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Solidarity stand in Aubervilliers, France, supports Palestinian prisoners

On Saturday, 26 March during the weekly market in the Paris suburb of Aubervilliers, France, Samidoun Région Parisienne held its monthly stand. These stands provide an opportunity to launch discussions with residents about the need for solidarity with the Palestinian resistance and the current reality of Israeli occupation and apartheid. As usual, the group met with a very warm welcome, with many people stopping at the stand to pick up literature or learn more about our activities.

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Several posters of the Unified Campaign for the Liberation of Georges Abdallah underlined the importance of mobilizing for the Paris demonstration on 2 April, the international day for the release of Georges Abdallah, the Lebanese Arab struggler for Palestine and the longest-held political prisoner in Europe. Georges Abdallah has been jailed in France for 37 years despite being eligible for release since 1999.

In parallel with the actions and rallies in Palestine in support of prisoners and mothers of prisoners as part of Palestinian Mother’s Day, we expressed our support for the 31 women unjustly imprisoned in Damon prison. Many people showed solidarity for these imprisoned women, including members of France Insoumise and the Anti-Imperialist Front .

We also collected many words of support and solidarity for our monthly letter-posting to Palestinian female prisoners. The card addressed to Nafeth Hammad, a 16-year-old girl (14 at the time of her arrest) detained at Damon, received particular attention. Here are 14 of the 19 letters sent this month by Samidoun RP :

In addition, we displayed two banners against the dissolution of the Collectif Palestine Vaincra, which has filed a legal appeal against this extremely serious attack against the entire solidarity movement with Palestine. Please sign the petition of support an circulate it!

Finally, we distributed many flyers to call for mobilization on Saturday 2 April from 3 p.m. at the Barbès metro station for the march in support of the Palestinian resistance organized by the Palestine Resistance Support Coordination.

Samidoun Région Parisienne would like to warmly thank all the people who met at the stand. To participate in sending letters of support to women prisoners at Damon, do not hesitate to contact us on our social networks (InstagramFacebookTwitter) or by email at samidoun.rp@gmail.com.

3 April, online event: DSA Naila and the Uprising National Screening

JOIN US and the DSA BDS and Palestine Working Group on Sunday April 3rd, 2PM EST // 11AM PST for a national screening and panel discussion of the film, Naila and the Uprising. This feature-length documentary chronicles the remarkable journey of Naila Ayesh and a courageous community of women organizers whose stories weave through the most vibrant, nonviolent mobilization in Palestinian history – the First Intifada in the late 1980s.

REGISTER to join online: https://bit.ly/nailapanel

It’s an especially exciting opportunity as the panel discussion will include the Palestinian activist who helped organize the first Intifada and the film’s namesake, Naila Ayesh, along with the film’s impact producer, Emma Alpert.

Please share this opportunity with all as it’s an amazing film, and a great way to continue Palestine solidarity events beyond March’s global Israeli Apartheid Week of action.

24-31 March, Ottawa: Israeli Apartheid Week at Carleton – including “Fedayin” screening 25 March

From this Thursday, March 24 to next Thursday, March 31, join OPIRG Carleton and SJP Carleton for a week full of campaigns and events during Israeli Apartheid Week. Check out our list of events so far below.

Thursday, March 24: Introducing the Shame & Boycott List with @bdscoalition

Friday, March 25, 7-9 PM: “Fedayin: George Abdallah’s Fight” Film Screening and Letter Writing Campaign to Imprisoned Palestinians with @books2prisonersottawa over Zoom — Register: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_pZGJtCWjSjCOXkq9riVCwA

Sunday, March 27, 1-3 PM: A Discussion on Carleton’s Complicity in Apartheid over Zoom, on campus event TBD

Wednesday, March 30: #FreePalestinianStudents campaign with @samidounnetwork

Join us March 25th at 7pm for an online screening of the new film, “Fedayin”! Register online: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_pZGJtCWjSjCOXkq9riVCwA

This film tells the story of Georges Abdallah imprisoned since 1984 in France for his involvement in the struggle for the liberation of Palestine and Lebanon from Israeli, Zionist colonization. From the Palestinian refugee camps that forged his conscience, to the international mobilization for his release, we will discover the man who has become one of the longest-held political prisoners in Europe.

Following the film screening, we will be writing letters to Georges Abdallah, led by the @books2prisonersottawa!

Have your friends and family with you for a fun and education-filled night!

Please sign petition  for the immediate release of George Abdullah.

25 March, Montreal and online event: Solidarity with Palestinian Political Prisoners: Webinar with Charlotte Kates and Elyaa Abuhijleh

Friday March 25, 2022
12pm-1:30pm Eastern (9 am Pacific, 5 pm Europe, 6 pm Palestine)
By Zoom- register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_VWdyq7IQTEOw1sdNtXJknQ

In many respects, Palestinian prisoners remain on the frontlines of the Palestinian struggle for self-determination. Despite facing tremendous repression- often in the form of interrogation, sleep deprivation, solitary confinement and restrictions on family visits- they continue to educate other prisoners, organize campaigns for their release, stage hunger strikes, and participate in the national liberation struggle more broadly. This year has witnessed historic resistance from Palestinian prisoners, as six prisoners staged a heroic escape from Gilboa prison in September 2021, sparking a rebellion behind prison walls along with an outpouring of support across Palestine and around the world. More recently, Hisham Abu Hawash and Miqdad Qawamseh were released from Israeli custody after being on hunger strike for 141 and 114 days, respectively.

Join us for a panel discussion on political prisoner resistance in Palestine. Charlotte Kates, international coordinator for the Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, will give an overview on Palestinian political prisoner struggles. Elyaa Abuhijleh- a law student at Birzeit University- will also speak about her experiences as a former political prisoner in Israeli occupation jails.

This event is taking place as part of Israeli Apartheid Week- Montreal 2022. The full schedule is available here: https://www.facebook.com/events/326196309493121

For more information:
Israeli Apartheid Week- Montreal
apartheidweekmtl@gmail.com

“France is a strategic ally of the Israeli occupation”: Speaking out on the dissolution of Collectif Palestine Vaincra

The following article is translated and republished from the original French at ACTA.

In this interview, a former activist of the Collectif Palestine Vaincra reacts to the dissolution of the group initiated at the end of February by French Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin, and ratified on March 10. Retracing the main stages of their steps of struggle centered on supporting the resistance against the Zionist state and the campaign for the release of Palestinian prisoners, he puts into perspective the repression and targeting of the collective amid the broader context of the authoritarian turn of the French state and its strategic alliance with Israel.

Can you review the history of your organization, its birth, its main lines of work and its political strategy?

The Collectif Palestine Vaincra was founded in March 2019 following ten years of work in support of the Palestinian resistance in general and Georges Abdallah in particular, in the Toulouse region. The work of the collective was to develop anti-imperialist solidarity with the Palestinian people who have been fighting for more than 70 years against one of the last settler colonial projects on the planet: the Zionist state. This involved regular activity in the city center and in several popular neighborhoods of Toulouse, building solidarity and mobilization campaigns, for example for the boycott of Israel, for the defense of the legitimacy of the resistance against the occupation, for the release of Palestinian prisoners and Georges Abdallah, or even locally against the twinning of Toulouse with Tel Aviv, etc. This reflects a line and commitment that has existed in France for more than 50 years through many organizations and which is now seriously criminalized.

You were dissolved a few days ago: how were you informed?

We were informed of this by a tweet from the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, on Thursday February 24, in the late afternoon. This was followed by the submission of a document announcing the government’s desire to initiate a dissolution procedure which was validated by the Council of Ministers on March 9th. The following day, Thursday March 10, the decree of dissolution was published in the Official Journal, making the ban on the collective effective in France.

Prior to the CPV, other organizations, notably those fighting against Islamophobia, had been targeted by dissolution procedures. How do you see the procedure targeting the CPV in the context of the authoritarian turn of the state on the one hand, and the criminalization of support for the Palestinian cause on the other?

Since the beginning of Macron’s five-year term, we have seen an authoritarian shift take place, in particular through the dissolution of many Muslim and/or anti-racist organizations as well as the adoption of draconian laws, such as the law on so-called “separatism” or the so-called “global security” law. The dissolution of the Collectif Palestine Vaincra is obviously part of this reactionary dynamic, but it has a particular dimension around the criminalization of the solidarity movement with Palestine.

Indeed, France is a strategic ally of the Israeli occupation and is developing in this context a serious policy of repression against supporters of justice in Palestine. This involves the prosecution of activists from the campaign to boycott Israel or attempts to equate anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism. But for several years, we have observed a radicalization of the French position of support for Israeli apartheid. The latest is the speech of Jean Castex at the dinner of the CRIF (Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France) which affirms that “Jerusalem is the eternal capital of the Jewish people”, a statement that confirms an alignment with the Israeli far right as it pursues its policy of ethnic cleansing in the occupied Palestinian city, particularly in the neighborhoods of Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan.

In the decree of dissolution, support for the PFLP and for Georges Abdallah is particularly highlighted. What do you think about this?

The fact that support for Palestinian prisoners, in particular Ahmad Sa’adat and Georges Abdallah, is invoked as grounds for dissolution speaks volumes about the political nature of such a decision. Not only is the Zionist state and its allies imprisoning Palestinians who are fighting for their right to self-determination, but it is now the turn of the organizations that support these prisoners to be criminalized. It should be recalled that recently, two support organizations for Palestinian prisoners were classified as “terrorist organizations” by Israel: the international Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network and Addameer. It is therefore today the Collectif Palestine Vaincra which is dissolved in France, for similar reasons. These are extremely serious attacks that must be widely denounced. This highlights the importance and centrality of the cause of the Palestinian prisoners who today embody the true leadership of the Palestinian resistance for the return and liberation of Palestine from the river to the sea.

What strategy will you adopt for the future?

At the legal level, the group is appealing to the Council of State to challenge this dissolution. In parallel, a committee against the dissolution of the Collectif Palestine Vaincra is being formed. It brings together many political organizations, trade unions, and collectives who have decided to develop a solidarity campaign to denounce these attacks and the criminalization of the Palestine solidarity movement. This dissolution is indeed an attack against all the organizations engaged in struggle against colonialism, racism and imperialism. We must therefore form a common front to fight against this repressive offensive! Soon, solidarity initiatives should take place in several cities in France and abroad.

International actions to defend Palestine from French repression in Stockholm, Barcelona, Geneva and more

International solidarity actions are continuing to challenge the French government’s ban on two collectives advocating for justice in Palestine, including the Collectif Palestine Vaincra. In its dissolution order, French officials, including President Emmanuel Macron and Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, explicitly targeted the collective for advocating for freedom for Palestinian prisoners — and for Georges Abdallah, the Lebanese struggler for Palestine jailed in France for over 37 years, supporting the boycott of Israel, and expressing solidarity with the Palestinian resistance. This escalating attack on Palestinian rights and the Palestinian liberation movement in France is highlighting the repressive and anti-democratic policies of the French state that are also targeting Muslim, anti-racist and anti-fascist organizations for banning and threats of fines and jail time.

In Stockholm, Sweden, members of Samidoun Stockholmm visited the French embassy in the Swedish capital to distribute flyers and information to passers-by about France’s attack on Palestine and the Palestinian liberation movement.

Meanwhile, in Barcelona, Jaldia Abubakra of Samidoun Spain, the Palestinian Alternative Revolutionary Path Movement (Masar Badil), and Alkarama Palestinian Women’s Mobilization, delivered a letter on behalf of dozens of Spanish and Catalan associations to the French consulate, demanding that the ban on organizations advocating for justice in Palestine be rescinded.

In Geneva, outside the French consulate, demonstrators displayed banners in solidarity with Georges Abdallah, demanding his freedom, and in support of the Collectif Palestine Vaincra against the dissolution orders.

There are further actions coming up this weekend that highlight this case as part of the struggle for justice in Palestine, including the protest in Napoli on Friday, 25 March in solidarity with Collectif Palestine Vaincra, protests and Palestine stands in Lyon, Aubervilliers, Paris and Charleroi, as well as Land Day actions in Vancouver, New York, Albuquerque and elsewhere.

Take Action: 

  1. Individuals: Sign the petition in support of Collectif Palestine Vaincra! Add your signature here. https://www.change.org/p/non-%C3%A0-la-dissolution-du-collectif-palestine-vaincra
  2. Organizations: Sign the solidarity statement for Collectif Palestine Vaincra. Add your organizational endorsement here: https://bit.ly/defendcpv 
  3. Stand against criminalization of Palestinian rights in France with a statement or action! Send organizational solidarity statements to collectifpalestinevaincra@gmail.com (and copy us at samidoun@samidoun.net. Protest at a French embassy or consulate in your area. Find the embassy near you: https://www.embassy-worldwide.com/country/france/
  4. Call the French embassy or consulate in your area and speak up about the targeting of CPV! Find the closest French embassy or consulate in your area: https://www.embassy-worldwide.com/country/france/ For easy reference, the French embassy in the US can be reached at +1 (202) 944 6000, the French embassy in Canada at +1 (613) 789-1795, and the French embassy to the UK at [+44] (0) 207 073 1000. Find the embassy near you: https://www.embassy-worldwide.com/country/franceWhen you call, say, “My name is _____ and I am calling from _____. I am calling about the Interior Minister’s statement today that he will dissolve and ban two pro-Palestine organizations. This is an outrageous attack on freedom of expression. I stand with Palestine and with the Collectif Palestine Vaincra, and France should stop these attacks immediately.”
  1. Take an individual or group photo or video with the campaign posters (below), make your own sign and share on social media! Tag us on FacebookTwitter or Instagram and use the hashtag: #SolidaritéCollectifPalestineVaincra

Download PDFS: EnglishFrenchArabicGermanDutchSwedishSpanish

Video: Launch of International People’s Tribunal on U.S. Imperialism: Sanctions, Blockades & Economic Coercive Measures

 

The United States, with the support of the United Nations and European Union, has imposed sanctions and other economic coercive measures on over 30 percent of the global population, mostly located in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Sanctions are one of the key tools of U.S. imperialism, leading to mass starvation and suffering of peoples in the Global South, while opening up markets to U.S. and European corporations.

The International People’s Tribunal on U.S. Imperialism: Sanctions, Blockades & Economic Coercive Measures will challenge the economic atrocities committed by the United States through the use of the law, highlighting the unlawful, unjust, and colonial nature of economic coercive measures. The Tribunal is co-sponsored by organizations located throughout the world, including the Committee of Anti-Imperialists in Solidarity with Iran, the Simón Bolívar Institute for Peace and Solidarity Among Peoples, National Lawyers Guild, the International Association for Democratic Lawyers, Al-Awda Palestinian Right to Return Coalition, Samidoun Palestinian Political Prisoner Solidarity Network, Black Alliance for Peace, ANSWER Coalition, People’s Forum, Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research, CodePink, Sanctions Kill, Frantz Fanon Foundation, Al Massar Palestinian Alternative Revolutionary Path Movement, and the Alliance for Global Justice.

In collaboration with international scholar activists and legal experts, the People’s Tribunal hosted an introductory webinar to discuss the urgent need to take legal action against U.S. sanctions and economic coercive measures session on March 18, 2022.

The speakers in the webinar are:

  • Dr. Eva Nanopoulos, Senior Lecturer in Law at Queen Mary University in London,
  • Carlos Ron, President of the Simón Bolívar Institute for Peace and Solidarity Among Peoples and Venezuela’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs for North America,
  • Vira Ameli, Interdisciplinary Researcher focused on Public Health in Iran and the Middle East,
  • Dr. Grasian Mkodzongi, Executive Director at Tropical Africa-Land and Natural Resources Research Institute in Zimbabwe,
  • Maria Lucrecia Hernández, Attorney and Director of ONG Sures in Venezuela,
  • Motee Abumusabeh, Political and Media Activist in Gaza, Palestine, and
  • Moderator: Helyeh Doutaghi, Doctoral Candidate in Law & Legal Studies at Carleton University in Canada

Follow the activities of the Tribunal at https://sanctionstribunal.org/

27 March, Gothenburg: Palestinian Land Day Demonstration

Sunday, 27 March
3:00 pm
Brunnsparken
Gothenburg, Sweden
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/s/palestinska-jordens-dag/685681592580229/

The Palestinian Coordination Group In Gothenburg is calling for a demonstration to draw attention to the Day of the Land, Sunday 27 March at 15:00.

The demonstration starts from Brunnsparken in front of Johannastatyn to Järntorget The event will include various short speeches and cultural events at the gathering places.

Every year, March 30, the Day of the Land is commemorated in Palestine.

On March 30, 1976, protests against the theft of Palestinian land were met by sharp fire from the Israeli army. Many Palestinians were killed, injured and arrested. Since then, the Day of the Land has been marked in Palestine, and around the world, with actions in support of the right to land.

The Spartacus Choir and part of the Motval Choir. saxophone: Kjell Johansson piano: Stefan Almqvist at Brunnsparken at 15:15.
World Music Culture Club, David Bäck – vocals – piano, Suad Al Roubi vocals and Yazan Hassoun vocals and guitar at Järntorget Kl. 16:15.

26 March, online event: Palestine and US Strategy in the Arab World with Prof. As’ad AbuKhalil

SATURDAY, MARCH 26
5:00 PM PACIFIC || 8:00 PM EASTERN
REGISTER TO JOIN: https://bit.ly/usandpalestine

The struggle for the liberation of Palestine is also a struggle to defeat U.S. imperialism and obtain liberation of the Arab people. Join the Palestinian Alternative Revolutionary Path (Masar Badil) for a discussion of U.S. strategy today — and our response.

Prof. As’ad AbuKhalil will address Palestine’s position vis-a-vis the map of global politics in the face of total official Arab and international indifference to the Palestinian question as well the complacency and complicity of the Palestinian Authority.

AS’AD ABUKHALIL is Professor of Political Science at California State University Stanislaus

REGISTER TO JOIN: https://bit.ly/usandpalestine 

25 March, Naples: Solidarity Rally against the Dissolution of Collectif Palestine Vaincra

Friday, 25 March
4:00 pm

Istituto Grenoble (via Francesco Crispi 86, NA) 
Napoli
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/707505683963577/

Following the dissolution of the Collectif Palestine Vaincra (CPV) by the French government, all those committed to supporting the tireless and heroic Palestinian resistance unite to denounce this repressive action and to support the French comrades.

According to the government of Emanuel Macron and his interior minister Gerard Darmanin, the collective is accused of “inciting hatred, violence and discrimination”.

The CPV is a collective that has organized concrete and generous solidarity support to the cause of the Palestinian people in France for several years. As a result, Zionist forces have repeatedly pressured the government to suppress their actions.

These pressures, unfortunately, have led to the banning of the CPV. At the same time, the French government continues to refuse to release the Lebanese prisoner Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, in prison in France for over 37 years for having been a pro-Palestinian fighter.

With the dissolution of the Collectif Palestine Vaincra, an authoritarian measure and detrimental to the most basic freedoms of opinion and expression, the aim is to attack organizers that has been supporting the Palestinian resistance for years, especially with its solidarity campaigns with prisoners.

At the same time that Israel is intensifying its colonial and apartheid policies with murders and indiscriminate arrests, this attempt is being made to criminalize and intimidate the entire movement in solidarity with the anti-colonial and anti-racist struggle of the Palestinian people, in France and internationally.

In this context, we believe that a collective, political and public response is more necessary than ever, starting with the denunciation of this repressive climate.