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70 people gather in Toulouse to oppose French state repression and support Collectif Palestine Vaincra

On Tuesday, 12 April, 70 people participated in the public meeting at the University of Toulouse – Jean Jaurès against French state repression, organized by the Committee against the dissolution of the Collectif Palestine Vaincra. This committee brings together around thirty Toulouse organizations to mobilize against the banning of this pro-Palestinian organization by the Macron government and to denounce the criminalization of the solidarity movement with Palestine in France.

The evening opened with the intervention of Nikola Becaut, former member of the Collectif Palestine Vaincra, who spoke about the reasons for the French government’s attack on the Collectif and other progressive, pro-Palestinian and antifascist organizations.

He said that “this new attack on the Palestinian solidarity movement is just one more step in France’s support for Israeli apartheid, colonialism and racism. […] Today, the Macron government aligns itself with the Israeli far right and defends the indefensible at all costs. It does this because Israel is the outpost of imperialist interests in this region of the world, it does this because Israel is nothing but a western colony in the Arab world.

He concluded his intervention by emphasizing :“Since the start of Emmanuel Macron’s five-year term, the government’s authoritarian and draconian policy has become more radical. Many Muslim and anti-racist organizations have been dissolved, now it is Palestine support and anti-fascist organizations like GALE in Lyon that are banned. Each time, their goal is clear: to silence the organizations that fight back against state racism and French imperialism. Faced with these attacks, we must defend the freedoms of expression and association and stand up against repression!”

On behalf of the Syndicat des Avocats de France , Julien Brel recalled that the legal basis for these dissolutions comes from a law which was intended to fight against fascist and royalist militias in the 1930s. Since then, however, te law “consolidating the respect of the principles of the Republic” (referred to as the law against “separatism” ) has since allowed a massive escalation in the use of this measure: “Dissolutions of left-wing and far-left organizations are not new. But a new legislative device has opened a wide path. In the 70s and 80s, we had about one dissolution per year. Today, we are at one per month over the past nine months.”

In conclusion, he denounced the ongoing repressive attack: “Democratic freedoms are being restricted more and more: in working-class neighborhoods, in demonstrations, etc. We are also witnessing a diversion of so-called anti-terrorist laws to criminalize associations that do not please the authorities in power.”

Dominique from Sud Education 31/65 and Union Syndicale Solidaires took the floor to reaffirm her union’s support for the dissolved collective and to stress that international solidarity and the fight against repression were part of the backbone of her organization. She also recalled that 5 Les Républicains parliamentarians have lodged a complaint against Sud Education 93 and are calling for its dissolution for having organized  meetings against racism specifically for people of colour.

The evening continued with several interventions by member organizations of the Committee against the dissolution of the Collectif Palestine Vaincra . A member of NPA 31 denounced the repressive situation and emphasized that Macron and Le Pen will not give their opponents a gift and that nothing can be expected of either of them. On behalf of Permanent Revolution and the Raised Fist, Alberta said “This dissolution shows the historical complicity of France with Israel, as during the bans on demonstrations for Palestine last May. […] It bothers them because we are massively mobilized for Palestine, against police violence, for the release of Georges Abdallah. In reality, these attacks show that they are afraid of solidarity with Palestine. We are more numerous than them. We must become aware of our strength and our solidarity.”

A member of the BDS France Toulouse Campaign said that this dissolution taking place in Toulouse it is not a coincidence either. He denounced the pro-Israeli position of the current municipal government which has increased attacks against organizations supporting Palestine, by making statements against the Collectif Palestine Vaincra and by adopting an anti-BDS municipal position. To conclude the evening, a representative of the AFPS recalled the support of their association for the Collectif Palestine Vaincra and affirmed that this repression affects and concerns the entire Palestine solidarity movement, especially in light of the appalling arrest of the AFPS president. last May.

This successful initiative lays the groundwork for a much-needed response to the intensification of repression in France. Join the demonstration on Thursday, 21 April at 6:30 p.m. at the exit of the Jean Jaurès metro in Toulouse. Let’s unite against the dissolution of the Collectif Palestine Vaincra on the eve of the Collectif’s appeal to the Council of State.

 

Call to Action: 10 Days of Struggle for Palestinian Prisoners’ Liberation, 15 to 25 April 2022

  • Join the Palestinian Prisoners’ Days of Struggle, 15 to 25 April 2022 with protests and actions
  • Palestinian prisoners represent the Palestinian resistance — solidarity and support are key to upholding their leadership in the liberation struggle. 
  • These are also days of action to defend the Collectif Palestine Vaincra against French repression.
  • Get involved with actions and events in your city and community! 

Every year, 17 April marks Palestinian Prisoners’ Day, an international day of action, solidarity and resistance for the liberation of all Palestinian prisoners. This year, in 2022, join us to stand with the Palestinian prisoners’ movement, the Palestinian people and their resistance in the struggle for liberation. Between 15 and 25 April 2022, organize demonstrations, actions, meetings, events and rallies to commemorate this day and rally support and solidarity for imprisoned Palestinians, leaders of the resistance on the front lines of struggle from behind bars, and to stand together against anti-Palestinian repression.

As we mark Palestinian Prisoners’ Day 2022, there are nearly 4,500 Palestinian prisoners behind bars in Israeli jails. Of these, 530 are jailed without charge or trial under administrative detention. There are 160 child prisoners, 32 women prisoners and 549 serving life sentences. Palestinian prisoners are from all areas of occupied Palestine: there are 70 from occupied Palestine ’48, a number that has only escalated particularly in the year since the Unity uprising of May 2021; over 500 Palestinian Jerusalemite prisoners; and 210 Palestinian prisoners from besieged Gaza.

Palestinians in exile and diaspora as well as Arab and international strugglers for Palestine are also jailed as political prisoners. In the United States, the Holy Land Foundation Five are imprisoned for sentences of up to 65 years for their charitable work for Palestine. Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, the Lebanese Arab struggler for Palestine, has been jailed in France for over 37 years and denied release to Lebanon by intervention at the highest levels of the French and U.S. governments. Fusako Shigenobu, longtime struggler for Palestine, remains imprisoned in Japan awaiting release.

Palestinian prisoners targeted for colonial repression

The Israeli regime has always used imprisonment as a colonial weapon targeting the Palestinian people, as the British colonial mandate in occupied Palestine did before it. Since the Nakba of 1947-48, approximately 1 million Palestinians have been imprisoned by the Zionist project, and approximately 800,000 since the expansion of the occupation too the West Bank and Gaza Strip in 1967. In the immediate post-Nakba period, Palestinian scholars have documented the widespread use of forced labour by imprisoned Palestinians to construct the Zionist state.

Palestinian prisoners are workers and farmers, teachers and students, adults, children and elders, community organizers and freedom fighters. They are leaders of the Palestinian liberation movement and representatives of the Palestinian resistance. The Palestinian prisoners are not the perpetrators of “security coordination” of the Palestinian Authority under Oslo, but instead those who are sacrificing their freedom for the freedom of all of Palestine, from the river to the sea.

Stand with the Collectif Palestine Vaincra

On these days of action, we also urge people around the world to join the week of struggle in solidarity with the Collectif Palestine Vaincra, which has with other pro-Palestine, antifascist and social justice organizations, been targeted by the French government for administrative dissolution — banning under the threat of imprisonment or fines for organizing for Palestine. In addition to their campaigns for the boycott of Israel, their advocacy for the Palestinian prisoners and for the liberation of Georges Abdallah has been specifically targeted for repression. The Collectif is filing their legal appeal, and a group of organizations in Toulouse have come together to organize a committee against the dissolution.

Click here to learn more or make a donation to the Collectif’s legal campaign!

Administrative Detainees Boycott the Military Courts

Palestinian Prisoners’ Day this year also comes as the 530 Palestinians jailed without charge or trial under administrative detention have been engaged since 1 January 2022 in a collective boycott of the Israeli military courts. These so-called courts present a rubber stamp of the detention orders created by the occupation military, which can be indefinitely and repeatedly renewed. As a result, Palestinians can be jailed for years at a time under secret evidence with no charge and no trial — not even the sham military trials used to imprison Palestinians.

As a result, administrative detainees have come together in a collective act of resistance, refusing to enter the military courts and demanding an end to the policy, which is routinely used to target Palestinian community leaders, student organizers, activists and human rights defenders.

Palestinian Children Struggle for Freedom

Even Palestinian children — like Amal Nakhleh, not only detained without charge or trial for over a year but also suffering from a life-threatening autoimmune disorder — are subjected to administrative detention without charge or trial. There are approximately 160 Palestinian children currently imprisoned in Zionist jails, subjected to the same conditions of torture, solitary confinement and arbitrary colonial imprisonment as Palestinian adults. However, this obscures the true number of Palestinian children and youth targeted for imprisonment.

Many young adult Palestinian prisoners turned 18 while behind bars and continue to be jailed. The case of Ahmad Manasra, whose brutal and abuse interrogation as a 13-year-old was captured on video and has continued to experience mental and physical health issues related to his experience seven years later, has brought the situation of imprisoned Palestinian young adults into even greater relief. People around the world have joined together to call for Ahmad’s freedom and the freedom of all Palestinian children — and adults — from occupation and colonialism.

These days of action for Palestinian prisoners are also days of international struggle — as Samidoun in occupied Palestine has noted, “We remind ourselves and the world of the suffering of our fellow political prisoners in the prisons of Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt, Greece, the Philippines, Colombia, the United States and elsewhere, and we call for support for their resistance and liberation. This week of solidarity with our Palestinian prisoners is also a week of solidarity with every prisoner fighting for liberation, social justice and victory over the systems of oppression, exploitation and persecution wherever they are….We also demand the liberation of all political detainees in US prisons, including the veteran leaders of the Black Panther movement, and we affirm the depth of the relationship of joint struggle between our Palestinian people and the Black Liberation Movement in the United States. The distance between us does not undermine the realities of our joint struggle, shared goals and common enemy.”

Today, the Palestinian Resistance, inside and outside prison walls, is fighting for the liberation of Palestine, defending the people of Palestine — and indeed the world, from the forces of Zionism, imperialism and reaction. On Palestinian Prisoners’ Day and throughout these days of struggle, we stand with the resistance that built a Freedom Tunnel to liberation and that defends Jenin camp from invasion, that resists colonization in al-Naqab and fights for freedom in Gaza, that marches on the border for return from Lebanon and Syria and that organizes for liberation in Berlin, New York, Sao Paulo, Madrid, London, Toronto and Paris.

Join us on 15-25 April 2022 to support the struggle of the Palestinian prisoners and the Palestinian people for liberation and freedom, from the river to the sea and to fight back against anti-Palestinian repression, from France to the US to occupied Palestine.

Take Action for Palestine!

Please join us in taking action for the Days of Struggle for Palestinian Prisoners! Your local actions are incredibly important in building the movement that is so necessary for the cause. Here are a few action ideas that you can use. Please share yours with us at samidoun@samidoun.net.

1. Demonstrations, rallies and street actions – including actions to boycott Israel!

Have a protest or action to free Palestinian prisoners, support the Palestinian struggle for liberation, stand with the Palestinian resistance and boycott Israel and its complicit corporations. There are many different kinds of actions that you can take that are safe while still getting out on the streets – check out the Stands for Palestine that have been organized by Collectif Palestine Vaincra in Toulouse, France; or the outdoor informational gatherings in Aachen and Dusseldorf, Germany, organized by Samidoun Deutschland for Land Day and the Free Palestinian Students campaign. Amid Ramadan, it’s important to highlight the campaign to boycott Israeli dates in particular! Include the Palestinian prisoners in your campaign against the agriculture of apartheid.

You can also check out the civil disobedience actions organized against Elbit, the arms manufacturer, by Palestine Action in the UK for direct actions targeting the apartheid war machine.

2. Support Collectif Palestine Vaincra!

At the request of Emmanuel Macron, French interior minister Gérald Darmanin officially administratively dissolved (essentially, banned) the Collectif Palestine Vaincra, which will soon file an appeal before the Council of State, the relevant appeals court.

Make a donation to support the appeal : afgj.salsalabs.org/samindoun-soutiencpv
Sign the petition : change.org/solidaritecollectifpalestinevaincra

The Committee against the Dissolution of the Collectif Palestine Vaincra, which brings together trade unions, political organizations, collectives and associations, calls for a week of mobilization from 15 to 22 April 15 against the dissolution of the Collectif Palestine Vaincra and against the criminalization of solidarity with Palestine, in the days leading up to the appeal to the Council of State by the Toulouse collective.

Follow the social media accounts of the unified committee: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram

3. Letter Writing Actions

Support the steadfastness of Palestinian prisoners by writing letters to them. You can send them directly to Israeli prisons — making clear not only to the prisoners but also to the prison administration that the world is watching and Palestinian prisoners are not isolated. Click here to download one list of addresses for Palestinian prisoners. Join with the Salah Hamouri campaign to send him birthday greetings on 25 April.

In addition, Samidoun Palestine is in touch directly with the families of Palestinian prisoners. Take photos of your letters and send them to us via email at samidoun@samidoun.net or via WhatsApp at +32466904397. You can even send us a voice note to broadcast on the radio stations transmitted to the prisoners.

4. Creative Actions

Creative actions are a wonderful way to spread the word and highlight the struggle of the Palestinian prisoners – even when you are engaging in physical distancing and health precautions. The banner hung by Samidoun España in Madrid at the University metro station highlighted the struggle of Palestinian students, while the campaign to symbolically rename streets after Georges Abdallah internationally commemorated his birthday and amplified the demand for his liberation.

These actions only require one, two or a few people. You can even simply poster and sticker around your neighbourhood. Contact us via email at samidoun@samidoun.net or via WhatsApp at +32466904397 if you are looking for image ideas or resources! 

5. Show Your Support Online!

Take photos, share information and join in online campaigns to free Palestinian prisoners. The campaign to #FreeAhmadManasra has unified people around the world, as has the campaign for Palestinian prisoners overall. Use the images and graphics below or post a solidarity selfie to support Palestinian prisoners.

Please note: Samidoun has speakers that can participate in your events and activities, online or in-person, in Arabic, English, French, German, Dutch, Spanish and other languages. Contact us via email at samidoun@samidoun.net or via WhatsApp at +32466904397 to inquire about a Samidoun speaker! 

Endorse or Submit Your Action

Please use the form below — or contact us via email at samidoun@samidoun.net or via WhatsApp at +32466904397 or over social media to send us your events and actions!

Resources

Take action against the criminalization of solidarity: Defend the Collectif Palestine Vaincra and support the appeal!

At the request of Emmanuel Macron, French interior minister Gérald Darmanin officially administratively dissolved (essentially, banned) the Collectif Palestine Vaincra, which will soon file an appeal before the Council of State, the relevant appeals court.

Make a donation to support the appeal : afgj.salsalabs.org/samindoun-soutiencpv
Sign the petition : change.org/solidaritecollectifpalestinevaincra

This purely political decision comes at the end of a defamation campaign led by the Israeli far right and its agents in France. For three years, together with other organizations, the Collectif Palestine Vaincra has organized multiple information stands, rallies, demonstrations and mobilization campaigns in support of the Palestinian people, clearly displaying its anti-racist and anti-colonialist positions.

The dissolution that today affects the Collectif Palestine Vaincra is therefore one more step in the criminalization of the Palestine solidarity movement, because it is indeed all the progressive and solidarity-oriented organizations that are targeted today through this attack. More than ever, we must stand up against this extremely serious offensive against freedom and these recurring attacks on the most basic rights of association and expression!

The Committee against the Dissolution of the Collectif Palestine Vaincra, which brings together trade unions, political organizations, collectives and associations, calls for a week of mobilization from 15 to 25 April 2022 against the dissolution of the Collectif Palestine Vaincra and against the criminalization of solidarity with Palestine, in the days leading up to the appeal to the Council of State by the Toulouse collective.

Committee against the dissolution of the Collectif Palestine Vaincra
AFA Tolosa, AFPS, ATTAC Toulouse, BRIC, Campagne BDS Toulouse, CASA, CDK Toulouse, CGT 31, CLRR31, CNT 31, Comité Vérité et Justice 31, Couserans Palestine, CREA, Ensemble 31, FSU 31, LDH Toulouse, Le Poing Levé Toulouse, LJR, Mouvement de la Paix 31, NPA 31, PCOF 31, Planning Familial 31, POI 31, Révolution Permanente 31, Secours Rouge Toulouse, Solidaires 31, Sud Education 31-65, Survie, Syndicat des Avocats de France Toulouse, Toulouse Anti-CRA, UCL, Union des Etudiant-e-s de Toulouse

Follow the social media accounts of the unified committee: 

Palestinian Chess Forum in Shatila camp opens new Samah Idriss hall: culmination of successful fundraiser!

The newly restored and renovated Samah Idriss Hall in the Palestinian Chess Forum in Shatila refugee camp in Beirut, Lebanon, opened with an inaugural ceremony on Friday, 1 April 2022. The renovation of the hall was funded by the Samidoun campaign to support the Palestinian Chess Forum, which raised $5,000 to support this grassroots organization that serves as a youth club and community center for Palestinian refugee youth in the camp.

The Chess Forum teaches youth and children chess, hosts reading circles, art workshops, poetry evenings, language courses, supplementary school lessons and seminars. It views this work not only as a social responsibility but as a political necessity. As such, Palestinian Chess Forum is a hub for national and political work. This can be seen from its chess tournament, entitled “The launch of the Palestinian revolution,” to its cultural competition “Who is Ghassan Kanafani?”. The forum regularly hosts programs in support of Palestinian prisoners and Georges Abdallah, the Lebanese Arab struggler for Palestine imprisoned in France for nearly 38 years.

The Palestinian Chess Forum helps to raise a new Palestinian generation with firm values and commitments, understanding the reasons why they are growing up outside their homeland, Palestine and learning about the history and struggle of the Palestinian people, adhering firmly to the right to return to Palestine and imagining the future possibilities for a liberated Palestine.

Now, the new Samah Idriss Hall, paying tribute to the Arab revolutionary intellectual Samah Idriss, who spent many hours maintaining a continuous, ongoing relationship of support with the center and the children and youth that attend its programs. He always visited the center, reading short stories and poetry and interviewing them about various issues affecting their lives and development. Samah’s quote from his final speech, to the Masar Badil (Alternative Palestinian Revolutionary Path) conference in Beirut: “If we abandon Palestine, we abandon ourselves,” reflects his approach to Palestine and the Palestinian cause.

The new hall doubles the space in the center, with new flooring, lighting, painted walls and murals of the map of Palestine and of Samah himself at the Chess Forum. With the funds raised, the Forum was able to buy a new space of 60 square meters, install a new ceiling and lighting, install ventilation, add a sound system and speakers, as well as a battery to provide lighting when electricity is not functioning in the camp.

The opening of the hall included presentations by Mahmoud Hashem, the director of the Palestinian Chess Forum; Rana Idriss, the sister of Samah Idriss; journalist Imad Mukhtar; chess student Said Hassanein; and Abdel-Malik Sukkariyeh of the Campaign to Boycott Supporters of Israel in Lebanon, representing Samah’s comrades and friends. Many representatives of Lebanese and Palestinian political parties and organizations and social activists joined the event. Abdel-Malik Sukkariyeh emphasized the importance of promoting the literary and political values of Samah Idriss, for resistance, return and liberation and building support for the boycott of Zionism as an important part of the work of youth initiatives.

Said, one of the young people who participates in the center’s activities said, “My teacher, tleader and role model Samah, when you were with us, we were living Palestine with you. We will not forget your words, that you said while you are fighting death. ‘If we abandon Palestine, we abandon ourselves.'”

Warmest thanks to all of those who participated in the successful fundraising campaign for the Palestinian Chess Forum and the Samah Idriss hall, continuing to build the struggle for return and liberation through empowering grassroots Palestinian initiatives with support without political conditions. Congratulations to the Palestinian Chess Forum on opening this bright, new, safe space for generations of Palestinian children and youth to learn chess and pursue liberation together. 

 

Marchers in São Paulo commemorate Land Day, call for justice in Palestine

On 30 March, Palestinian Land Day, activists in São Paulo, Brazil, marched to the Israeli consulate to call for the liberation of Palestine from the river to the sea. The enthusiastic rally brought together youth activists, political parties and Palestinian community members to stand together against apartheid and Zionist colonialism in Palestine.

The demonstration was co-sponsored by a number of organizations, including Samidoun Brasil, Amigos da Palestina, Frente Palestina Libre, Al Janiah, Masar Badil (Palestinian Alternative Revolutionary Path), Sanaud Palestinian Youth, Alkarama Palestinian Women’s Mobilization, IBrasPal, Forum Latino Palestino and MEMO.

Speakers included Rawa Alsagheer, coordinator of Samidoun Brasil, and activists for Palestine representing several groups and political parties. Participants carried a massive Palestinian flag through the streets of São Paulo and received strong support from passers-by.

Demonstrators particularly noted the role of organizations like the so-called “Jewish National Fund” in expropriating Palestinian land and targeting Palestinians for dispossession, from the early days of the Zionist movement to the present day, when the JNF and the Israeli regime are partners in an ongoing project to remove Palestinian Bedouins from their land in the Naqab.

Commemorated annually since 1976, the Day of the Land honors the Palestinian martyrs slain by Israeli occupation forces as they protested against the confiscation of their land in the Galilee as part of a general strike. It also represents the unity of the Palestinian people, throughout Palestine from the river to the sea and everywhere in exile and diaspora, and the land, confronting colonialism.

Madrid mobilization calls for Palestinian liberation on Land Day

On Saturday, 2 April, the Masar Badil (Palestinian Alternative Revolutionary Path Movement) organized a demonstration marking Palestinian Land Day at the Puerta del Sol in downtown Madrid, Spain, with the involvement of Samidoun Spain, Alkarama Palestinian Women’s Mobilization and Al-Yudur Palestinian Youth Mobilization. The demonstration included strong chants and speeches in support of the Palestinian people and their resistance to defend their land, from the river to the sea.

Speakers addressed the over 74 years of Palestinian struggle to defend land from Zionist colonization and urged action and solidarity to support the Palestinian people. They denounced the complicity of European governments in the ongoing crimes of colonialism, occupation and apartheid perpetrated against the Palestinian people and called for boycotts, divestment and sanctions against the Israeli regime.

Land Day is commemorated on 30 March each year after the 1976 general strike and uprising in occupied Palestine ’48 against land confiscation, when Israeli occupation forces killed six Palestinians as they marched in a popular demonstration. The day also represents the unity of the Palestinian people from the river to the sea, inside and outside Palestine, and affirms the unity of all of Palestine. Demonstrators in Madrid emphasized that Zionist colonialism must be fully dismantled to gain justice for Palestine.

Participants in the demonstration also denounced France’s ongoing suppression of Palestine solidarity activism, including the attempts to criminalize boycott, divestment and sanctions campaigns and the dissolution — state banning — of the Collectif Palestine Vaincra and other organizations, including the Antifascist Group of Lyon Area (GALE) and the Comite Action Palestine.

They visited the French embassy after the mobilization, calling for an end to the dissolutions and freedom for Georges Abdallah, the Lebanese Arab Communist struggler for Palestine imprisoned in France for over 37 years. These calls also came as part of the international day of action to free Georges Abdallah, coinciding with his 71st birthday.

Samidoun Spain is organizing to free Palestinian prisoners and for the liberation of Palestine. To get involved, please reach out at our social media (Twitter, Instagram, Facebook) to become a part of our work.

International day of action mobilizes for freedom for Georges Abdallah

On Saturday, 2 April — Georges Abdallah’s 71st birthday — people across France and around the world joined in an international day of action to demand the freedom of the Lebanese Arab Communist struggler for Palestine imprisoned in France for over 37 years.

Abdallah, the longest-held political prisoner in Europe, has been eligible for release since 1999, yet his release has been blocked by interventions at the highest levels of the French and U.S. governments. He is part and parcel of the Palestinian prisoners’ movement, even joining in collective hunger strikes from his prison cell in Lannemezan.

In Tunis, activists with the Tunisian Committee for the Liberation of Georges Abdallah organized a solidarity stand outside the French embassy calling for Abdallah’s liberation.

In Bordeaux, activists from multiple organizations, including representatives of the CGT labor federation, rallied at a central square to urge Abdallah’s freedom.

In Marseille, dozens of activists rallied at a demonstration organized by the National Association of Communists (ANC), calling for Abdallah’s liberation.

In Lyon, activists from the Ligue de la Jeunesse Révolutionnaire (League of Revolutionary Youth), hung a banner calling for Georges Abdallah’s freedom and liberation for Palestine, as well as distributing information to residents of the neighborhood.

https://twitter.com/LigueJ_R/status/1510289529122476038

Activists in Lyon also reported the presence of a poster on the city’s prefecture calling for Abdallah’s liberation.

Elsewhere, the LJR also shared banners and graffiti posted in Saint-Etienne and Grenoble, calling for Abdallah’s liberation:

https://twitter.com/LigueJ_R/status/1509962613530234887

In Paris, activists marched through the streets in a mass rally called by the Coordination to Support the Palestine Resistance, proceeding from Barbès to République. Members of many organizations spoke and marched in a spirited demonstration affirming full solidarity with the liberation of Palestine.

In Lannemezan, over 100 people rallied outside the prison where Georges Abdallah is held, demanding his release, including representatives of political parties and trade unions, such as the CGT union federation.

Participants, who came from cities and towns including Bordeaux, Tarbes, Lannemezan, Pau, Toulouse, Auch and Montauban, also called for the liberation of Salah Hamouri, the French-Palestinian lawyer and human rights defender subjected to an extended campaign of forced displacement and repression by the Israeli regime and currently jailed without charge or trial under administrative detention.

A large number of organizations and political parties took part in these actions (Solidaires, CGT, ANC, PCF, FI, UCL, NPA, Permanent Revolution, PRCF, AFPS, Anti-Imperialist Front, Yellow Vests, Association of Palestinians in Ile-de-France, FUIQP, Unitary Campaign for the Liberation of Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, Collectif Ivryens, ISM France, Argenteuil Solidarité Palestine, BDS Paris Banlieue, UJFP, CAPJPO-Europalestine, NPA, UJC, Jeunes Révolutionnaires and Samidoun Région Parisienne, etc.)

Philippe Poutou of the NPA later also highlighted the case in a TV appearance.

In Madrid, the Masar Badil (Palestinian Alternative Revolutionary Path Movement) organized a Land Day demonstration on 2 April at Puerta del Sol, with the participation of Samidoun Spain, Alkarama Palestinian Women’s Mobilization and Al-Yudur Palestinian Youth Mobilization.

Following the rally, which included calls for the liberation of Georges Abdallah, participants gathered outside the French embassy to call for Abdallah’s liberation and denounce France’s criminalization of pro-Palestine and antifascist organizations, including the Collectif Palestine Vaincra and the antifascist group of Lyon (GALE).

In Vancouver, Canada Philippines Solidarity for Human Rights launched their Revolutionaries are Not Terrorists (RANT) campaign with a speaking event, with the participation of Charlotte Kates, international coordinator of Samidoun; Coni Ledesma, of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines; and Natalie Knight, urban Indigenous organizer and chair of the Friends of the Filipino People in Struggle in Vancouver. In her presentation, Kates discussed the case of Georges Abdallah and France’s criminalization of Palestine solidarity as part of the system of “anti-terror” repression used by imperialist powers to repress peoples’ movements.

Participants in the event took a solidarity photo calling for freedom for Georges Abdallah and all Palestinian prisoners and an end to the dissolution of the Collectif Palestine Vaincra and other pro-Palestine associations.

In Athens, Samidoun Greece and the Anti-Imperialist Front called for freedom for Georges Abdallah and all revolutionary prisoners.

In Charleroi, Belgium, the Plate-forme Charleroi-Palestine organized a stand outside the offices of Belgian TV channels to call for Georges Abdallah’s freedom and bring the case to the doors of media outlets. The action received TV and online media coverage.

Activists from the Tunisian Youth Movement in Germany took photos with a banner calling for the freedom of Georges Abdallah.

The national French trade union federation, Confédération Générale du Travail, CGT (General Confederation of Labor), issued a statement calling for Abdallah’s liberation for the day of action, marking a significant political commitment:

The French state’s refusal to release Georges Abdallah is indeed a political decision; therefore, the fight for his liberation must, therefore, be carried out on the ground of the balance of political power. In this context, we call to join the many actions that will take place this Saturday, April 2, at the call of associations, trade unions and political organizations.

In France as elsewhere, defenders of the Palestinian cause are paying a heavy price for their commitment.

N​ación Andaluza, a political organization in Andalucia advocating for socialism and independence, issued a statement affirming their support for Abdallah and his liberation.

Georges Abdallah himself issued a statement for the day of action, read at many of the demonstrations, including those in Lannemezan and Paris:

Comrades and Friends, from behind the abominable walls, Ahmad Saadat, as well as the thousands of comrades imprisoned in Zionist jails, send you their revolutionary greetings and draw your attention to the fascist and supremacist groups raging in Ramleh, Lydda, Haifa and Umm al-Fahm openly supported by the Israeli police…

That said, Comrades, the Palestinian popular masses can rely, and must be able to rely upon your mobilization to confront all the nefarious propaganda of the imperialist bourgeoisie in your country in particular…

The conditions of detention in Zionist jails are getting worse day by day; and as you know Comrades, to confront this, international solidarity can prove to be an indispensable weapon…

Quite naturally, the Palestinian popular masses and their struggling vanguards in captivity can count more than ever on your active solidarity.

May a thousand solidarity initiatives flourish in support of Palestine and its promising resistance!

As part of Abdallah’s statement, he highlighted the dissolutions of the Collectif Palestine Vaincra and Comite Action Palestine as part of France’s attack on Palestine. Protests against the dissolution were part of many of the actions for the 2 April day of action.

On the Day of Action itself and on surrounding days, organizations and activists in various cities organized screenings of “Fedayin: Georges Abdallah’s Fight.” The first screening at a Tunisian university was organized on 29 March as part of a Land Day commemoration. A screening on 31 March highlighted Georges Abdallah’s story in Barcelona. In Bergamo, Italy, activists from Giovani e Palestina (Youth and Palestine) screened “Fedayin” on 2 April.

The film “Fedayin: Georges Abdallah’s Fight” addresses the life and struggle of the longest-held political prisoner in Europe. It is available with appropriate subtitles in French, Arabic, English, German, Turkish, Italian, Catalan and Castilian Spanish. If you want to show Fedayin in your area, email us at samidoun@samidoun.net and contact the directors at vacarmesfilms@gmail.com. We will help you to get your screening organized, and the directors are available to attend your events in person or to join your in-person events via video link.

Georges Abdallah’s statement for 2 April day of action

The following statement was released by Georges Abdallah on 2 April 2022 as part of the international day of action for his release that coincided with his 71st birthday. Abdallah, the Lebanese Arab Communist struggler for Palestine, has been jailed in France since 1984 despite being eligible for release since 1999.

Georges Abdallah is part and parcel of the Palestinian prisoners’ movement. Palestinian prisoners, like imprisoned PFLP leader Ahmad Sa’adat, have issued letters and statements of solidarity with Abdallah, who has joined in collective hunger strikes from his cell in Lannemezan prison in France.

The film “Fedayin: Georges Abdallah’s Fight” addresses the life and struggle of the longest-held political prisoner in Europe. It is available with appropriate subtitles in French, Arabic, English, German, Turkish, Italian, Catalan and Castilian Spanish. If you want to show Fedayin in your area, email us at samidoun@samidoun.net and contact the directors at vacarmesfilms@gmail.com. We will help you to get your screening organized, and the directors are available to attend your events in person or to join your in-person events via video link.

Read Georges Abdallah’s statement below (translated from the original French)

Dear Comrades, Dear Friends,

In this time of multifaceted crisis, impoverishment and great struggles, wars and devastation, your solidarity mobilization here and elsewhere, provides a lot of strength and warms the heart too…

Insofar as this mobilization is part of the overall dynamics of the ongoing struggle, it allows your incarcerated comrades to stand up and somehow transcend their conditions as prisoners, despite the long years of captivity, and thus to participate in the action of the really existing revolutionary protagonists.

As you know, Comrades, the Palestinian people commemorate “Land Day” every year; it is a true national day where the Palestinian people affirms its unity despite their dispersion in various camps and communities in Palestine and in the neighboring countries, and where they affirm above all the unity of the land of Palestine. This day affirms the indestructible attachment to historical principles, namely: the categorical rejection of the Zionist entity on Palestinian land, and the Right of Return, which implies the liberation of Palestine, all of Palestine.

The commemoration of “Land Day” is therefore not only or mainly in remembrance of a general strike in 1976 against the confiscation of land. This strike aroused at the time a significant mobilization of solidarity, both in the West Bank and in Gaza and in the various Palestinian camps in neighboring countries. The fact remains that the acquisition of the land of Palestine by all means did not begin on January 19, 1976 with the decision of the Israeli government to confiscate 25 km 2in the Galilee. The expropriation of all of the property of the Palestinian people, with a view to their destruction, and in particular the confiscation of a large part of their land, is part and parcel of the very existence of the Zionist entity. It has never stopped and it will only stop with the dissolution/destruction of this entity which, in reality, is only an organic extension of Western imperialism.

By celebrating “Land Day,” the Palestinian people today also commemorate both the beginning of the 2002 Jenin siege and massacre and the heroic resistance that developed throughout that criminal siege.

By celebrating “Land Day” today, the Palestinian people affirm by the blood of their martyrs in Jenin, Hdayrat, Yaaboud and Bethlehem that Palestine, its land and people, is more united than ever. With the blood of the martyrs, the Palestinian people crushes not only the “deal of the century” but also and above all the Oslo agreements, and signifies to all these delegations gathered at “Sharm el-Sheikh” the refusal and the condemnation of the Palestinian people of all those steps aimed at the “normalization” of relations between the Arab countries and the Zionist entity. This day thus affirms the unshakeable will of the Palestinian popular masses to send to the dustbins of history the normalization between the Zionist entity and all these lackeys, emirs and agents…

By celebrating “Land Day” today on the eve of this month of Ramadan, the Palestinian popular masses are preparing for a mobilization commensurate with the current challenges; as in Sheikh Jarrah, in Gaza, and in all the cities and localities of the West Bank and the 48 territories, Palestinians of all generations, know better than anyone that nothing and no one will be able to eradicate this popular intifada, rooted in the collective consciousness and necessary to end the occupation. The intifada is, more than ever, the embodiment of all dignity and all hopes…

Quite naturally, this popular Intifada of a particular type has never really died out… Today it is called upon to structure itself better and to gain momentum, in order to right the balance of power and not allow the management of Oslo to come back again as if nothing has happened. It is clear, Comrades, that lately, not a single day has gone by without new martyrs, young or not so young…

How else can we see this popular resistance in “Beita,” this locality south of Nablus, or in Jenin and its surroundings in the North, or in al-Khalil, not to mention everything that is happening in al-Quds and in the territories of occupied Palestine ’48 and the ongoign raids in Gaza…

Quite naturally, this situation is not isolated from everything that is happening in the Arab world. It fits in a way, in the extension and development but also the impasses of all these protests and other revolts (Hirak) which have shaped the Arab world for ten years. It is also and above all part of an international context where the inter-imperialist contradictions are more and more exacerbated against the background of the worldwide crisis of the globalized capitalist system. It is clear that this crisis continues to deepen and spread throughout the world. At a time when the Brown Death of the far right has clearly, without cover, organized itself almost everywhere in Europe and has even managed to impose itself as the main political force in certain countries, fascization is proving to be at the center of the whole global dynamic of the management of capital, especially in the center of the system…

We must also note, comrades, that the inter-imperialist contradictions are beginning to structure international relations more and more and to occupy the forefront of the world stage. No one should be unaware that the tendency to war is somehow inscribed in the genetic code of capital.

The loss of hegemony of US imperialism at the world level pushes it in its headlong rush towards more aggressiveness towards the other imperialist poles and especially towards more criminal hostility towards the independent states that are somewhat too contentious to their taste…

Comrades, after thirty years of expansion in the East, of war in the Middle East, in Afghanistan, in Africa and also of coups d’état disguised as “orange revolutions” all over the world, US imperialism and with it Europe are facing a new situation in which “slippage” is not very improbable… with a war in the heart of Europe! And in the first place, economic sanctions to manage the confrontation with this imperialist pole in the process of being structured, without having to counter it militarily in a direct way!

Quite naturally, the “officials of capital” are not offended by the presence of neo-Nazi parties and their militias (Azov Regiment) which have been fueling military aggression in the Donbass and elsewhere since 2014; they only can discover hatred in all the structures of solidarity with the struggle of the Palestinian people and therefore, with all shame, they criminalize “BDS” as soon as they can, and decree the dissolution of the “Collectif Palestine Vaincra” and the “Comite Action Palestine”…

Naturally, all solidarity with the dissolved collectives and with “BDS”.

Comrades and Friends, from behind the abominable walls, Ahmad Saadat, as well as the thousands of comrades imprisoned in Zionist jails, send you their revolutionary greetings and draw your attention to the fascist and supremacist groups raging in Ramleh, Lydda, Haifa and Umm al-Fahm openly supported by the Israeli police…

That said, Comrades, the Palestinian popular masses can rely, and must be able to rely upon your mobilization to confront all the nefarious propaganda of the imperialist bourgeoisie in your country in particular…

The conditions of detention in Zionist jails are getting worse day by day; and as you know Comrades, to confront this, international solidarity can prove to be an indispensable weapon…

Quite naturally, the Palestinian popular masses and their struggling vanguards in captivity can count more than ever on your active solidarity.

May a thousand solidarity initiatives flourish in support of Palestine and its promising resistance!

May a thousand solidarity initiatives flourish in favor of Palestinian Flowers and Cubs (imprisoned Palestinian girls and boys)!

Solidarity, all solidarity, with the two comrades Sibel Balac and Gokhan Yildirim on a hunger strike [in Turkish prisons] at breakneck speed!

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

Solidarity, all solidarity, with the proletarians in struggle!

Solidarity, all solidarity, with the popular Yemeni masses!

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

Down with imperialism and its Zionist watchdogs and other Arab reactionaries!

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

Together, Comrades, and only together will we win!

To all of you Comrades and friends, my warmest regards.

Your Comrade, Georges Abdallah

Over 100 protest outside Lannemezan prison to demand release of Georges Abdallah

At the call of Collectif 65 for the Liberation of Georges Abdallah, over 100 demonstrators gathered outside the gates of the Lannemezan prison in France to demand the release of the longest-held political prisoner in Europe. This initiative was organized as part of an international day of mobilization for the release of the imprisoned Lebanese communist. The day came on 2 April as he celebrated his 71st birthday behind the walls of a French prison after being eligible for release for more than 22 years.

Despite the cold and the snowy weather, many supporters of Georges Abdallah made the trip from Bordeaux, Tarbes, Lannemezan, Pau, Toulouse, Auch and Montauban to reaffirm the importance of Abdallah’s case. Georges Abdallah, a Lebanese communist and struggler for the liberation of Palestine, has been imprisoned in France since 1984. The presence of activists from multiple organizations (Solidaires, CGT, ANC, PCF, FI, UCL, NPA, Permanent Revolution, PRCF, AFPS, Yellow Vests, etc.) underlined that solidarity with Georges Abdallah concerns all of the progressive forces who understand that the fight for his liberation is, first of all, a struggle against French imperialism and its criminal complicity with Israeli apartheid.

Following the publication of an important press release by the major labor federation in France, the CGT, calling for the release of Georges Abdallah, various trade union sectors and representatives of the CGT were present at the rally, carrying a large banner to affirm the union federation’s solidarity with Abdallah. The secretary general of the local CGT federation of Lannemezan area spoke at the demonstration alongside the secretary general of the UD CGT 31 to underline their commitment to support of Georges Abdallah as a part of upholding the internationalist values ​​of their labor union.

For his part, the president of the ANC (National Association of Communists), Charles Hoareaur stated: “In addition to Georges Abdallah, we also stand with the Corsican political prisoners, and until his death for Yvan Colonna, and the Basque prisoners, who are refused the application of common law and which have been placed under an exceptional regime unworthy of a democracy”.

Many organizations denounced the criminalization of the Palestine solidarity movement by the French government and the recent dissolution and banning of several organizations, including the Collectif Palestine Vaincra. A former Collectif Palestine Vaincra activist emphasized the importance of linking the mobilization against the dissolutions to the fight for the release of Abdallah, the longest-held political prisoner in Europe, as both actions reflect one and the same policy of repression by the French government.

The rally concluded with music: various songs of resistance played as participants took a photo in solidarity with Salah Hamouri, a French-Palestinian lawyer and human rights defender jailed without charge or trial in Israeli administrative detention. Supporting Georges Abdallah is part and parcel of supporting the release of all the Palestinian prisoners, unjustly imprisoned by the Israeli occupation.

 

March in Paris supports Palestinian resistance and Georges Abdallah

At the call of the Coordination to Support the Palestine Resistance in Paris, France, a march in support of the Palestinian resistance was organized from Barbès to République on Saturday, 2 April. A crowd displaying Palestinian flags and numerous banners came out despite the Parisian cold to affirm their support for the Palestinian people and their struggle against imperialism, Zionism and the reactionary Arab regimes.

In addition to the member organizations of the coordination (Association of Palestinians in Ile-de-France, ANC, FUIQP, Unitary Campaign for the Liberation of Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, Collectif Ivryens, ISM France, Argenteuil Solidarité Palestine), activists from BDS Paris Banlieue, UJFP, CAPJPO-Europalestine, NPA, UJC, Jeunes Révolutionnaires and Samidoun Région Parisienne were present.

This initiative was part of the commemorations of Land Day and the  international day of mobilization for the release of Georges Abdallah, the  Lebanese communist and Palestinian resistance fighter imprisoned in France for more than 37 years. 2 April, Abdallah’s birthday, was marked as a day of action in cities throughout France and elsewhere in the world.

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During the march, speakers read out the call for the march, and participants chanted many slogans in support of the Palestinian resistance, including “Long live the armed struggle of the Palestinian people,” “Palestine will live, Palestine will win, free Georges Abdallah!” for the return of all Palestinian refugees, and against the blockade of the Gaza Strip.

Marchers also strongly denounced the criminalization of the Palestine solidarity movement, in particular the recent dissolutions of several organizations, such as the Collectif Palestine Vaincra.

At the end of the demonstration, speakers presented several statements, including one written by Georges Abdallah for the occasion. In a declaration faithful to his anti-imperialist and revolutionary principles, he affirmed:

“By commemorating ‘Land Day’ today on the eve of this month of Ramadan, the Palestinian popular masses, of all generations, know better than anyone that nothing and no one will be able to eradicate this popular Intifada, rooted in the collective consciousness and necessary to end the occupation. This is, more than ever, the embodiment of all dignity and all hopes. […] Comrades and friends, from behind the abominable prison walls, Ahmad Sa’adat and the thousands of comrades imprisoned in Zionist jails bring you their revolutionary greetings and draw your attention to fascist and supremacist groups in Ramleh, Lydda, Haifa and Umm al-Fahm, openly supported by the Israeli police. That said, Comrades, the Palestinian popular masses can rely and must be able to rely on your mobilization in the face of all the nefarious propaganda of the imperialist bourgeoisie.”

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A few days earlier, on Wednesday 30 March 30, the National Collective for a Just and Lasting Peace organized a rally at Place de la République in Paris to commemorate Palestinian Land Day. Around a hundred people were present, including members of AFPS, BDS France, BDS Paris Banlieue, UJFP, Solidaires, CGT, FSU, Ensemble, Femmes Egalité, Unitary campaign for the Liberation of Georges Abdallah and Samidoun Région Parisienne. Many organizations and individuals spoke, including Elsa Lefort, wife of imprisoned French-Palestinian lawyer Salah Hamouri and spokesperson for his support committee.

She denounced the administrative detention — imprisonment without charge or trial — of her husband, a human rights defender, and the complicit silence of the French government in the face of the relentless campaign of harassment and persecution conducted by the Israeli government against Hamouri In his speech on behalf of the French Jewish Union for Peace (UJFP), Pierre Stambul said:

“We demand an end to complicity with this rogue state and in particular we denounce France’s collusion with apartheid. The criminalization of anti-Zionism and the dissolution of the Collectif Palestine Vaincra are proof of this. We denounce the shameless instrumentalization of anti-Semitism to defend a colonial state. Anti-Semitism is a crime and anti-Zionism is a duty. We demand the release of all Palestinian prisoners: the 6 escapees and recaptured from Gilboa, Marwan Barghouti, Ahmed Saadat, our comrade Salah Hamouri and Georges Abdallah, a prisoner relocated to France for 38 years.”

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Samidoun Région Parisienne regularly mobilizes in support of the Palestinian people and their resistance for the liberation of Palestine from the sea to the Jordan. Do not hesitate to contact us on our social media accounts (Instagram, Facebook ,Twitter) or by email at samidoun.rp@gmail.com if you wish to participate in our initiatives, including our monthly Palestine Stands in Aubervilliers and sending letters of support to Palestinian prisoners.

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