Organizations and activists gathered at the call of the Unitary Campaign for the Liberation of Georges Abdallah for a rally in Paris on Friday, 18 March at the Ménilmontant metro station. They expressed their support for the Collectif Palestine Vaincra and the Comité Action Palestine, two Palestine solidarity groups recently ordered dissolved, or banned, by the French government.
Various organizations, including the Unitary Campaign for the Liberation of Georges Abdallah, Palestine Action Committee, Popular Front of Turkey, DIP, OCML VP, PCRF/UJC, NPA, Rete dei Comunisti, and Chile and Algeria support committees, took to the microphone to express their outrage at the government’s actions and show solidarity with the targeted organizations. Many speakers particularly linked the Palestinian people’s struggle with various struggles inside France and outside confronting imperialism and colonialism and expressing solidarity with political prisoners around the world, from Palestine to Chile to Turkey. Speakers also urged the immediate release of Georges Abdallah, the Lebanese Arab Communist struggler for Palestine imprisoned in France for over 37 years despite being eligible for release since 1999.
Samidoun Région Parisienne participated in the action and displayed banners in solidarity with the Collectif Palestine Vaincra.
Following the demonstration, people were appalled to learn that the French government’s drive to dissolve and ban leftist, antifascist and anti-Zionist organizations is continuing. The Antifascist Group of Lyon and Surroundings was informed on 17 March that a procedure to dissolve their work had begun, after originally being threatened with dissolution in December 2021. Once again, this clearly indicates the French government’s desire to repress and silence progressive forces confronting their reactionary and anti-social policies.
In order to confront these attacks and offenses carried out against our social movements, we must strengthen our ties and reaffirm once more that solidarity is our weapon to achieve victory!
⚠️"Ce jeudi 17 Mars des documents de déclenchement de la procédure de dissolution ont été notifiés à des individus considérés par la préfecture comme appartenant à notre groupe." Notre communiqué sur notre site. ⬇️⬇️⬇️ https://t.co/3MVL1QZdVTpic.twitter.com/jL7fSUwf59
Samidoun is joining with the Canada Palestine Association, BDS Vancouver Coast Salish, the Canadian BDS Coalition and Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid (CAIA) Victoria to call on BC officials to stop marketing Israeli apartheid wine in public liquor stores.
The Israeli wines currently carried in BC liquor stores are linked to the illegal Israeli settlement enterprise.
Major international and Israeli human right groups, including Amnesty International, have determined that Israel is committing the crime of apartheid. Yet the BC government insists to carry Israeli wines in publicly owned BC liquor stores, even though most are linked to the illegal Israeli settlement enterprise.
Activists in BC have sustained an on-going campaign for 14 years to have Israeli wines removed from liquor store shelves. But successive BC governments have refused to do that, claiming it was “consumer choice”.
However, it was demonstrated handily on Feb. 25, 2022, that the government can indeed pull whatever product they chose. In just 2 days, the BC NDP government joined other Canadian provinces in putting a “…halt to the importing and sale of Russian liquor products from our BC Liquor Stores and provincial liquor distribution centres”.
Canada Palestine Association, who has been part of the Boycott Israeli Wines campaign, were outraged: “So it can be done and done quickly, it seems. It just depends on who you are and what political agenda is being served. And clearly, the ‘consumer choice’ argument was nothing but a big lie.”
The wines in question are either from the Golan Heights Winery and its joint venture the Galil Winery; or from the Israeli Teperberg Winery, which proudly displays a map on its website showing vineyards in occupied Palestinian territory. According to the progressive Israeli research group “Who Profits”, Teperberg Winery “owns and sources from vineyards in the occupied West Bank, including in the Ezion Bloc settlement and in Mevo Horon.”
Israeli settlements are illegal under the Fourth Geneva Convention and international humanitarian law. They are part and parcel of the systematic targeting of the Palestinian people for dispossession, occupation and apartheid for over 73 years. Consecutive BC governments have also been aiding and abetting the pillage of Palestinian and Arab property and resources, expressly forbidden in Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.
Last year, the New Democratic Party NDP of Canada passed a resolution that committed in part to end “all trade and economic cooperation with illegal settlements in Israel-Palestine”. The Canadian government also acknowledges the illegality of Israeli settlements in its official policy.
So, why this double-standard? If the BC government still refuses to de-shelve Israeli apartheid wines, then we can only conclude that their commitment to international law and human rights is highly selective, politically motivated and racist.
Ten years have passed since Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network was founded to be a voice for the Palestinian prisoners’ movement everywhere and to broadcast their struggle for freedom to the world.
Help Samidoun Deutschland today to keep their voice loud and clear! To make sure we fill the cities of Germany and Europe with the messages of the Palestinian resistance leadership behind bars.
Your contribution supports our actions for the freedom of the prisoners’ movement! Our goal is to raise 1.600 euros to get a sound system for our various activities and events, which you can learn about in detail on our Instagram page.
To be a part of the prisoners’ movement voice and learn about our work, explore the Samidoun website (including the German website, curated by Samidoun Deutschland) and join us to continue the journey together towards liberation and return.
عربي
مضت 10 سنوات على تأسيس شبكة صامدون للدفاع عن الأسرى الفلسطينيين، لتكون صوتاً للحركة الأسيرة في كل مكان، لتكون الحنجرة التي يصدح بها صوت أسرانا من أجل كفاحهم للحرية، لنكون حَملة رسالتهم النضالية في كل العالم.
ساعدونا اليوم ليبقى صوتهم عالياً ومسموعاً، كونوا معنا لنملأ الساحات والمدن الألمانية والأوروبية بصوت قيادة المقاومة الفلسطينية خلف القضبان.
عطاؤكم سيدعم فعالياتنا من أجل حرية الحركة الأسيرة! هدفنا هو جمع 1600 يورو من أجل توفير معدات صوت تساعدنا في أنشطتنا وفعالياتنا المختلفة في ألمانيا والتي يمكنكم التعرف عليها بالتفصيل عبر صفحتنا على تطبيق إنستاغرام
ولتكونوا جزء من صوت الحركة الأسيرة حول العالم زوروا موقع شبكة صامدون (بما في ذلك الموقع باللغة الألمانية) وتعرفوا على عملنا وانضموا إلينا لنكمل المسير سوياً نحو التحرير والعودة.
Deutsch
Zehn Jahre sind vergangen, seitdem das Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network gegründet wurde, um der palästinensischen Gefangenenbewegung überall eine Stimme zu geben und ihren Kampf um Freiheit in die Welt zu tragen.
Helft Samidoun Deutschland heute, ihre Stimme laut und deutlich zu machen! Sorgt dafür, dass wir die deutsche und europäische Städte mit den Botschaften der palästinensischen Widerstandsführung hinter Gittern füllen.
Euer Beitrag unterstützt unsere Aktionen für die Freiheit der Gefangenenbewegung! Unser Ziel ist es, 1.600 Euro zu sammeln, um ein Soundsystem für unsere verschiedenen Aktivitäten und Veranstaltungen anzuschaffen, über die ihr auf unserer Instagram-Seite im Detail erfahren könnt
Um Teil der Stimme der Gefangenenbewegung zu werden und mehr über unsere Arbeit zu erfahren, besucht die Website von Samidoun und schließt euch uns an, um gemeinsam den Weg zur Befreiung und Rückkehr fortzusetzen.
Less than one week after French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin announced via Twitter that he had officially dissolved, or banned, two Palestinian liberation advocacy groups, the Collectif Palestine Vaincra and the Comite Action Palestine, international outrage at French repression and solidarity with the groups is on the rise.
While the Israeli embassy in France lauds the interior minister for repressing political expression in support of Palestine in France on Twitter, popular movements are organizing to resist this silencing of Palestinian and pro-Palestinian organizing.
Nous félicitions la décision ferme et courageuse du gouvernement français et du ministre de l’Intérieur, M. @GDarmanin, d’avoir dissous les organisations « Collectif Palestine vaincra » et « Comité action Palestine ». (1/2)
— Ambassade d'Israël en France (@IsraelenFrance) March 14, 2022
Demonstrations and statements in support of the Collectif Palestine Vaincra have brought out a range of organizations and left political parties, including the Campagne BDS France Toulouse and the Association France Palestine Solidarité, Action Antifasciste Paris-Banlieue, the Parti de Gauche, France Insoumise, the NPA, Révolution Permanente, Parti Ouvrier and the Mouvement de la Paix, and labour unions, such as UD CGT 31, Solidaires 31 and FSU 31.
Organizers of the Toulouse rally against the dissolutions on 5 March included Act Up Sud Ouest, AFA Tolosa, ATTAC Toulouse, Couserans-Palestine Association, BRIC, BDS Toulouse Campaign, Center of the Kurdish Democratic Community of Toulouse, CLRR 31, Palestine Vaincra Collective, Truth and Justice Committee 31, CNT 31, Popular Collective Against the Far Right, CREA, Together! 31, France Insoumise 31, FSU 31, Libertad Group of the Anarchist Federation, LDH Toulouse, Peace Movement 31, NPA 31, PCOF 31, POI 31, Permanent Revolution 31, Sud Education 31/65, Secours Rouge Toulouse, Solidaires 31 , Sud Santé Sociaux 31, Survie Toulouse, Union of Lawyers of France – Toulouse, Toulouse Anti-CRA, UCL Toulouse and Surroundings, Departmental Union of CGT unions of Haute-Garonne, Union of Students of Toulouse.
Meanwhile, organizations and activists around the world have continued to speak out against France’s attacks on Palestinian rights. In Turkey, the SOL (LEFT) Party issued a statement of solidarity to the Collectif Palestine Vaincra.
In Switzerland, the Revolutionäre Jugend Zürich took the the streets in Zurich and Bâle, challenging the French state’s banning and dissolution of the Collectif Palestine Vaincra and other pro-Palestinian organizations.
At the 11 March demo marking International Working Women’s Day in Zurich and at the 12 March demo in Bâle against war in Ukraine, marchers denounced the dissolution and supported the Palestinian liberation struggle.
This came alongside several other actions and events in Paris over the weekend to denounce the French government’s attack on campaigners for justice in Palestine. CAPJPO-EuroPalestine called for a demonstration in Paris on 12 March to denounce the dissolutions:
Earlier on that day, tabling and discussion at the Anti-Racist and Anti-Colonial Salon in Montreuil highlighted the attacks and called for solidarity.
On 12 March in Brussels, Belgium, Secours Rouge gathered outside the French embassy to denounce the dissolutions and call for solidarity with Palestine:
Meanwhile, in Gothenburg, Sweden, comrades from Samidoun Gothenburg distributed leaflets and taped a letter to the door of the French consulate in solidarity with the Collectif Palestine Vaincra, demanding that their ban on the organizations be immediately rescinded.
In Spain, Jaldia Abubakra of Samidoun, Alkarama Palestinian Women’s Mobilization and the Masar Badil (Palestinian Alternative Revolutionary Path) delivered a letter of protest to the French embassy in Madrid signed by an array of organizations: Alkarama Palestinian Women’s Mobilization, Alyudur Palestinian Youth organization, Samidoun, IJAN (International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network), Unadikum Association, Masar Badil, Partido Anticpitalists, Colectivo Plaza de los pueblos, Los yayo flautas, Colectivo Palestina libre de Murcia, Comite de Solidaridad con los Pueblos Interpueblos – Cantabria, PRUNE (Partido Renacimiento y Union de Europa), UMDF (Union Musulmane Democratique Francaise), Colectivo Nueva Semilla, Junts (Association Catalana de Jueus | {Palestins), Asociacion de Mujeres Emprendedoras Brasil Espana, Comite de Lta Popular De Espanha, Collectiu Intifada, Lucha Internacionalista UIT-CI, Asociacion Al Quds Andalucia de Solidaridad con los Pueblos del Mundo Arabe, Asociacion Intercultural Saladillo, del Algeciras, and BDS Almeria
Students at the University of Mirail in Toulouse came out on campus to express their solidarity with the Collectif on the day the dissolution was officially announced, 9 March:
Also at the university, organizers displayed a banner declaring that Darmanin would not be able to silence the movement and showing solidarity with the Collectif Palestine Vaincra.
In Vancouver, Canada, activists from Samidoun Vancouver, Canada Palestine Association, BDS Vancouver – Coast Salish and the International League of Peoples’ Struggle delivered a strong letter of protest to the French consulate on Wednesday, 9 March. They hand-delivered the letter to the Vice-Consul despite police interference, carrying banners and signs of solidarity with the Collectif Palestine Vaincra and targeted organizations. They also delivered a letter to the German consulate in solidarity with Palestinian writer Khaled Barakat, currently appealing a political ban imposed upon him by German immigration officials.
On March 8 in Naples, Italy, demonstrators joined the International Women’s Day march with a banner against the dissolution of Collectif Palestine Vaincra.
On 6 March, representatives of the Collectif Palestine Vaincra joined with Khaled Barakat and Palestine Action, the movement confronting Israeli arms manufacturer Elbit systems with direct action, for a discussion on confronting repression against Palestine and Palestinians in Europe. Watch the recording:
In parallel with the demonstration in Toulouse on 5 March, activists in Paris hung a banner against the dissolution:
Anasse Kazib, the presidential candidate of Révolution Permanente, expressed his support for the Collectif in a video:
In Marseille, demonstrators denounced Darmanin’s actions:
While activists in Nantes organized a solidarity evening:
The Rete Dei Communisti in Italy organized banner displays and solidarity photos across the country.
In Toulouse itself, Secours Rouge showed solidarity on the walls:
While both rugby clubs and labour unions took a stand against anti-Palestinian repression:
In Paris, the Unitary Campaign to free Georges Abdallah and other activists showed their support against the dissolutions:
A BDS action in Paris highlighted the need to boycott Israeli goods and resist anti-Palestinian repression in France.
More than 150 local, national and international organizations have joined our press release by co-signing it:
ACTA
Act up Sud Ouest
Action Antifasciste 79
AFA TOLOSA
AFPS – Association France Palestine Solidarité
AFPS 63
AFPS Albertville
AFPS Morlaix
AFPS Nîmes
AFPS Paris 14e-6e
Al-Awda, the Palestine Right to Return Coalition
Alkarama
Anti Imperialist Action Ireland
Anti-impérialiste Front France
Arab Lawyers Association (UK)
Arab Palestinian Cultural Club Palestine
Association Car t’y libre (Istres)
Association couserans – palestine
Association Nationale des Communistes
ATTAC Toulouse
Aveg-kon
BACBI – Belgian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel
Bahrain Palestine Society
Bahraini Society Against Normalization
BDS Toulouse
BDS Vancouver Coast Salish Territories
Bokcafet i Jönköping
BRIC
Brighton & Hove Trades Council
Bryn Mawr Peace Coalition
Campagne libanaise pour la libération de Georges Abdallah
Campagne Unitaire pour la libération de Georges Abdallah
Campaign to Boycott Supporters of “Israel” in Lebanon
Canada Palestine Association – Vancouver
Canadian BDS Coalition
CAPJPO – Europalestine
CASA Tolosa
Center for Freedom and Justice – Colorado
CGT Mecahers
Charente Palestine
Citizens for justice in the Middle East CJME
Classe Contre Classe
CLRR31
CNT 31
Coalition for Peace in the Middle East
Collectif 65 pour la libération de Georges Abdallah
Collectif 69 de soutien au peuple palestinien
Collectif de soutien à la résistance palestinienne CSRP59
Collectif Horizon Palestine Rennes
Collectif Populaire Contre l’Extrême Droite
Collectif pour la libération de Georges Abdallah
Collectif Sud Global
Collectif Urgence Palestine – Vaud, Lausanne
Comité de Liberté Pour Ali Osman Köse France
Comité de Liberté Pour Musa Aşoğlu
Comité Montreuil Palestine
Comité Palestine 81
Comité Vérité et Justice 31
Committee for Democratic Palestine
Committee of Anti-Imperialists in Solidarity with Iran
Communist Youth of Sweden, SKU
Corsica -Palestina
CREA
Dutch Scholars for Palestine
Ensemble ! 31
France Insoumise 31
Free Palestine Maastricht
Freedom Road Socialist Organizaion
Friends of Palestine Against Imperialism and Zionism Platform
Friends of the Filipino People in Struggle – Vancouver, Coast Salish territories
Friends of the Filipino People in Struggle (FFPS)
Front Populaire Belgique (Turquie)
Front Populaire France (Turquie)
FSU 31
Groupe Libertad de la Fédération Anarchiste
IFI Europe Chaplaincy
IJAN-INTERNATIONAL JEWISH ANTIZIONIST NETWORK
Independent Advocate
International Association of Democratic Lawyers
Internationalt Forum
Jeunes Communistes 13
Jeunes pour la Palestine – Nantes
Jewish Network for Palestine
Jews for Palestinian Right of Return
JOC Belgique
Just Peace Advocates/Mouvement Pour Une Paix Juste
La Forge
La Fronde
Labor for Palestine
LDH Toulouse
Ligue de la jeunesse révolutionnaire
Local Sacco-Vanzetti
L’Offensive
Marseille Gaza Palestine
Masar Badil – Palestinian Alternative Revolutionary Path Movement
Modey Amerey
Mouvement de la Paix 31
Mouvement des jeunes pour le changement
Nantes Révoltée
National Lawyers Guild International
Nederlands Palestina Komitee
New York Boricua Resistance
Niagara Movement for Justice in Palestine-Israel (NMJPI)
NPA
NPA 31
NYC Jericho Movement
OCML-VP
Ongd AFRICANDO
Palästina Antikolonial
Palestine 13
Palestinian and Jewish Unity
Parti Populaire Démocratique (Lebanon)
PAS
PCOF 31
Peoples Power Assembly
Plateforme Charleroi Palestine
POI 31
Proletari Torinesi Per Il Soccorso Rosso Internazionale
RADICAAL
Radical Solidarity
Rete dei Comunisti (Italie)
Révolution Permanente 31
Revolutionaire Eenheid
Revolutionäre Jugend Zürich (RJZ)
Revolutionary Workers’ Party (DIP) of Turkey
Rote Hilfe Schweiz
Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network
Secours Rouge Arabe
Secours Rouge Bruxelles/Belgique
Secours Rouge Genève
Secours Rouge International
Secours Rouge Montréal
Secours Rouge Toulouse
SELFOP
Sodepau
Solidaires 31
Solidaires Tarn
Students United for Palestinian Equal Rights – University of Washington
Sud Education 31-65
Sud Santé sociaux 31
SUF Göteborg
Survie Toulouse
Syndicat des Avocats de France – Toulouse
Tabbara Dentistry
The Brighton Trust
Toulouse Anti CRA
UCL Tarbes
UCL Toulouse et alentours
Union Départementale des syndicats CGT de la Haute-Garonne
Union des Étudiant·e·s de Toulouse
Union Juive Française pour la Paix
Union Locale CNT Drome
Unité Communiste
US Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel
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.”
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 Facebook, Twitter or Instagram and use the hashtag: #SolidaritéCollectifPalestineVaincra
Emergency rally this Friday at 6 pm in front of the French consulate in Manhattan
Two weeks ago, under specious pretenses, the French state announced it’s intention to dissolve the Collectif Palestine Vaincra, a secular palestinian organization they accused of fomenting islamic terrorism. Last week the state went through with it’s undemocratic dissolution meaning the Collectif can no longer speak in public, use organizational imagery or run social media accounts in their name.
In ‘free and democratic’ France the president can simply decide to ban a political group for having opposing views.
Come out to the French consulate this friday and demand the French government respect the Collectif’s right to free speech and political expression
On Friday, 11 March, Palestinian writer Khaled Barakat‘s appeal against the political ban imposed upon him by Berlin immigration authorities in June 2019 was brought before a German court. Barakat is fighting back against the Berlin immigration office’s imposition of a political ban on him, barring him from participating in political and social events and activities, and their order that he be expelled from the country for four years. The political ban was followed by a four-year expulsion order, even after he had already left Germany, and based entirely on his public political activities, speeches and writings.
“This is part and parcel of a state-sponsored campaign against Palestinians organizing to defend their rights and seek their freedom. The political ban against me came when I was going to give a lecture about Trump’s so-called “deal of the century” in Arabic to Arab community organizations in Berlin. Then, this was shortly followed by the denial of our visa and then, even after we left the country, an exclusion order was instantly issued. This is an attempt to make an example of a Palestinian writer challenging Zionism, imperialism, and Germany’s own destructive role. This is why it’s important to fight back because we know they will continue to do this and target others….
When Germany practices racist and discriminatory measures against the Arab community in Germany, we cannot be silent. We must fight back. That includes fighting against these measures in the legal system, which is another arena of voicing our narrative and defending our rights. I know that Palestinians will be victorious in our struggle for liberation, despite the forces arrayed against us by “Israel” and its allies and the ongoing crimes against the Palestinian people.”
Barakat’s lawyer presented a range of arguments highlighting the illegitimate nature of the political ban imposed upon him and the danger it presents to freedom of expression and opinion in Germany. She also presented a letter he addressed to the court, as follows:
To the members of the Court:
I am writing this letter to the court that is convening now in order to hear my case, the appeal of the political ban imposed upon me. The purpose of my message to you today, 11 March 2022 through my lawyer . . . is an attempt to seek justice and fairness. I have been subjected to racist attacks, constantly, because of my political views and because of my principles. Fighting racism, colonization and the mistreatment of the Palestinian people — my people — has been and will always be the cause of my life.
I have been a dedicated voice against homophobia, anti-Semitism, racism and fascism. These values, I know, are cherished by the vast majority of the people in Germany.
Charlotte, my wife, and I lived in Germany on and off from 2015 until I was wrongfully silenced and later deported. Throughout this time, I have acted in accordance with the law. In these four years, I was introduced to great histories and cultural experiences, and at the same time, I have also witnessed a systematic oppression directed against refugees, migrants and those classified as foreigners, at the hands of the state.
On the day I was stopped by the police, taken to a police station, and presented with a political ban, I was on my way to a community center, where I was going to deliver a talk hosted by Arab and African organizations about the impact of U.S. policy in the Middle East. For me, it seemed that this police action in Berlin was taken at the behest of the U.S. and Israel, rather than that of the public in Berlin and Germany more broadly, who can only benefit from a diverse conversation about these important issues.
My writings and my political activities are not secret. In fact, it is important for me that it is public and known to all, visible under the sun and in the open, because it is, I believe, a responsibility upon me to tell the world a clear message: The recognition and implementation of the full rights of my people, the Palestinian people, must be achieved. This means ending apartheid and colonialism, and it also means the full implementation of the right of return for Palestinian refugees to their original homes and lands, a right guaranteed under international law. And if my calling to the liberation of Palestine and the Palestinians is a crime, then this would be contrary not only to my principles and to reality itself, but even the very international law that Germany purports to uphold.
I understand the burden and the complexity of history, particularly the history of Nazi Germany, and the brutality and massacres carried out against millions of people at the hands of Hitler and the Nazi regime. My question is, however, why must Palestinians carry the responsibility of such atrocities and be labeled as anti-Semitic for seeking our rights and our freedom?
I want the new generations in Germany to be free to criticize the racist and colonialist behavior of the state of Israel, without fear of persecution, repression or slander. It is also important for the young Jewish generations to be free to express their own positions and views on Zionism and Israel and to say that Israel’s policies do not represent the Jewish people.
I have received widespread support and many messages of solidarity from Palestinian, Arab, German, Jewish and international organizations and individuals. This support has not been about one individual, myself. Instead, this support is for a cause: of freedom, equality, liberation and true peace in Palestine, from the river to the sea.
As Palestinians, we have the right to a politics, a civic and civil life, and to expression that is diverse and creative in its character and tone. Rather than receiving recognition of this, our full humanity, we are asked to account for or mitigate all of our statements, when we are struggling to rectify a great injustice and live free of colonialism, apartheid and racism. My full humanity, and the full humanity of the Palestinian people as a whole, must be respected as worthy of the same rights and protections as all others under any just standard of law.
Finally, as I hope that you guarantee me the right to speak and protect my freedom of expression, that fundamental human right that is cherished in your constitution, and put an end to this manifest injustice.
Khaled Barakat
Vancouver, Canada
11 March 2022
Before the hearing, members of Samidoun Deutschland and supporters of Palestinian rights delivered a statement of solidarity, emphasizing the importance of protecting Palestinian rights, under attack in Germany and internationally:
Since Barakat’s expulsion, multiple Palestinians in Germany have been subjected to similar actions by the immigration office, targeting public or even private political expression in support of Palestinian rights. Palestinian and pro-Palestinian academics continue to face systematic attempts to silence them and strip them of access to public space. Most recently, Deutsche Welle – the German state broadcasting agency – has fired Palestinian and Arab journalists based on their social media posts about Palestine or opposition to the threats to freedom of expression in Europe.
In Vancouver, Canada, where Barakat is based, activists with Samidoun Vancouver, the Canada Palestine Association and BDS Vancouver – Coast Salish visited the German and French consulates on 9 March to deliver letters of protest against the repression targeting Palestinian rights organizing. The letter delivered to the German consulate called on the Berlin immigration authorities to withdraw their political ban and expulsion order against Barakat and for the German government to change its position on Palestine and end its support for the Israeli occupation.
The letter delivered to the French consulate condemned France’s recent dissolution or banning of two pro-Palestinian organizations, including the Collectif Palestine Vaincra. The delegation met briefly with the Vice Consuls of both countries, delivering a strong message of support for justice in Palestine and placing their letters of protest in the hands of German and French officials.
Khaled Barakat’s case is not only an individual case of repression. It is part of the systematic attack on Palestinian organizing, political expression and thought in Germany. Germany is home to one of the largest Palestinian communities in Europe, but its official policies not only provide support to the Israeli colonization of Palestine but also harshly target Palestinian and pro-Palestinian expression inside Germany. Barakat, his lawyers, and advocates of Palestinian rights are awaiting a decision on this case and pledge to continue to struggle to uphold not only the right of freedom of expression for Palestinians, but the rights of the Palestinian people to liberate themselves and obtain their freedom from colonialism, occupation and apartheid.
For the Amarneh family of Yabad, southwest of Jenin, involvement in the Palestinian struggle for liberation is a part of life — as is political imprisonment in Israeli occupation prisons. However, the Amarnehs, like many Palestinians resisting Zionist colonialism, apartheid and occupation, face not only the direct colonial imprisonment of the occupation forces but also their “security coordination” with the Palestinian Authority.
This PA security coordination with Israeli occupation forces was established under the Oslo accords, cementing the PA’s role as a subcontractor and security guard for the occupation, funded and trained by the imperialist forces allied with Zionism, especially the United States, the European Union, Canada and others.
Sheikh Izzedine Amarneh, a blind Islamic religious scholar who recently received his doctorate from a university in Malaysia, was seized from the family home in Yabad on 21 February 2022. He was almost immediately ordered to six months in administrative detention, Israeli imprisonment without charge or trial.
He is one of approximately 500 Palestinians — out of 4,650 total Palestinian prisoners — imprisoned without charge or trial under administrative detention. These orders are based entirely on secret evidence and are indefinitely renewable. Indeed, Amarneh himself has spent over 8 1/2 years in administrative detention in addition to serving a prison sentence for his political and religious activity imposed upon him by the Israeli military courts, through 12 arrests between 1994 and 2022.
The administrative detainees are currently boycotting the Israeli military courts since 1 January 2022. Their collective boycott is a demand to end administrative detention once and for all and to make it clear that they will not allow a fig leaf of judicial process to be laid atop their arbitrary detention without charge or trial.
When Sheikh Izzedine Amarneh was seized from his family home in a violent night raid, he joined his son, Mujahed Amarneh, who is being brought before an Israeli military court. He was seized from the family home in November 2021. Mujahed Amarneh was previously seized by the Israeli occupation forces as a 17-year-old high school student, forced to take his high school exams two years late after he was finally released from occupation prisons.
Since that time, he has been detained on multiple occasions by the Palestinian Authority security forces over posts on Facebook criticizing the PA leadership and supporting the Palestinian resistance. Most recently, he was released by PA security services approximately one month before his arrest in November. This is often referred to as the “revolving door,” in which Palestinians are repeatedly arrested and released by Israeli occupation forces and Palestinian Authority “security” forces, part of the structure of repression that characterizes security coordination.
On 14 March, the military court once again extended Mujahed Amarneh’s detention until 9 May 2022.
After the arrest of his father in a violent night raid, Ahmad Amarneh, Mujahid’s brother and a former Palestinian prisoner in Israeli jails, spoke to the media about his concerns for his father’s safety, health and well-being:
“My father shouted to the Israeli occupation soldiers to wait a little for him to open the door for them instead of storming the house, but they blew up the door. Although they knew that my father was a blind person, they took off his glasses and blindfolded him for fear that he would see…
My father will not be able to act when facing repression and brutality. How will he protect himself, and how will he stay away from the soldiers who act brutally? We know that the sighted prisoners are unable to protect themselves in such difficult situations, how is my father, who also needs to be accompanied by a fellow prisoner in every steps? He fell and was injured several times during his previous arrests in desert prisons.”
On 13 March, Ahmad Amarneh, a student at Kadoorie University, was seized by Palestinian Authority security forces from his workplace and is currently being imprisoned by the “Preventive Security,” responsible for PA political detention and carrying out the policy of security coordination with the Israeli occupation.
Ahmad and Mujahed’s sister, Yaman Amarneh, was also detained by the Israeli occupation while a student at the Faculty of Law at Al-Quds University in Abu Dis before her release one month later.
The targeting of the Amarneh family is not an individual or unique case, but an example of the colonial weapon of imprisonment used to target the Palestinian people and their resistance. It is also an example of the role of the Palestinian Authority as a security subcontractor for the Israeli occupation, carrying out policies of political detention in tandem with Israeli priorities for repressing the resistance movement.
Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network urges the immediate release of the Amarneh family and all Palestinian prisoners in Zionist, Palestinian Authority, imperialist and reactionary regime prisons. All 4,650 Palestinians behind bars reflect the struggle of the Palestinian people for freedom, justice and liberation throughout occupied Palestine, from the river to the sea.
Let’s show our unconditional support for our comrades in struggle! March 18, 2022, at 6 p.m.: Gather at Ménilmontant metro station (Paris 20th arrondissement) Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1166604657504908/
Gather, FRIDAY MARCH 18, AT 6 PM, AT METRO MENILMONTANT Solidarity is our weapon! Towards victory!
Organized by the Unitary Campaign for the Liberation of Georges Abdallah Campagne.unitaire.gabdallah@gmail.com
Join us on Saturday, March 26 for a Palestine stand! We’ll distribute information, materials, stickers and more, as well as sign letters to support the Boycott Israeli Wines campaign. Take solidarity photos, and bring signs, banners, Palestinian flags and keffiyehs!
March 30 is the Day of the Land, when Palestinians and supporters of Palestine commemorate and continue the struggle to remain on the land and to liberate the land from Zionist colonialism. At this Palestine Stand, we will commemorate Land Day and the ongoing struggle for Palestinian liberation.
Samidoun Albuquerque invites everyone to join us on Saturday March 26 to commemorate Palestinian Land Day and to highlight the ongoing struggle for Palestinian National Liberation and the struggle to free Palestinian Prisoners.
If your organization would like to endorse, speak, or be part of planning please message us here on facebook.
The Day of the Land has become a national commemoration of the entire Palestinian people, inside and outside occupied Palestine. It marks the unity of the Palestinian people in confronting Zionism, colonization and occupation and in celebrating the continuing and unbreakable ties to the land of Palestine that cannot be erased by military might. It is a day for the Palestinian refugees struggling for return and every fighter against colonialism.
In 2018, the Day of the Land once again bore witness to the popular organizing of the people, as thousands upon thousands gathered in Gaza for the Great March of Return, and occupation forces again shot down Palestinians defending their land and upholding their rights. 42 years after the first Land Day massacre, Israeli occupation forces killed 16 martyrs of the land and return, with over 200 more shot down in the marches over the months and days to come.
On Land Day, Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network affirms that this day continues to reflect the commitment of the Palestinian people to liberate their land from the river to the sea and to resist all forms of colonization.
Samidoun: Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network is an international network of organizers and activists working to build solidarity with Palestinian prisoners in their struggle for freedom.
Following the demonstration, people were appalled to learn that the French government’s drive to dissolve and ban leftist, antifascist and anti-Zionist organizations is continuing. The Antifascist Group of Lyon and Surroundings was informed on 17 March that a procedure to dissolve their work had begun, after originally being threatened with dissolution in December 2021. Once again, this clearly indicates the French government’s desire to repress and silence progressive forces confronting their reactionary and anti-social policies.
Organizers of the T
