still here, still determined to build a broad movement of solidarity for the immediate release of Georges Abdallah and more broadly for the release of all 4,650 Palestinian prisoners.”

She concluded the Collectif’s statement with a call to the March for Return and Liberation of Palestine organized on 29 October toward the European Parliament in Brussels, by the Palestinian, Arab and international Masar Badil movement, the Palestinian Alternative Revolutionary Path movement. The day concluded with drinks and snacks offered by various associations, including the Collectif Palestine Vaincra, as well as the renewed commitment to continue the mobilization. Once again, Grup Yorum offered a concert of anti-imperialist songs. Supporters of the LJR, Ligue des Jeunes Revolutionnaires, organized a collection in support of the activists who invaded a football field during a match in Lyon to raise awareness of the cause of Georges Abdallah.

The day before the march, on Friday, 21 October, the Collectif Palestine Vaincra organized a public event at the Toulouse Bourse du Travail, which displayed a large banner calling for Georges Abdallah’s freedom on the front of the building. The event began with an intervention by Robert Abdallah, brother and spokesperson of the Lebanese Campaign for the Liberation of Georges Abdallah, who denounced the French government and its neo-colonial, imperialist policy towards Lebanon at the same time that France continues to imprison a Lebanese Communist struggle for 38 years, despite his eligibility for release since 1999.

The event continued with a presentation by Jaldia Abubakra, a Palestinian activist from Samidoun Spain and Masar Badil. She highlighted the work by many support committees that have publicized the case of Georges Abdallah and discussed the work of Samidoun in Spain to connect struggles for justice, in particular challenging the VBare company, an Israeli real estate company involved in gentrification and displacement in Madrid. She emphasized that through ongoing struggle and accumulation of forces, the Zionist colonization of Palestine will be defeated.

Next, Pierre Stambul of the French Jewish Union for Peace spoke about the historical complicity between France and the Zionist project. He noted that “it is not only due to Hillary Clinton’s intervention that Georges Abdallah remains in prison. It is the expression of French complicity,” recalling that this “is very old. Remember that Guy Mollet’s SFIO took part with Israel in the imperialist attack on Suez and that it transferred to Israel the technology allowing it to possess nuclear weapons.” He highlighted the criminalization of the Palestine solidarity movement and the instrumentalization of anti-Semitism, he concluded his intervention by affirming, “Israel was born out of a premeditated ethnic cleansing that has nothing legitimate about it. Anti-semitism is a crime, but anti-Zionism is a duty. We will continue to fight for the liberation of Palestine, of Salah Hammouri and of Georges Abdallah.”

The event concluded with a remote intervention over videoconference by Elsa Lefort, the wife of Salah Hammouri and spokesperson for his solidarity committee. She noted that her husband has been the target of a relentless campaign of repression for 20 years by the Israeli occupation regime. He has been imprisoned since 7 March 2022 without charge or trial under administrative detention and recently took part in a collective hunger strike to demand an end to this practice, first introduced to Palestine by the British colonial mandate. She concluded by emphasizing the importance of the support campaign at all levels, from the streets to Parliament, in order to expose and challenge the passivity of the French authorities in the face of an arbitrarily detained French citizen being threatened with expulsion from his native city, Jerusalem.

https://twitter.com/Collectif_PV/status/1583560462112677888

The evening ended with an audience discussion and a concert by Grup Yorum in honor of international solidarity. The Collectif Palestine Vaincra thanked the UD CGT 21 for the welcome as well as the numerous attendees at the crowded event.

The mass march at Lannemezan was a strong conclusion to a successful month of mobilization for Georges Abdallah. As part of the mobilization, the Collectif Palestine Vaincra carried out an information and mobilization campaign in Toulouse, organizing multiple Palestine stands to distribute information in popular neighborhoods and the city center, hosting a new screening of Fedayin: Georges Abdallah’s Fight, participating in various solidarity initiatives and distributing over 12,000 flyers, hundreds of posters and thousands of stickers. The growth of the mobilization in Toulouse and elsewhere calls upon us all to increase our efforts to continue and intensify the campaign for the liberation of Georges Abdallah and his return to his homeland, Lebanon.

Source: Collectif Palestine Vaincra

Demonstrators fill the streets of Brussels in the March for Return and Liberation for Palestine

Thousands of Palestinians, Arabs and internationals marched through the streets of Brussels, Belgium — the capital of the European Union — on Saturday, 29 October in the March for Liberation and Return. Organized by the Masar Badil (Palestinian Alternative Revolutionary Path Movement), the march demanded the implementation of return for Palestinian refugees expelled from their homes and homeland since the Nakba, the total liberation of all of Palestine from the river to the sea, stood in firm support of the Palestinian people and their Resistance, called for the freedom of the prisoners and the defeat of Zionism, imperialism and the forces collaborating with them.

Over 100 organizations endorsed the protest, which wound its way to the European Parliament as participants highlighted the martyrs, the prisoners and the founders of the Palestinian revolutionary movement.

The rally enjoyed strong participation from a range of organizations, including a mass bloc organized by CAPJPO-EuroPalestine to demand an end to the siege on Gaza, as well as Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network chapters and affiliates in Germany, Netherlands, Spain, France, Sweden and elsewhere, Collectif Palestine Vaincra, Plate-forme Charleroi-Palestine, Secours Rouge, Classe Contre Classe, the Anti-Imperialist Front, Revolutionary Youth of Zurich, Lotta, Dar al Janub, AFPS Lille and 63, Collectif Boycott Apartheid Israel and many more. Participants came from throughout Belgium as well as the Netherlands, France, Sweden, Spain, Switzerland, Germany, Austria and elsewhere to participate in the mass demonstration.

A wide range of Belgian groups participated, including Classe Contre Classe, Secours Rouge Belgique, Plate-forme Charleroi-Palestine, Raj’een Dabkeh Group, Black Panthers Bruxelles, Mouvement Citoyen pour la Paix, Comité BDS-ULB, Comité Verviers Palestine, LEF-FGE (Links Ecologisch Forum – Forum Gauche Ecologie), Eritrea Tours for Friendship, la Ligue Haïtienne Anti-Impérialiste (LHAI), the Belgian Communist Party and the Coordination Namuroise Belgo-Palestinienne (CNB-P).

Posters and images of George Habash, the founder of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine; Shadia Abu Ghazaleh, a leader in Palestinian women’s resistance through armed struggle; and Houcine Benyahia, a Moroccan revolutionary martyr who fought for Palestinian liberation, were raised high alongside those of Palestinian prisoners struggling for liberation, including Ahmad Sa’adat, French-Palestinian lawyer Salah Hammouri, and Georges Abdallah, jailed for over 38 years in French prisons. The Brussels march came one week after the mass march outside Lannemezan prison to demand Abdallah’s liberation; the Collectif Palestine Vaincra delegation traveled to Brussels only days after organizing that march.

Marchers remembered the Palestinian and Arab leaders who had been targeted for assassination, particularly in Europe, for their leadership in the liberation struggle, from Mahmoud Hamshari and Basil al-Kubeisi to Fathi Shiqaqi, the founder of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad Movement, assassinated in Malta on 26 October 1995. Participants also received a message from Bechir Ben Barka, the son of Moroccan revolutionary Mehdi Ben Barka, who was forcibly disappeared in Paris on 29 October 1965.

Participants saluted the Palestinian resistance, including Mohammed Deif, leader of the Palestinian armed resistance in Gaza, and the resistance movements in Nablus, Jenin and throughout occupied Palestine, emphasizing the legitimacy and leadership of the Palestinian resistance, especially in contrast with the so-called “Palestinian Authority,” which engages in security coordination with and acts as an agent of the occupation against the Palestinian people.

The colorful, enthusiastic march, with a strong participation of Palestinian, Arab and internationalist youth, wound through the streets of Brussels, waving Palestinian flags and banners of the organizations and movements participating in the mass demonstration.

A strong spirit of solidarity prevailed as the crowd filled the Place du Luxembourg in front of the European Parliament. Mohammed Khatib, Samidoun coordinator in Europe and the coordinator of the March, delivered the main message in Arabic and English on behalf of the Masar Badil, with a strong statement of support for Palestinian resistance, who continue to uphold and fight for liberation for the Palestinian people and for all who struggle against imperialism and colonialism.

Participants strongly denounced the role of European states in Palestine, from their colonization of the Arab homeland to their persistent support for Zionism. They demanded an end to the EU-Israel Association Agreement, which gives preferential treatment to occupation goods and institutions, as well as the ongoing military and security coordination with the occupation. They highlighted European gas deals with Israel based on the exploitation of Palestinian natural resources as well as the criminalization of Palestinian resistance organizations as “terrorist,” demanding accountability for European crimes in occupied Palestine. They demanded the liberation of Georges Abdallah and  further denounced the deportation of Khaled Barakat, Palestinian writer and co-founder of the Masar, and Charlotte Kates, international coordinator of Samidoun, to prevent them from attending the March.

Speakers from organizations included representatives of Alkarama Palestinian Women’s Mobilization, Samidoun internationally, the Masar Badil, Classe Contre Classe, Secours Rouge, Dar al Janub, the Neturei Karta Jewish anti-Zionist group, the Anti-Imperialist Front, Plate-forme Charleroi-Palestine and others.

The EuroPalestine bloc emphasized the call to break the siege on Gaza after over 15 years of brutal siege, and speakers highlighted this demand, accompanied by two group songs, Mawtini and Unadikum, joined by the crowd.

The strong focus on Gaza at the demonstration was met in Gaza by a demonstration at the colonially imposed “borders” echoing the call for the breaking of the siege, where participants carried signs reading “One land, one people, one cause” and “From Gaza to Brussels, the March for Return and Liberation continues.”

Demonstrations and solidarity actions also took place in Vancouver, Vienna and other cities, including a lecture event in Beirut, while the images and speeches at the Brussels march were widely shared on social media.

The march was the capstone of the Week for Liberation and Return, a week of activities organized by the Masar Badil, Classe Contre Classe, Secours Rouge and Samidoun throughout Brussels, including lectures, meetings and events that highlighted various aspects of the Palestinian struggle. These included book events, an event with 200 people with European and international strugglers who had participated historically in the Palestinian struggle, a presentation on Fathi Shiqaqi and revolutionary thought by Palestinian writer Khaled Barakat, an evening forum on political prisoners with Samidoun and a briefing at the European Parliament on Palestinian refugees.

The Mapping Project Stands with Palestinian Political Prisoners

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network is republishing the following statement from the Mapping Project, a multi-generational collective of activists and organizers on the land of the Massachusett, Pawtucket, Naumkeag, and other tribal nations (Boston, Cambridge, and surrounding areas) who wanted to develop a deeper understanding of local institutional support for the colonization of Palestine and harms that they see as linked, such as policing, US imperialism, and displacement/ethnic cleansing. Read more about the Mapping Project here.

The Mapping Project Stands with Palestinian Political Prisoners

Political prisoners are the oxygen of all liberation movements.

They are political prisoners because they have exacted a meaningful cost on the oppressor and because they have worked tirelessly to materially decolonize the land and organize for liberation.

In Palestine, the primary genocidal force is the settler. Settlers, backed by the military, wage daily colonial war: theft of land, water, and resources, restriction of movement, restrictions on speech and political activity, and the murder of our people. As in all anti-colonial struggles, settlers and the soldiers who protect them must be confronted. And as with all colonial entities, self-defense, protection of community, and liberation of land are criminalized.

One of the tactics the zionist entity uses in its colonial war on Palestinians is so-called “administrative detention,” in which Palestinians are kidnapped from their homes, incarcerated, and held without charge or trial. These detentions can last years and can be renewed indefinitely.

On September 25th 2022 thirty Palestinian prisoners in “administrative detention” began an indefinite hunger strike. On October 9th twenty more prisoners joined them. On October 13th, these prisoners suspended their strike. In a statement issued by the Higher Emergency Committee of the Palestinian prisoners’ movement, which includes all factions and political forces, the prisoners declared that “the strikers made their voices heard to all of the free people of the world. This latest strike, which lasted for 19 days, represents a cry of rejection and intifada in the face of the unjust administrative detention that steals lives as well as land and history.” In this statement, the prisoners also reaffirmed their commitment to boycotting the zionist courts at all levels.

We stand in solidarity with these Palestinian political prisoners and all Palestinian prisoners. They are our leaders and our teachers.

We, in the Mapping Project, have focused our work on analyzing the infrastructures of oppression where we live. In that spirit, we recognize that individuals and institutions in our region sustain and profit from the colonial infrastructure of administrative detention in Palestine, as well as the caging of Black, Brown, and Indigenous peoples on this continent, and as such bear responsibility for harm done to Palestinians and to all colonized and incarcerated peoples.

At Harvard University Law School, Alan Dershowitz is a professor emeritus. Besides engaging with and defending sex trafficking, Alan Dershowitz has made a career of justifying administrative detention and advocating for the force feeding of prisoners. Dershowitz also infamously argued that judges be empowered to issue warrants authorizing torture and has called for the destruction of entire Palestinian villages as collective punishment. Alan Dershowitz has done and continues to do such repulsive “work” as a Harvard professor — just one of many examples of how Harvard serves as a platform for honoring and amplifying the most egregious promotors of colonial violence and incarceration.

Hewlett Packard (HP), a company with corporate offices in downtown Boston, provides critical infrastructure to Israel’s prisons, facilitating Israel’s administrative detention of Palestinian political prisoners. Hewlett Packard and its connected companies have provided a variety of data management and computing services to Israel’s prison system since at least 2015. HP and its connected companies have also received a contract in 2017 (through 2023) to provide computing servers for Israel’s police who throw Palestinians into prison. HP and its connected companies have also previously provided “tracking” technologies to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and broad technological support to the California Department of Corrections’ “Offender Management System.”

Across the Charles River from HP’s Boston office, Israel’s largest private weapons developer Elbit Systems just opened a new office in Cambridge MA. Elbit Systems manufactures drones, large weapon systems, surveillance towers, ammunition, and other weapons and technologies, which facilitate Israel’s surveillance and incarceration of Palestinian people. Elbit’s weapons and technologies similarly facilitate the US government’s tracking and incarceration of Black and Brown migrants: US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is a favorite customer of Elbit’s “Integrated Fixed Towers (IFT),” 80 to 160-foot tall structures equipped with cameras and radar systems capable of identifying migrants from as far as 7.5 miles away. As of September 2020, US CBP had 50 of Elbit’s Integrated Fixed Towers in operation along the US-Mexico border, which it utilizes in coordination with its fleet of Elbit Hermes 450 drones to track the movements of Black and Brown migrants in order to detain them.

Not far from Elbit’s new office is Microsoft’s “New England Research and Development Center,” also located in Cambridge MA. Microsoft equips the Israeli state, army, and police — each responsible for the incarceration of Palestinians — with an array of products and services so extensive that former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer once remarked “Microsoft is as much an Israeli company as an American company.” Like Elbit Systems, Microsoft also bears extensive culpability for racist criminalization and incarceration across Turtle Island, providing services to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and US police forces. Microsoft also develops software products such as “Youth 360,” specifically for criminalizing youth.

Also in Cambridge is Google, which provides a variety of computing technologies to the zionist state, while investing in zionist companies and surveillance products. Google bought Waze for $1.1 billion in 2013. Waze is a navigation software that grew out of the IOF’s efforts to navigate Palestinian cities in order to attack and incarcerate Palestinians. Google’s recent Project Nimbus enables surveillance and data collection on Palestinians, which also contributes to arrest/detention of Palestinian people. On this continent, Google is closely connected to the US military, FBI, and CIA, and has been complicit in the NSA’s mass surveillance program. Google itself colonizes Palestinian land, on which it builds computing facilities and offices, and in our area too, Google is a colonizer. Google accumulates real estate and contributes to increasing rents and property values, which displace poor and working-class people, especially Black and Brown people and migrants.

Also in Cambridge is IBM. IBM has helped several racist regimes keep records, from the German Nazis to the South African apartheid regime. Today, IBM powers the zionist entity’s population registry, which it uses to issue racist ID cards and to implement a colonial “divide-and-conquer” strategy in which Palestinians are differentially oppressed based on where they reside (e.g., ’48 Palestinians who have Israeli passports versus Palestinians who don’t). Moreover, IBM’s population registry enables the zionist entity to organize demographic information on a large scale, in order to streamline the mass detention of Palestinians in its prisons: as reported by Samidoun, “At any given time, there are hundreds to 1,000 of Palestinian workers who are detained simply for being in another part of their own homeland, occupied Palestine, without the permits of the occupier. These Palestinian workers are not included in the counts of Palestinian political prisoners most frequently used — currently approximately 4,450 — because that number refers to those labled as security prisoners.” IBM also supports Israeli companies through its “Alpha Zone” initiative, which has supported 103 Israeli start-ups. One of these companies, DigitalOwl, collaborates with the Shabak, Israel’s secret police, through a Tel-Aviv University program meant to create relationships between start-up companies and Shabak. Since administrative detention is not reviewed by courts, Shabak’s “approval” is needed for Palestinian detainees to be released. This secret police force, which IBM-backed companies collaborate with, not only keeps Palestinian political prisoners in captivity but is also known to torture them. IBM also enables racist incarceration on this continent: IBM helped develop COPLINK, a platform used by US police departments to share and analyze records, which is regularly monitored by ICE agents. As many as 25 Massachusetts police departments automatically feed most of their data into COPLINK.

Local police departments – from Boston police to a variety of university police forces – are also trained by the zionist entity in methods of counterinsurgency and criminalization. The tools and justifications for detaining Palestinians end up being used on this continent, while local police forces share their methods of criminalization with the zionist state. These exchanges are arranged by zionist groups such as the Anti-Defamation League of New England.

These are but a fraction of the Boston area actors facilitating Israel’s incarceration of Palestinian political prisoners. We recognize that the entities that constitute the infrastructure of zionist policing, prisons, and repression are the same ones that support carceral systems here on this continent. These entities must be resisted and dismantled.

The Mapping Project stands with the heroic Palestinian resistance and supports the ongoing demand to free all Palestinian political prisoners. Let’s make our support for Palestinian political prisoners and those oppressed by carceral systems here more than just symbolic. Let’s organize ourselves to disrupt the actual work of these oppressor institutions, wherever they are.

Glory to the martyrs!
Free Palestine from the River to the Sea!
Free All Political Prisoners!

https://twitter.com/MappingProj48/status/1583453940888195072/

29 October, Vancouver: March for Return and Liberation – March for Palestine

Saturday, 29 October
12 noon
Gather at Commercial/Broadway Station, march to Grandview Park
Vancouver
Info: https://www.facebook.com/events/1162564018015584/

Join ILPS-Canada, Samidoun, Palestinian Youth Movement, BDS-Vancouver, and CPSHR as we march in solidarity on this International day of action for the Right of Return and Liberation! We’ll be meeting at the Commercial Skytrain Station to Grandview Park.
The march is an internationally coordinated action by the Palestinian Alternative Revolutionary Path Movement and coincides with their march on the European Parliament in Brussels.

The Palestinian liberation movement is a Palestinian, Arab and international movement, with a history of a century of struggle fighting back against imperialism, Zionism and reactionary forces. Today, as the Palestinian people and their resistance continue to struggle for return and liberation, the colonial occupation is continuing its extrajudicial killings and massacres, siege on Gaza, mass imprisonment, home demolition, settlement construction and overall assaults on Palestine.

This event is part of the March for Return and Liberation, with the central march in Brussels (alongside events in Jordan, Beirut, Albuquerque, Ireland and more.)
Info: https://returnandliberation.org/

27 October, Brussels: Samidoun international forum on Palestinian prisoners

Thursday 27/10: International forum on solidarity with Palestinian prisoners organized by Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network. Hear about how Palestinian prisoners are at the heart of resistance, the struggle of Georges Abdallah, and how people can take action to mobilize and build international solidarity with the Palestinian prisoners’ movement and the struggle for the liberation of Palestine.

Thursday, 27 October
7 pm (19h) At the Salle Aurore, rue du Midi 162,  1000 Brussels.

NOTE: This event is part of the Week of Return and Liberation, leading up to the March of Return and Liberation on Saturday, 29 October! For the full schedule of events, endorsers and more, please see: https://returnandliberation.org/

Wednesday 26/10: “Return from Palestine” evening organized by La Grue collective. Two young activists report back on their experiences in Palestine. 7 pm (19h), at  Sacco-Vanzetti, 54 chaussée de Forest, 1060 Brussels

Thursday 27/10: European Parliament forum on Palestinian refugees. 11 am at the European Parliament. REGISTRATION REQUIRED IN ADVANCE. To register, email info@returnandliberation.org

Thursday 27/10: International forum on solidarity with Palestinian prisoners organized by Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network.  7 pm (19h) At the Salle Aurore, rue du Midi 162,  1000 Brussels.

Friday 28/10: Secours Rouge International conference on the history of the links between the revolutionary movements of Palestine, Europe, the Arab region and elsewhere. More info: https://rhi-sri.org/palestine-internationalism-and-anti-imperialism 7 pm (19h) At DK, 70B rue du Danemark, 1060 Brussels.

Saturday, 29/10: Palestinian Women’s Meeting (before the march) 10 am to 1 pm, Sacco-Vanzetti, 54 chaussée de Forest, 1060 Brussels

Saturday 29/10: March for return and liberation.  Departure 2 p.m. Square Lumumba, Porte de Namur, 1050 Brussels; Marching to the European Parliament.

Sunday 30/10: Open Palestinian Youth Forum. Toward a revolutionary youth and student movement. 12 pm, At Sacco-Vanzetti,  54 chaussée de Forest, 1060 Brussels

Sunday 30/10: The Revolutionary Alternative in the Thought of Fathi Shiqaqi. Lecture in Arabic by Palestinian writer Khaled Barakat. 6 pm (18h) At DK, 70B rue du Danemark, 1060 Brussels.

Wednesday 26/10 through Sunday 30/10: Exhibition of posters by Marc Rudin. The Swiss graphic designer Marc Rudin joined the Palestinian revolution in Lebanon and then in Syria., producing dozens of posters for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.  Exhibition organized by the Revolutionäre Jugend Zürich. 2 pm to 6:30 pm, Steki, 4&6 rue Gustave Defnet, 1060 Brussels

EU complicity with Israel in attack on March of Return and the diaspora

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network denounces the denial of entry of our international Coordinator, Charlotte Kates, and one of the founders of the Palestinian Alternative Revolutionary Path Movement, Khaled Barakat to the Netherlands and their deportation from Amsterdam airport to Canada by the Dutch military police. Charlotte and Khaled were on their way to participate in the Week of Action for Return and Liberation of Palestine. We see their denial of entry and deportation as a clear attack carried out by the Netherlands and European Union against Palestinian organising, the Palestinian people, and their struggle for return and liberation. 

As soon as Barakat and Kates arrived in Amsterdam Schiphol airport on Monday morning, 24 October, they were detained by the immigration service operated by the Dutch military police.

Both Barakat and Kates were interrogated about their political views, about Samidoun, Masar Badil, and the week of action for liberation and return, showing that this is a clear political attack against both of them, our organisations and the Palestinian movement, especially in the diaspora.

This is not the first time Barakat and Kates are attacked and repressed by a European state. In 2019, Khaled Barakat was given a political ban while living and organizing the Palestinian shatat (“diaspora”) in Berlin, Germany. He was not allowed to participate in any political event or meet with more than ten people at a time. Barakat and Kates, who are also married to each other, were forced out of Germany and were banned from re-entry for multiple years to this day. This entirely political ban imposed upon them was cited as the reason for their denial of entry to the Schengen zone.

It is worth noting that this occurs as Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte is arriving in the settler colonial Zionist state for two days of talks, amid fierce Palestinian resistance and colonial violence, including the targeted assassination of Palestinian resisters and taking the lives of five Palestinian martyrs just last night.

We emphasize that our response to this attack on our organizing must be to make an even bigger, stronger, louder and more powerful stand with the Palestinian people, their resistance, and the liberation of Palestine. The March for Return and Liberation will gather in Brussels this Saturday 29 October for a clear demonstration that the Palestinian people will accept nothing less than return and liberation, from the river to the sea, and will hold Europe accountable for its colonial crimes and ongoing imperialist exploitation! We urge all Palestinians, Arabs and internationalists to join the march or organize local activities for return and liberation!

The deportation of Barakat and Kates is in line with a long standing policy of Germany, the Netherlands and the European Union, of repressing Palestinian organizing and European solidarity with the Palestinian liberation movement. From the banning of (pro-)Palestinian artists to forbidding Nakba demonstrations, and from cutting funding to Palestinian farmers to attacking anti-zionist Jews and internationalist organizations that are in solidarity with the Palestinian struggle.

It is important to highlight that the European states that are repressing Palestinian organizing, are the same imperialists that unconditionally support the Zionist colonization of Palestine since it’s foundation more than a century ago. The Netherlands and Germany both support the Zionist entity financially, militarily, and politically, even during their countless aggressions and wars against the Palestinian people and the Gaza strip.

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network condemns the deportation of Khaled Barakat and Charlotte Kates, and calls on all supporters of Palestine to defend the right to struggle for return and liberation of Palestine, from the river to the sea, and participating in the Week of Return and Liberation and organizing protests and actions in your cities in support of the Palestinian people, and their inalienable right to liberate their land and return to their homes.

Momentum is building for the March for Return and Liberation: Join us in Brussels!

From the streets of Brussels, to Wuppertal and Berlin, to Paris and Toulouse and Amsterdam, the word is spreading on the streets and in our communities: Join us for the grand march on 29 October 2022 as we raise up our collective voices for Palestinian Liberation!

Join the March for Return and Liberation in Brussels, Belgium on Saturday, 29 October 2022. We will march at 2 pm (14h) from Lumumba Square to the European Parliament. 

Our demands include: the liberation of Palestine from the river to the sea, the liberation of all Palestinian prisoners, the return of Palestinian refugees, total boycott and confrontation of normalization, rejection of imperialism, and defense of the Palestinian people and their resistance. Read our fuller call to action here.

The March is the culmination of the Week for Palestinian Liberation. Events and activities will take place every day in Brussels from 24 October to 29 October.

We need your help to make this series of events successful and large! These are grassroots events being organized without staff, with the voluntary commitment of activists and organizations working to liberate Palestine.  From bringing students and youth to attend the march to hosting events and venues to making signs and banners, grassroots donations are critical to success.  Click here to make a donation today to support these events.

Visit the website for the March: https://returnandliberation.org

Check out this video from Samaher Mrooj, Palestinian refugee in Jordan, calling for the March for Return and Liberation!

I am Samaher Mrooj, a refugee from the occupied city of Bisan. My message to the march of return and liberation in the shatat (exile/diaspora). 

We are calling for the widest participation, to give no concessions of our rights and to uphold the alternative revolutionary path. 
We reject all accords with the Zionists, particularly Camp David, Oslo and Wadi Araba. We reject normalization in all of its forms. 

The liberation of Palestinian prisoners is a national, Arab and an international task.

We demand the breaking of the siege of our people in Gaza and the unity of all political trends of the Arab nation from the Gulf to the ocean in confronting colonization in all of its forms. 

The right of return is a sacred right and it is the essence of the Palestinian cause. It is time for us, refugees, to take our rights and reject marginalization.

Watch all of our videos: from Khaled al-Batsh, Salman Abu Sitta, Sawsan al-Khuli, Father Manuel Musallam, Fr. Atallah Hanna, Dr. Ahmad Bahar, Najah Wakim, Mohammed Hashisho, Simaan Khoury, Olivia Zemor and many more at our website!

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

Please note, these are the main events in Brussels! Please visit our website for more events!

Saturday 22/10: March for the Liberation of Georges Abdallah. Lannemezan, France. For more info: https://palestinevaincra.com/2022/09/en-octobre-2022-rejoignez-le-mois-de-mobilisation-pour-la-liberation-de-georges-abdallah/

Monday 24/10: Presentation by Luk Vervaet of the anthology, Sumud: Words of resistance from Palestinian prisoners , with Ahmed Frassini, a Palestinian prisoner as a child who is currently working in a campaign to recover the bodies of Palestinian prisoners that Israel refuses to return7 pm (19h) At the Novembre bookstore, 38 rue du Fort, 1060 Brussels.

Tuesday 25/10: Presentation of the Works of Mohamed Boudia. Mohamed Boudia was a fighter for the independence of Algeria; he joined the Palestinian revolution and was assassinated by the Israeli secret services in Paris in 1975. 7 pm (19h) At the Météores bookshop, 207 rue Blaes, 1000 Brussels.

Wednesday 26/10: “Return from Palestine” evening organized by La Grue collective. Two young activists report back on their experiences in Palestine. 7 pm (19h), at  Sacco-Vanzetti, 54 chaussée de Forest, 1060 Brussels

Thursday 27/10: European Parliament forum on Palestinian refugees. 11 am at the European Parliament. REGISTRATION REQUIRED IN ADVANCE. To register, email info@returnandliberation.org

Thursday 27/10: International forum on solidarity with Palestinian prisoners organized by Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network.  7 pm (19h) At the Salle Aurore, rue du Midi 162,  1000 Brussels.

Friday 28/10: Secours Rouge International conference on the history of the links between the revolutionary movements of Palestine, Europe, the Arab region and elsewhere. More info: https://rhi-sri.org/palestine-internationalism-and-anti-imperialism 7 pm (19h) At DK, 70B rue du Danemark, 1060 Brussels.

Saturday 29/10: CENTRAL EVENT: March for return and liberation.  Departure 2 p.m. Square Lumumba, Porte de Namur, 1050 Brussels; Marching to the European Parliament.

Sunday 30/10: Open Palestinian Youth Forum. Toward a revolutionary youth and student movement. 12 pm, At Sacco-Vanetti,  54 chaussée de Forest, 1060 Brussels

Sunday 30/10: The Revolutionary Alternative in the Thought of Fathi Shiqaqi. Lecture in Arabic by Palestinian writer Khaled Barakat. 6 pm (18h) At DK, 70B rue du Danemark, 1060 Brussels.

During this week: Exhibition of posters by Marc Rudin. The Swiss graphic designer Marc Rudin joined the Palestinian revolution in Lebanon and then in Syria., producing dozens of posters for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.  Exhibition organized by the Revolutionäre Jugend Zürich. Steki, 4&6 rue Gustave Defnet, 1060 Brussels

Dozens of organizations have already endorsed the March for Return and Liberation.
The March for Return and Liberation is organized by the Palestinian Alternative Revolutionary Path Movement (Masar Badil.) The Masar Badil is a Palestinian popular movement that aims for a Palestinian united national front to confront the occupier, bring down collaborationist entities and struggle against Zionism, imperialism and reactionary regimes.


It is being endorsed and organized by Palestinian, Arab and international organizations that support the principles of this action. Check out the growing list on our website! Organizations are invited to endorse: Click here to send your endorsement.

 

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