*** UPDATE: With the attacks on Gaza of 5 August 2022 it is urgent that we come out to take a stand for Palestine and show our support for the Palestinian people in Gaza. Join us tomorrow at 5 pm on Saturday, August 6 – bring signs & flags! ***
We had already planned an outreach stand to take place on Saturday, August 6. Now, with the attacks on Gaza escalating and the killing of 10 Palestinians, including 5-year-old girl Alaa Qaddoum, we want to make it clear that people in Vancouver stand with Palestine and the Palestinian people — despite the ongoing policies of the Canadian government that continue to provide cover for Israeli crimes and engage in arms deals with the occupation.
All organizaions and individuals are invited to join us for an emergency stand for Gaza on Saturday, August 6 at 5 pm at the Davie/Denman corner in Vancouver. Join us to speak out for Palestine!
This event is taking place on the unceded and occupied territories of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) peoples. The organizers stand in full solidarity and support of Indigenous sovereignty and self-determination and with the ongoing movements to defend land, water and Indigenous peoples from plunder and settler colonialism.
Hear from Jaldia Abubakra, Palestinian organizer based in Spain who works with the Masar Badil (Alternative Palestinian Revolutionary Path), Samidoun, and Alkarama, who just returned from Gaza days ago.
UPDATE: As of 6 August 2022, there are now 24 martyrs and 290 injured due to the occupation attacks.
Israeli occupation forces have once again launched a military aggression against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip. This aggression has already taken the lives of 9 martyrs of the Palestinian cause — including a 5-year-old girl and senior leader of the Palestnian Islamic Jihad resistance movement, Tayseer al-Jabari — and wounded 55. Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network urges all supporters of the Palestinian cause to take action to defend Palestine, the Palestinian people and their Resistance against the Zionist onslaught.
This attack on Gaza specifically comes hand in hand with a series of arrest raids and assassinations targeting Palestinians throughout occupied Palestine, and specifically the arrest of fellow leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement, Bassam al-Saadi in Jenin, in which occupation forces killed 17-year old Dirar al-Kafrini. Al-Saadi was beaten during the attack and taken to a hospital before occupation forces posted photos of his wounded face.
For the past several days, Israeli politicians, analysts and Zionist media have been rampant with speculation, especially as the settlements around Gaza have been under curfew, that the response of the Palestinian resistance could undercut the occupation’s ability to arrest and attack Palestinian leaders freely without repercussions. Amid upcoming Israeli elections and internal political chaos among Zionist forces, an assault on Gaza gives current prime minister Yair Lapid and war minister Benny Gantz the opportunity to “campaign” for votes through aggression against the Palestinian people.
The Israeli occupation is calling this aggression an attack on the Palestinian Islamic Jihad Movement, but in reality, it is an attack on the entire Palestinian people — in Gaza, throughout occupied Palestine from the river to the sea — and their comprehensive resistance in all forms. Of course, the Palestinian people in Gaza are over 70% refugees, denied their right to return home for 75 years. The Palestinian people and their resistance are unified in confronting this assault and struggling for liberation.
Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network urges all friends and supporters of Palestine to join together in standing with besieged Gaza, the Palestinian people and their resistance throughout occupied Palestine and in exile and diaspora. As the Masar Badil statement urged, “We call on all to immediately start organizing mass, political and media events in all locations in the diaspora and around the world in order to defend our steadfast Palestinian people against the Zionist aggression and its ongoing tightening of the siege on the Gaza Strip.”
It is clear that the United States, Canada, the European Union countries, Britain and other imperialist powers are fully responsible for the crimes of the occupation, providing it with the weaponry that has been used to commit these killings, and has enabled the ongoing Nakba targeting the Palestinian people for the past 75 years, providing it with military, political, economic and diplomatic support. Rather than recognizing the Palestinian resistance’s legitimacy, these imperialist powers target the resistance organizations with “terrorist designations” and repression. This makes it more urgent for our movements to declare collectively: Resistance is not terror! As we take to the streets and mobilize to stand with the Palestinian people and their resistance, we urge all to take the following actions:
1. Mobilize actions, demonstrations and creative interventions – Take to the streets to defend the Palestinian people and their resistance! As was made clear during the Unity Intifada/Seif al-Quds in May 2021, there is a vast depth of support for the Palestinian people everywhere around the world, including inside the imperialist powers. It is our responsibility to act and make it impossible to continue their support for the crimes against the Palestinian people.
2. Build the boycott of Israel – This is a critical moment to escalate the campaign to isolate the Israeli regime at all levels, including through boycott campaigns that target the occupation’s economic exploitation of the Palestinian land, people and resources as well as those international corporations, like HP and G4S, that profit from the ongoing colonization of Palestine.
3. Support the steadfastness of the Palestinian people – This aggression is an extension of the siege on Gaza that has been imposed on the resisting and steadfast Strip for over 15 years. At this time, it is important to provide economic and practical support at a popular level to sustain the steadfastness of the Palestinian people in confronting these crimes. To contribute to Samidoun’s drive in support of children’s health care in Gaza, make a donation at https://samidoun.net/gaza
Photo: Burning Spear Newspaper/African People’s Socialist Party
Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network expresses its strong solidarity with the African People’s Socialist Party and the Uhuru Movement, targeted for a series of FBI raids and state repression in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and St. Louis, Missouri. These raids are targeting Black organizing, anti-imperialist mobilization, and anti-war activism under the guise of a “Russian threat,” and build on a long history of infiltration, persecution, and criminalization targeting anti-imperialist forces and the Black liberation movement.
These FBI raids included the use of flash-bang grenades at the doors, forced invasions, handcuffing and the confiscation of computers and communication equipment, because they allegedly spoke with and discussed their protest actions, especially their opposition to US/NATO involvement in Ukraine, with a Russian national. These raids must be recognized as attacks on anti-imperialist organizing as a whole, intended to impose an intensified form of “sanctions” and criminalization for speaking with people and organizations internationally, in particular those countries targeted by U.S. imperialism.
It is clear that collaboration with with the international partners and strategic allies of U.S. imperialism — for example, the open cooperation of many pro-apartheid, Zionist organizations with the Israeli embassy and its military and security regime — is welcome and protected, while anti-imperialist solidarity and Black internationalism are being targeted.
Black liberation organizations, leaders and movements have been repeatedly subjected to infiltration, criminalization, persecution, imprisonment and assassination. This is magnified throughout the long history of Black pan-Africanism, anti-imperialism and internationalism, with those organizations linking the Black liberation movement to the struggle for liberation against imperialism particularly targeted. Leaders of the Black liberation movement, from Mumia Abu Jamal to Mutulu Shakur, remain behind bars today after decades of imprisonment.
“These tactics came back forcefully in response to the 2014 uprisings in Ferguson, Missouri. FBI agents tracked the movements and monitored the individuals tied to the protests. In 2016, when the murder of Freddie Gray ignited protests in Baltimore, the FBI admitted to providing an aircraft for surveillance in the weeks following the unrest. In 2017, the FBI created the designation “Black Identity Extremist” to monitor Black movement organizers. The term was updated to “Racially Motivated Violent Extremism” in 2018. FBI surveillance was rampant going into the summer 2020 rebellions, with FBI agents attempting to infiltrate protests in Portland.”
These tactics have been replicated when targeting Palestinian community, Palestine solidarity and anti-war/anti-imperalist organizing, from the historic criminalization of the Communist Party to the infiltration by police and FBI of Palestinian, anti-war and anti-imperialist parties, the targeting of Palestinian leaders like Rasmea Odeh for deportation and the failed attempt to convene a grand jury against anti-war organizers for working in solidarity with Colombia, Palestine and the Philippines.
“All those active in the movements for peace and justice should use this moment as a reminder to never speak with agents of the federal government prying into your activism or the activism of others. “I have nothing to say, please speak with my lawyer,” are all that need to be said. If you are being taken into custody, all you are required by law to do is confirm your name and tell them that you would like to speak with your lawyer. If federal or local agents show up at your home or organizing office, do not let them in without a warrant, and if they have a warrant, inspect the details of the warrant closely – if any detail is incorrect, such as the spelling of a name or address, point out the error and do not permit entry onto the premises.”
State repression, raids, arrests and criminalization — from the use of “foreign influence” to “material support for terrorism” allegations to the designation of organizations on “terror lists” — are all a weapon used by the U.S. in order to violently enforce imperial devastation on the world, and all too frequently used by its strategic partners, like the Zionist occupation, against the resistance forces and popular movements that confront it. The mass imprisonment of Palestinians, particularly the Palestinian resistance and its leadership, and the criminalization of people’s struggles against exploitation from the Philippines to India are part of this same continuum of imperial assault. It is critical that when our comrades and members of our movement are targeted that we stand together in a common front of mutual defense and solidarity.
We urge internationalists and supporters of justice in Palestine to remain vigilant of state repression, to stand in solidarity with the APSP and the Uhuru Movement, and to escalate the anti-imperialist organizing, action and internationalism that these attacks seek to undermine.
Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network sent a message of solidarity to the fourth congress of the Sahrawi Student Union, taking place in Algeria. The statement expresses the historical ties between the Palestinian liberation movement and the people of Western Sahara, as well as rejecting the ongoing normalization project, sponsored by the U.S., between Morocco and the Israeli regime. Samidoun further urges the liberation of all Moroccan and Sahrawi political prisoners in Moroccan prisons.
The statement (in the video above) follows:
On behalf of Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, we congratulate you and express our deepest solidarity as you organise the fourth national Congress of Sahrawi Student Unions.
For more than forty years, the heroic Sahrawi national liberation struggle against imperialism and occupation has inspired millions around the world to confront their oppressors.
As the people of Western Sahara has been unwavering in their support of the Palestinian cause, Samidoun asserts its commitment to what historic Palestinian revolutionary leader, Al-Hakim, Dr. George Habash taught us more than 40 years ago.
Our support of your struggle and a reminder of the interconnectedness of all struggles in the region against reactionary Arab regimes collaborating with the Zionist movement. This sentiment is as true today as it ever was.
Two years ago, Morocco normalised its relationships with the Zionist entity, a position sold to the United States for its recognition of Moroccan claims to occupy Western Sahara. Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network stands with the right of the Sahrawi people to struggle for their just cause, through social, cultural, political, armed and other forms of struggle.
As an internationalist network we have worked to support and liberate the prisoners of Palestine for more than ten years. However, it is very clear to us that we must confront imperialism and colonialism not only in Palestine, but in the Philippines, in Ireland and crucially Western Sahara.
The Student Unions represent an invaluable link in the chain of liberation. The consciousness, militancy and political power of the youth and students is central to the success of any struggle for national liberation.
The struggles for Palestinian and Sahrawi liberation have always been connected. From al-Hakim to the present day, the Palestinians and the Sahrawi people share the common enemies imperialism, Arab reaction and Zionism.
Samidoun Network sends its warmest greetings of solidarity to the fourth congress of the Student Unions.
A note on the strike dates of Khalil Awawdeh: Some media sites report that this is the 144th day of Khalil Awawdeh’s strike while others report it as the 154th day. By saying 154 days, we are following the lead of Awawdeh’s family and loved ones, who do not recognize and cannot confirm the interruption in his hunger strike when he was told an agreement had been reached for his release on 21 June. Both of these are valid dates and both emphasize the importance of urging his freedom. Notably, his family never confirmed a suspension or end of his hunger strike at that time. Instead, his administrative detention was extended and he officially reported resuming his strike to his lawyer on 2 July.
Khalil Awawdeh is continuing his hunger strike for the 154th day as his health condition continues to deteriorate. Awawdeh, 40, from Idna near al-Khalil, is on hunger strike to end his detention without charge or trial under Israeli “administrative detention.”
He briefly stopped his strike on the 111th day, when he was told an agreement had been reached to secure his release. Instead of releasing him, however, the occupation forces instead extended his detention, and he re-launched his hunger strike. Throughout the strike, he has been completely denied family visits and routinely denied legal visits. He is transferred back and forth repeatedly between the notorious Ramleh prison clinic and Israeli civilian hospitals.
His family members and supporters have highlighted this as a mechanism of further pressure upon him in order to deprive him of health care and family support even as his health deteriorates. Awawdeh is married and the father of four daughters. In an interview with Wattan TV, Awawdeh’s father said that Khalil is unable to open his eyes and has difficulty hearing, and that he has lost 45 kilograms (almost 100 pounds) since launching his strike. His life is at risk on a daily basis, and the frequent transfers only place greater pressure on his body.
Khalil Awawdeh has put his body and life on the line for his freedom and to resist the policy of administrative detention. Currently, around 650 Palestinians are jailed without charge or trial under these indefinitely renewable orders, out of approximately 4,650 Palestinian political prisoners in total. The Palestinian prisoners’ movement has identified ending administrative detention as a principal goal towards the liberation of all Palestinian prisoners.
Activists in occupied Haifa have organized a solidarity tent and stand in support of all Palestinian prisoners, especially Awawdeh. They and their supporters have also issued a call for international actions from 4 through 6 August for Awawdeh’s freedom:
Global call for action.
We call all Palestinian communities and solidarity activists all around the world to join the campaign to free the Palestinian prisoner Khalil Awawdeh and all prisoners. Khalil Awawdeh has been in hungerstrike for 152 days, protesting his imprisonment without any trial, which is called administrative detention.
Hence we initiate a global call for following actions.
1. Set up a solidarity tent in your city to show your support for Khalil Awawdeh and all Palestinian prisoners. 2. Work on getting coverage through the media that you can reach out to. 3. Cover the event on social media. 4. Organise a demonstration or an event in solidarity for the Palestinian prisoners. 5. Organise an event to make street arts that sheds the light on the hunger striking prisoners.
Date: Thursday 4th of August.
Place: In all of historic Palestine and all over the world.
For any support for possible events at the tents please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us.
We are the voices of the prisoners who needs all the support possible in order to free them from the oppression of the Israeli occupation.
Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network urges all supporters of Palestine to take action to support Khalil Awawdeh and save his life. Awawdeh is confronting the Zionist occupation forces with his body and life on the line. We urge action to free Awawdeh and all Palestinian prisoners struggling for freedom, for themselves and for Palestine and its people, from the river to the sea.
Download these distributable flyers and posters to highlight the case of Khalil Awawdeh and the struggle to free Palestinian prisoners:
Friday, August 12 12 pm Pacific – 3 pm Eastern – 8 pm British time – 9 pm central Europe – 8 pm Palestine REGISTER: https://bit.ly/prisonmusic
Join Samidoun for a webinar with Dr. Louis Brehony, the author of “Genius in the People: On Collective Resistance and Musical Instrument Making in the Jails of the Colonizer” on Fida’ al-Shaer, Syrian musician from the occupied Golan, who built an oud while locked behind colonial bars in Gilboa prison.
Palestinian, Syrian and other Arab prisoners have always resisted behind Zionist bars. This multifaceted resistance includes a collective commitment to cultural struggle.
On Saturday, 30 July, Samidoun Iran screened “Fedayin: Georges Abdallah’s Fight” at the Soura Hall of the Art Gallery in Tehran. The film, made by the Collectif Vacarmes Films in France, highlights the life and struggle of Georges Abdallah, the Lebanese Arab revolutionary and struggler for Palestine imprisoned in France for the past 38 years, despite being eligible for release since 1999.
The film features interviews with several Samidoun members, including international coordinator Charlotte Kates and Europe coordinator Mohammed Khatib, as well as Abdallah’s brothers and lawyer and Palestinian writer Khaled Barakat. The film tells the story of the struggle for liberation in Palestine and Lebanon and the injustice of Abdallah’s imprisonment, including the role of the French and U.S. governments. Even a French court ordered his release, but the French Minister of the Interior refused to sign the order for his deportation, with the complicity and active intervention of U.S. officials, including Hillary Clinton, the Secretary of State at that time.
Before the screening of the film, Ms. Elham Abedini, coordinator of Samidoun Iran, welcomed the audience, introducing them to Samidoun’s work and the case of Georges Abdallah, the longest-held political prisoner in Europe.
Ms. Zeinab Farhat, an activist for Palestine from Lebanon, spoke about activities for Palestine in Lebanon and Iran. Farhat pointed out that it surprised her that many Iranian people, contrary to expectations, have little information about the situation of Palestine and the Palestinians. She said that voluntary and popular activities are very important in expanding Palestine support activities in Iran and prevent them from becoming bureaucratic or purely official.
Dr. Mehdi Khanalizadeh, researcher in international relations, also discussed in this meeting the reasons why the issue of Palestine has become more of an official matter than an issue for popular engagement. He emphasized the importance of accurate historical narratives about Zionism and the colonization of Palestine, noting that none of the behavior of the Israeli regime is based on principles of international relations and serves as a hostile military base and colonial project rather than a nation-state.
The final speech before the screening of the documentary was given by Ms. Hena, an Iranian activist for Palestine who has recently returned to Iran. She discussed her memories of demonstrations in support of Palestine in Western countries and noted that in Iran, due to the high level of official news in Persian-language media, many people view the issue as being addressed by responsible parties, so they do not need to be active in confronting global apartheid or directly supporting the Palestinian people. She noted that the Zionist regime aims at constant expansion as a military and colonial project and must be confronted at all levels, including through popular involvement and organization.
Organizers then screened a short clip of Samidoun activities in different countries as well as a speech by Mrs. Helyeh Doutaghi, a doctoral student of international law and a member of the international Samidoun Network, prior to the screening of “Fedayin.”
“Fedayin” has been screened in hundreds of cities and venues in France and around the world. The film is available with appropriate subtitles in French, Arabic, English, German, Italian, Catalan, Castilian Spanish, Farsi and Turkish. If you want to show Fedayin in your area, email us at samidoun@samidoun.net and contact the directors at vacarmesfilms@gmail.com.
Samidoun Iran is involved in organizing popular activities in support of Palestine. To learn more about the work of Samidoun Iran, visit them on Twitter and Instagram.
On Saturday, 30 July, Samidoun Région Parisienne held its monthly stand at the Aubervilliers market. This was an opportunity to launch fundraising for Al-Awda Hospital in Gaza, while paying tribute to Ghassan Kanafani on the 50th anniversary of his assassination. The residents of Aubervilliers responded enthusiastically to the stand, welcoming Palestinian flags and making generous contributions. The organizers also renewed their letter-writing workshop for imprisoned Palestinian women in Damon prison, with the creation of collective birthday cards for Israa Jaabis and Nawal Fatiha.
The campaign to support children’s health care in Gaza aims to raise funds for AWDA, formerly the Union of Health Work Committees (UHWC), a Palestinian organization founded in 1985 that provides medical care to 300,000 people in the Gaza Strip every year. You can join in the campaign by making a donation online at samidoun.net/gaza. Your generous contributions will expand access to medical care for Palestinian children subjected to military occupation, repeated attacks and the ongoing Israeli apartheid blockade of the Gaza Strip.
Samidoun Région Parisienne regularly organizes activities. Do not hesitate to contact us by email at samidoun.rp@gmail.com or on our various social networks (Facebook, Twitter and Instagram) if you wish to participate!
On Saturday, 30 July, the Collectif Palestine Vaincra organized a Palestine stand at Jean Jaurès metro station in the heart of the Toulouse city center as part of the mobilization against the Champions Trophy tournament taking place in Tel Aviv. PSG and FC Nantes, two major French football clubs, will play their match on Sunday, 31 July, on stolen Palestinian land confiscated by Zionist occupation forces in the 1948 Nakba. The holding of this French football tournament in Tel Aviv is clearly being done in order to promote Israeli colonialism and apartheid.
For over two hours, participants distributed hundreds of flyers to educate people in Toulouse about the political context of this sporting event. This is underlined by the appeal against the Champions Trophy in Tel Aviv signed by over 100 organizations, football clubs and fan associations: “The Professional Football League is organizing this event with Sylvan Adams, Israeli-Canadian businessman, self-proclaimed ‘ambassador of the state of Israel’, and Comtec Group, an Israeli event production company whose clients include the Israeli government and corporations based in illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank. For several years, Sylvan Adams has been investing in high-level sport to change and enhance the image of Israel.”
Many speeches over the sound system explained why it is important to boycott the Champions Trophy in Tel Aviv. Speakers also intervened to denounce the double standards of the European and international football authorities which found it easy to sanction Russia but see nothing wrong with Israeli policy. The organizers highlighted the #UEFAKickOutApartheid campaign, calling for people to sign the petition and demand an end to football complicity in colonialism. Organizers also addressed the #BoycottPUMA campaign, demanding the German athletic wear manufacturer not renew its sponsorship of the Israel Football Association.
Many people visited the stand to ask for more information, pick up flyers and stickers or get a leaflet with a list of Israeli and international products to boycott in support of the Palestinian people. The stand displayed a large banner presenting the international campaign to boycott Israel, the objectives of the campaign and various targets.
A football goal was set up with “Boycott Israel” and “Boycott Puma” targets, attracting attention from young players. The football goal aim to raise awareness among people of all ages about the importance of anti-colonialist, anti-racist action.
Dozens of people joined in taking solidarity photos supporting the “No to the Champions Trophy in Tel Aviv” campaign, showing that support for Palestine in Toulouse is as lively as ever, despite the summer holidays.
The Collectif Palestine Vaincra regularly organizes information stands and various initiatives to support the Palestinian people in different neighborhoods of Toulouse. Do not hesitate to contact the Collectif if you wish to mobilize in Toulouse and to follow us on our various social networks (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok and Telegram).
For the past several days, Israeli politicians, analysts and Zionist media have been rampant with speculation, especially as the settlements around Gaza have been under curfew, that the response of the Palestinian resistance could undercut the occupation’s ability to arrest and attack Palestinian leaders freely without repercussions. Amid upcoming Israeli elections and internal political chaos among Zionist forces, an assault on Gaza gives current prime minister Yair Lapid and war minister Benny Gantz the opportunity to “campaign” for votes through aggression against the Palestinian people.
On Saturday, 30 July, Samidoun Iran screened “
Many people visited the stand to ask for more information, pick up flyers and stickers or get a leaflet with a list of Israeli and international products to boycott in support of the Palestinian people. The stand displayed a large banner presenting the international campaign to boycott Israel, the objectives of the campaign and various targets.
