In September 2020, it has been 50 years since the International Forum was founded. In the 1970s, anti-imperialism was a central part of the activities of the left. Tens of thousands demonstrated against the Vietnam War outside the U.S. Embassy in Copenhagen. The World Bank Congress held in September 1970 in Copenhagen led to street fights.
Later solidarity was shown towards Palestine, Chile, the liberation struggle in Angola, Mozambique, Namibia, Zimbabwe and the struggle against apartheid in South Africa, which also led to the formation of IF – a coalition of anti-imperialist solidarity groups in Denmark. Solidarity with different movements in Latin America has also been at the heart of IF for many years; these include Chiapas, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Guatemala and Peru.
Over the past 50 years, groups in IF have emerged as international struggles flared. Hundreds of activists have been a part of IF over the years. IF is thus created in continuity with international solidarity over half a century across generations. At the same time, IF has opened its premises to many small political groups that have not been able to afford their own premises and thus helped to strengthen the extra-parliamentary left in general.
Today, IF has an active Colombia-, Mexico-, Southeast Asia- and Middle East-group as well as a local group in Copenhagen, which is engaged in the Palestinian struggle i.a.. IF also operates a shop with books and solidarity goods. IF organizes meetings on anti-imperialist struggles around the world, conducts campaigns, carries out demonstrations and actions, and facilitates study groups on political theory.
All of this, we would like to celebrate with you on Saturday 20 November!
The program is divided into two parts.
First, we are inviting for a conference on anti-imperialist solidarity work including talks and debates with comrades from various international groups working with, among others, the Philippines and Palestine as well as an anti-imperialist front in Spain.
Later, the event will turn into a party as we will serve a delicious banquet and open up the dance floor with a blast of a concert from the ever so popular Trypical Cumbia!
Conference on anti-imperialist solidarity work (Language: English)
10.00-10.30 Welcome and introduction to IF
10.30-11.30 Frente Antiimperialista Internacionalista, Spain
11.30-12.30 Gabriela, Germany/Phillipines
12.30-13.15 Lunch, food can be bought
13.15-14.15 SAC, Sweden
14.15-15.15 Collectif Palestine Vaincra, France
15.15-15.30 Coffee Break
15.30-16.30 Josef Tarrak, Greenland
16.30-17.30 Plenary discussion
50 year anniversary party:
18.00-19.30 Dinner, food can be bought
20.00-21.00 Concert with Josef Tarrak
21.00-23.00 Concert with Trypical Cumbia
23.00-24.00 Local DJs will play music until the last dance of the night
We encourage everyone to show up with a valid corona passport, to make the risk of infection smaller.
We do not tolerate: Racism, homofobia, sexism or transfobia.
**
Internationalt Forum – 50 års antiimperialistisk solidaritet
I september 2020 var det 50 år siden, Internationalt Forum blev dannet. I 1970’erne var anti-imperialisme en central del af venstrefløjens aktiviteter. I titusindvis demonstrerede mod Vietnam-krigen uden for US-ambassaden i København. Verdensbankens kongres i september 1970 i København førte til gadekampe.
Senere voksede solidariteten med Palæstina, Chile, befrielseskampen i Angola, Mozambique, Namibia, Zimbabwe og kampen mod apartheid Sydafrika, hvilket også førte til oprettelsen af IF – en koalition af antiimperialistiske solidaritetsgrupper i Danmark. Solidariteten med bevægelserne i Latinamerika har ligeledes været central i IF i mange år; det gælder Chiapas, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Guatemala og Peru.
Gennem disse 50 år er grupper i IF opstået, som internationale kampe er blusset op. I hundredvis af aktivister har været igennem IF i løbet af disse mange år. IF er dermed skabt i kontinuitet med den internationale solidaritet gennem et halvt århundrede på tværs af generationer. Samtidig har IF været åbent for at låne sine lokaler ud til mange små politiske grupper, der ikke har haft råd til egne lokaler og dermed været med til at styrke den udenomsparlamentariske venstrefløj generelt.
I dag har IF en aktiv Colombia-, Mexico-, Sydøstasien- og Mellemøst- gruppe samt en lokalgruppe i København, som bl.a. er engageret i den palæstinensiske kamp. IF driver desuden en butik med bøger og solidaritetsvarer. IF arrangerer møder om antiimperialistiske kampe verden over, laver kampagner, demonstrationer, aktioner og har studiekredse om teori.
Alt det vil vi gerne fejre sammen med jer lørdag den 20. november!
Programmet er delt op i to.
Først på dagen byder vi på konference om antiimperialistisk solidaritetsarbejde med deltagelse af kammerater fra forskellige internationale grupper med tilknytning til bl.a. Philippinerne og Palæstina samt en antiimperialistisk front i Spanien.
Om aften slår vi over til fest, server festmiddag og åbner op for dansegulvet med et brag af en koncert fra byens populære Trypical Cumbia!
Konference om antiimperialisme (Sprog: Engelsk)
10.00-10.30 Velkomst og intro til IF
10.30-11.30 Oplæg v. Frente antiimperialista, Spanien
11.30-12.30 Oplæg v. Gabriela, Tyskland/Filippinerne
12.30-13.15 Frokost. Mad kan købes
13.30-14.15 Oplæg v. SAC, Sverige
14.15-15.15 Oplæg v. Collectif Palestine Vaincra, Frankrig
15.15-15.30 Kaffepause
15:30-16:30 Oplæg v. Josef Tarrak, Grønland
16.30-17:30 Plenum diskussion
50 års jubilæumsfest for Internationalt Forum
18.00-19.30 Festmiddag. Mad kan købes
20.00-21:00 – Koncert med Josef Tarrak
21.00-23.00 – Koncert med Trypical Cumbia
23.00-24.00 – Lokale DJ’s spiller op til de sidste dansetrin
Vi opfordrer alle til at komme med et gyldigt coronapas, så risikoen for smitte bliver mindre.
Vi accepterer ikke: racisme, homofobi, sexisme eller transfobi.
Carleton Students for Justice in Palestine invite you to join us on on our hunger strike in solidarity with Palestinian prisoners facing administrative detention and join us the next day for a potluck to break our fasts together & reflect (limited space available) https://forms.gle/j3TPpR48AGK8vwhY9
Friday November 19 from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Collectif Palestine Vaincra is organizing a Palestine Stand at the exit of the Bagatelle metro in Toulouse in support of the 5 Palestinian prisoners currently on hunger strike for their release and against administrative detention, imprisonment without charge or trial. After Miqdad Qawasmeh’s victory over his jailers , we must step up the campaign of solidarity to defend their lives and their immediate release! On the program: distribution of flyers, photos of solidarity, free leaflets and stickers, etc.
This gathering is registered at the prefecture and respects the required health measures (masks, sanitizer etc.).
Samidoun supports this event organized by the US Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel. Our international coordinator, Charlotte Kates, will be speaking:
Friday, 19 November 11 am Pacific (2 pm Eastern, 8 pm central Europe, 9 pm Palestine) Register here for updates: https://bit.ly/repressionevent
From the Israeli designation of Palestinian civil society organizations as “terrorist,” to San Francisco State University’s repression of Palestine in the classroom, to the repression student activists and faculty face on campus, the Palestinian liberation movement and Palestinian narratives face criminalization across borders. Join the US Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel for a discussion about how we can fight back against repression and build collective resistance.
Speakers:
Alum from SJP Butler
Rabab Abdulhadi, SFSU/AMED Studies
Ayed Abu Eqtaish, Defence for Children International – Palestine
Charlotte Kates, Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network/USACBI
Tomomi Kinukawa, SFSU/WGS
Nerdeen Kiswani, Within Our Lifetime
David Miller, writer and scholar sacked from the University of Bristol
On Monday, 8 November, the Collectif visited the Palestinian Chess Club in the Shatila Palestinian refugee camp in Beirut. This independent community organization offers a social and educational framework to over 70 children. Founded in 2013, the chess club is led by Palestinian children and youth, who constitute a general assembly that makes decisions for the center. They are supported by the coordinator of the Chess Club, Mahmoud al-Hanoun, a Palestinian leftist activist.
The Chess Club takes inspiration from the ideas and vision of Palestinian and Lebanese revolutionaries like George Habash and Georges Abdallah, whose portraits are prominently displayed in the Club.
The day continued with a visit to the cemetery of the martyrs of the Palestinian revolution, which pays homage to the thousands of people who gave their lives for Palestine, whether Palestinian, Arab or international. Important political figures are buried there, such as Ghassan Kanafani and Maher Al-Yamani.
In the afternoon, delegates met with different members of Palestinian and Lebanese organizations, including the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the Nasserite People’s Organization, the Lebanese Communist Party, the Campaign to Boycott Supporters of “Israel” in Lebanon and the Youth Movement for Change.
The discussion addressed the campaign to support Georges Abdallah in Lebanon as well as the economic crisis, the dire situation of Palestinian refugees and regional policies in regard to the Zionist occupation. The delegates ended the first day in a bar called Red Night, run by former members of Jammoul, with decorations that pay homage to the long history of resistance to imperialism and Zionism.
On Tuesday, 9 November, the front page of the Lebanese newspaper, Al-Akhbar, was dedicated to a complete report on Georges Abdallah. The issue included an article by the Collectif Palestine Vaincra as well as an interview with Collectif Vacarme(s) Films on “Fedayin: Georges Abdallah’s Fight” and an article by Robert Abdallah about Said Bouamama’s book, “The Georges Ibrahim Abdallah Affair.”
The day ended with the premiere of “Fedayin: Georges Abdallah’s Fight” in Lebanon, at the Al Madina Theater in Beirut’s Hamra district. Over 120 people participated in the event, which concluded with a discussion about the current situation of the mobilization to free the longest-held political prisoner in Europe, moderated by a representative of the film directors and Robert Abdallah, spokesperson of the Lebanese Campaign for the Liberation of Georges Abdallah.
On Wednesday, 10 November, the Lebanese tour continued in the city of Saida south of Beirut, a city with a long history of resistance to the Zionist invasion of Lebanon. The screening took place in the Maarouf Saad Center, named for a Lebanese Nasserist politician and supporter of Palestine, who died on 6 March 1975 from gunshot wounds sustained during a demonstration against a company’s attempt to monopolize the fishing industry and destroy the fishers’ labour organization.
Anwar Yassin, Lebanese resistance icon and communist activist, jailed in the Israeli occupation prisons from 1987 through 2004, was present at the screening to reaffirm his support for Georges Abdallah. He was liberated as part of a prisoner exchange organized by Hezbollah after over 17 years in Israeli prisons following various operations against the Zionist occupation of southern Lebanon.
Al-Mayadeen television station reported on the event, which was also covered by Al-Akhbar newpaper.
The next day, the delegation traveled to Tripoli in the north of Lebanon, where the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine organized a rally in support of hunger striking Palestinian prisoners and Georges Abdallah outside the offices of the International Committee of the Red Cross. Several dozen people attended, including families from the Nahr el Bared Palestinian refugee camp.
After the rally, a new screening of “Fedayin” brought over 170 people to a cinema in the heart of Tripoli. The film was introduced by Robert Abdallah, who spoke about the importance of the film in developing and intensifying the campaign to free the Lebanese Communist imprisoned in France since 1984.
🇱🇧 Hier à Tripoli, plus de 170 personnes ont assisté à la projection de @Fedayinlefilm. L'initiative s'est poursuivie par un débat sur la situation de la campagne de soutien en France et en Europe ainsi que les liens nécessaires à construire avec la mobilisation au Liban. pic.twitter.com/5ALhnO7lf5
— Fedayin, le combat de Georges Abdallah (@Fedayinlefilm) November 12, 2021
On Friday, 12 November, the delegation returned to Shatila camp to meet the people of the camp, who live in extreme poverty. Around 27,000 people live in the camp, including 14,000 Palestinian refugees fighting for their right to return to their homes in Palestine, which they have been denied for over 73 years. The camp was established in 1948 by Palestinian refugees expelled from Palestine by occupying Zionist forces during the Nakba, and was also the site of the infamous 1982 massacre perpetrated by Israeli occupation and local reactionary forces.
The Palestinian Chess Club organized a screening of “Fedayin,” bringing this historical documentary on Georges Abdallah and the Palestinian resistance to young people in Shatila. The event ended with a discussion of France’s role in the oppression of the Palestinian people and a dabkeh dance performed by the children of the Club.
🇵🇸🇱🇧 Aujourd'hui au Club d'échecs palestinien du camp de réfugié·e·s palestinien·ne·s de Chatila au Liban, projection de @Fedayinlefilm devant une vingtaine de personnes. pic.twitter.com/Gzor91nu6v
— Fedayin, le combat de Georges Abdallah (@Fedayinlefilm) November 12, 2021
Later on 12 November, the delegates visited Bourj al-Barajneh refugee camp; there, they visited the PFLP office and discussed the political and social situation in the camp and the prospects for Palestinian resistance in the region. They also visited the Al-Naqab Center, which organizes with Palestinian youth in the camp and is a partner of the Collectif and Samidoun as well as a participant in the Masar Badil.
An open-air screening of “Fedayin” followed at the Rawdat al-Qassam stadium of the camp, which was attended by dozens of people, including several heads of Palestinian and Lebanese organizations. The evening concluded with a letter-writing session to Georges Abdallah, who has become a true symbol of anti-imperialism for the residents of the camp.
🇵🇸🇱🇧 Hier dans le camp de réfugiés palestiniens de Burj El Barajneh, plus de 60 personnes ont participé à une projection de @Fedayinlefilm. Après des retours enthousiastes sur le documentaire, beaucoup de personnes ont écrit des mots de solidarité à Georges Abdallah. pic.twitter.com/tMvtx3YtCm
— Fedayin, le combat de Georges Abdallah (@Fedayinlefilm) November 13, 2021
On the delegation’s final day, participants traveled to the Ain el-Helweh refugee camp near Saida, where over 100,000 Palestinian refugees live in an area of one square kilometer. Ain el-Helweh is the largest Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon. Many banners in the streets and alleys of the camp saluted the Palestinian prisoners, especially the six heroes of the “Freedom Tunnel” that humiliated the Zionist state by escaping from Gilboa prison.
The delegates visited the Social Solidarity Center, a long-time partner of the Collectif in developing joint activities to support the right to return of Palestinian refugees and the liberation of Palestine from the river to the sea.
The Center organized a screening of “Fedayin” which brought together dozens of people, including members of the PFLP and the Popular Committee of the camp, as well as many youth. The discussion was led by a member of the directing team and youth from the camp and ended with a letter-writing session for Georges Abdallah.
Finally, a closing screening of “Fedayin” was organized by the Cine-Palestine Festival in a cultural cafe in Beirut, with the participation of Robert Abdallah, Anis Germany and Collectif Vacarme(s) Films.
The delegation offered a meaningful opportunity to connect with the Lebanese Campaign for the Liberation of Georges Abdallah and to affirm collective commitment to develop the campaign for his freedom. The mobilization is entering an important stage in France by enlarging significantly, with over 1,000 people marching to Lannemezan prison where he is held on 23 October. This delegation aimed to strengthen the international and anti-imperialist dimension of the struggle to free the longest-held political prisoner in Europe.
“Fedayin: Georges Abdallah’s Fight” is available with appropriate subtitles in French, Arabic, English, German, 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.
“Fedayin: Georges Abdallah’s fight” retraces the course of an indefatigable Arab communist and fighter for Palestine. 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.
Wednesday November 17, 2021 at 8 p.m. / L’Epee de bois cinema – 100 rue Mouffetard, Paris 5
Organized by ACTA, a member organization of the Samidoun Network
Charlotte Kates, international coordinator of Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, appeared on Press TV on 7 November to discuss the hunger strikes of Palestinian prisoners held without charge or trial. She appeared alongside Mick Napier of the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign on the Spotlight show hosted by Marzieh Hashemi.
As of Sunday, 14 November, five Palestinian prisoners are continuing their hunger strikes, including Kayed al-Fasfous, now on his 123rd day of strike. Doctors have warned that he is at risk of sudden death at any time as symptoms of blood clots have become apparent in his body; a fitness enthusiast and bodybuilder, he is now emaciated, and he is experiencing intermittent loss of consciousness, low blood pressure, irregular heartbeat and severe pains throughout his body.
Fasfous is on hunger strike to demand an end to his administrative detention, imprisonment without charge or trial on the basis of so-called “secret evidence.” Administrative detention orders are indefinitely renewable, and Palestinians are routinely jailed for years at a time under these orders. There are approximately 500 Palestinians jailed without charge or trial out of 4,650 Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli jails.
He is joined by four more hunger strikers, all demanding an end to their administrative detention: Alaa al-Araj, on strike for 98 days; Hisham Abu Hawash, on strike for 89 days; Ayyad Hraimi, on hunger strike for 52 days; and Louay al-Ashqar, on strike for 34 days.
Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network urges all supporters of Palestine to take action to support these Palestinian hunger strikers and all Palestinian prisoners struggling for freedom, for their own lives and for the Palestinian people. They are confronting the system of Israeli oppression on the front lines, with their bodies and their lives, to bring the system of administrative detention to an end. Take these actions below to stand with the hunger strikers and the struggle for liberation of Palestine, from the river to the sea!
Multiple Toulouse organizations are calling for mobilization around this common call:
On 18 October, Israel announced the revocation of the Jerusalem residency status of French-Palestinian lawyer Salah Hamouri, who works with the NGO Addameer, which defends Palestinian prisoners in Israel.
On 19 October, six Palestinian NGOs – Addameer, Al-Haq, Bisan Center, Defense International for Children – Palestine, Union of Agricultural Work Committees, Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees – were illegally designated by the Israeli colonial regime as “terrorist organizations”.
This is a gross lie. These organizations are targeted for the quality of their documentation and advocacy work to hold Israel accountable for crimes committed in Palestine or for their mobilization for women and agricultural workers in colonized lands.
Israel has infected Palestinian NGO workers’ phones with PEGASUS spyware and it is now rumored that it is spreading facial recognition to bolster its racist control over the entire Palestinian population.
Despite this policy much worse than that of other states targeted, the French government and most parties maintain a cowardly or complicit silence. It is high time to implement boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel, an apartheid state.
STOP THE REPRESSION OF PALESTINIAN CIVIL SOCIETY SUPPORT FOR SALAH HAMOURI STOP THE IMPUNITY OF THE ISRAELI STATE
First signatories: ATTAC Toulouse, BDS France Toulouse, Collectif Palestine Vaincra, NPA 31, CGT Educ’Action 31, POI 31, Révolution Permanente 31, UNEF Toulouse, etc.
As the film “Fedayin,” focusing on Georges Abdallah’s struggle for liberation from 37 years of French imprisonment, debuts in Lebanon, the imprisoned Lebanese Arab struggler for Palestine sent a message of solidarity to Dr. Samah Idriss, the Arab revolutionary intellectual struggling with illness in Beirut. Samah Idriss is one of the founders of the Campaign to Boycott Supporters of “Israel” in Lebanon and the editor-in-chief of Al-Adab magazine.
Below is the text of the letter (originally in Arabic):
Dear comrade Samah,
Greetings of steadfastness and continuous struggle, and warm greetings filled with hope to meet you in complete health. All of the beloved ones and dear comrades around you strengthen your solid will with their love, appreciation and affection for you.
Dr. Samah, the echo of the setbacks in your health weighs heavily in our detention cells, but our confidence is great in your recovery. Stay safe, stubborn comrade, and remain a beacon for the path to liberate Palestine and the masses of our Arab nation.
With sincere solidarity and appreciation to you and all of your loved ones, for continuous struggle and revolution
Your friend,
Georges Abdallah
Lannemezan Prison
“Georges Abdallah is our high example, and no matter how insufficient our efforts have so far been to obtain his liberation, Georges remains a trust in our soul until the last moment…and beyond the last moment,” Samah Idriss said, responding to the solidarity message and expressing his commitment to see the liberation of Abdallah and his return to his homeland, Lebanon.
The Palestinian Alternative Revolutionary Path Movement (Masar Badil) launched amid a series of conferences in Madrid, Spain; Beirut, Lebanon; and Sao Paulo, Brazil, between 30 October and 2 November 2021. The Masar Badil is a popular, mass movement of Palestinians, Arabs and internationalists struggling for the liberation of Palestine from the river to the sea, in complete rejection of the so-called “peace process” of the Madrid Conference and the Oslo Accords, which have led to nothing but destruction for Palestinian rights and the Palestinian national liberation movement.
Organizations and activists based in many countries participated in the conferences. In Madrid, approximately 100 people gathered for the conference, held in Rivas-Vaciamadrid, including Samidoun members and affiliates based in Germany, France, Sweden, the Netherlands, Canada, Spain, Belgium, and elsewhere. Participants also included members of the Collectif Palestine Vaincra (a Samidoun Network member organization), Alkarama Palestinian Women’s Mobilization, Al-Yudur Palestinian Youth Mobilization, Stuttgart Palestine Committee, the International League of People’s Struggles, the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, Palestinian Youth Movement, Revolutionary Youth Zurich, Secours Rouge, PARTIZAN, Hirak Haifa, the International Women’s Alliance, Al-Awda the Palestine Right to Return Coalition, Palestinian Social Fund and many other organizations, including student organizations advocating for Palestine and leftist and revolutionary political parties.
In Lebanon, the Beirut conference was led by a number of Palestinian and Lebanese community and political organizations, including the Palestinian Cultural Club, the Arab Palestinian Cultural Club, the Palestinian Chess Club, the Lebanese Campaign to Boycott Supporters of “Israel” in Lebanon, Harakat al-Shaab (People’s Movement), Democratic Popular Party, Al-Naqab Center for Youth Activities, Al-Aqsa Martyrrs Club and Aidoun Palestinian Refugee Rights Center, while Al-Akhbar newspaper was a media sponsor. In Sao Paulo, Brazil, Al Janiah cultural center hosted the conference along with Samidoun Brasil and Alkarama Palestinian Women’s Mobilization.
The Madrid conference was packed with an electrifying atmosphere, with Palestinian youth leading chants throughout the day and incisive discussions focusing on critical questions facing the movement today, including the need to build the international boycott and isolation of Israel and the Zionist project and the necessity of confronting the Palestinian Authority and the path of compromise and defeat that has led to the current Palestinian situation.
Conference participants were clear on the role of imperialism, Zionism and reactionary Arab regimes in attacking the Palestinian cause. The conference, held on the 30th anniversary of the Madrid so-called “Peace Conference,” highlighted the necessity of reviving Palestinian struggle and uniting the resistance to liberate Palestine from the river to the sea. The conference also emphasized that Palestinian prisoners and the prisoners’ movement as the leadership of the Palestinian struggle inside occupied Palestine and “the revolutionary school from which we derive all of the determination and will to continue on our path until freedom and a decisive victory are achieved.”
The conference not only discussed the politics of Palestinian organizing and resistance but also developed a five-year plan and numerous policy proposals that lay out a distinct plan for upcoming activities. Committees focusing on organizing Palestinian students, protecting and implementing the Palestinian right to return and advancing the boycott of Israel were launched, while the conference planned to develop a network of Palestine centers in cities around the world, focusing on the needs of Palestinian refugees alongside political organizing and education.
Participants were also encouraged to organize to liberate Palestinian prisoners and to build the Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, as well as to advance Palestinian women’s organizing in their communities through the Alkarama Palestinian Women’s Mobilization.
Following the conference, the Masar Badil organized a cultural event in the Pilar Bardem auditorium in Rivas-Vaciamadrid, with performances including Gazelleband, Jafra Dabkeh, Rojo Cancionero, La O.N.U. and acrobatics and comedy by Pallasos en Rebeldia (Clowns in Rebellion), which has organized a number of solidarity activities with Palestine over the years.
On Sunday, 31 October, hundreds of people marched through central Madrid in the march for Palestine, celebrating the launch of the Masar Badil movement as well as the anniversary of the Algerian revolution while denouncing the Balfour Declaration and the alliance of imperialism and Zionism on its 104th anniversary. Palestinian flags and the banners of organizations like Samidoun Network and the Collectif Palestine Vaincra waved high above the marchers, while large banners demanded the release of Ahmad Sa’adat, Georges Abdallah and all Palestinian prisoners, calling for a free Palestine from the river to the sea.
The enthusiastic demonstration erupted in chants and cheers throughout Madrid, receiving support from many passers-by and city residents who emerged from their windows and balconies to show support for the mobilization and for Palestinian liberation.
The conference received messages of solidarity, including from the National Democratic Front of the Philippines and the International League of Peoples’ Struggles, while the Communist Party of Spain and Izquierda Unida (United Left) provided logistical support for the self-organized conference, for which all participants funded their own travel and accommodations.
During the days leading up to the conference in Madrid, multiple events brought people together for Palestine. Samidoun Spain, along with the conference preparatory committee, organized a screening of “Fedayin: Georges Abdallah’s Fight” in a sold-out theater on 26 October, while Samidoun internationally kicked off its celebration of 10 years of struggle on 28 October, with an event bringing together Samidoun activists and friends from Spain and internationally.
The following articles highlight the views and experiences of various participants in the conference:
Below are the first documents released by the movement, with further documents to come in the coming days. For more information, please see the Movement’s website at https://masarbadil.org
Madrid – Beirut – Sao Paulo Declaration and Resolutions
Alternative Palestinian Revolutionary Path Conference
October 30 – November 2
Madrid – Spain
We, the participants in the Alternative Palestinian Path (Masar Badil) Conference, held under the auspices of the Palestinian people and their national flag in Beirut, Madrid and Sao Paulo, between 30 October and 2 November, 2021, and after saluting the souls of the martyrs, the sacrifices of the wounded and the struggles of the Palestinian prisoners’ movement, we announce the following decisions and positions:
First: The conference announces the launch of the Alternative Palestinian Revolutionary Path Movement, a radical popular political movement established by Palestinian, Arab and international will on 1 November 2021 to be a framework and a popular resistance movement confronting Zionist colonialism and the project of liquidation and surrender.
It is a movement to defend the legitimate rights of the Palestinian Arab people against the forces of imperialism, Zionism and reactionary regimes, and to participate alongside the sons and daughters of our people in the process of the national and social liberation struggle for return and liberation.
Second: Acting to develop Palestinian student work and supporting it politically, socially, intellectually and financially. Accordingly, it was decided to organize the Palestinian student conference in 2022 in order to awaken the Palestinian student movement.
In this context, we call on the students of Palestine to cooperate and unite in order to liberate themselves from the influence of intellectual domination and material extortion, and we also call upon them to struggle to achieve the unity of our struggling student movement and to develop its central and leading role as one of the pillars of the Palestinian revolutionary struggle for liberation and an advanced popular base of the Palestinian, Arab and international liberation movement.
Third: Organizing annual youth camps dealing with struggle, educational, scientific and sports programs, and working to develop a new revolutionary discourse that stimulates the minds and addresses the issues of young people. In this context, we will also work to promote joint action between youth and student movements and the women’s movement throughout the diaspora. These annual summer camps will serve as nuclei for dialogue and a school for the revolutionary youth cadre.
Fourth: Organizing a national and popular campaign to bring down the so-called “Palestinian Authority” and work to liberate the institutions of our Palestinian people from the grip of the minority class sector that dominates Palestinian political decision-making.
Our conference considers the Palestine Liberation Organization to be a confiscated and hijacked Palestinian institution, whose decisions and institutions are dominated by a corrupt class sector, an agent of Zionist colonialism, and a weak leadership that lacks revolutionary, popular and legal legitimacy. On this basis, we consider that the PLO and its leadership, in their current form, do not represent us and cannot represent the struggles and rights of our people.
Accordingly, the conference calls on all forces, associations and popular organizations participating in the Palestinian Revolutionary Path movement to escalate the pace of mass struggle inside and outside occupied Palestine and work to confront the liquidationist project of “self-rule administration” on the road toward isolating and toppling it.
Fifth: Supporting independent national institutions and enabling them to combat conditional and suspicious funding, and establishing a network of Palestine Centers in a number of Arab and international cities, camps and capitals, specifically in regions and countries where there are no centers and clubs for participants within the framework of the Masar Badil.
These new centers will be announced successively, and their achievement will be done gradually within the period of the first five-year plan (2022-2027) approved by our conference. The “Palestine Center” in each country shall be a headquarters for popular action and democratic revolutionary unions and organizations, and a legal umbrella for institutions and associations affiliated with the Alternative Palestinian Revolutionary Path Movement.
Sixth: Considering 15 May of each year as a day to escalate the national, Arab and international struggle for return and liberation. The establishment of the Zionist entity in Palestine is a major crime involving international colonial powers that have not yet paid the price for their crime. Britain refuses until this moment to even apologize to our people for the ominous Balfour Declaration, whose anniversary falls today, 2 November 2021, and still refuses to assume its historical, political and moral responsibility or recognize the documented and bloody crimes it committed that began in 1917 and established the ongoing catastrophe of our Palestinian people since 1948.
15 May is a day of Palestinian, Arab and international struggle to mobilize global solidarity with the legitimate and inalienable rights of our people and with our continuing revolution to achieve our people’s project of liberation and return.
Seventh: Considering 1 November of each year as a day to renew the launch of our alternative revolutionary path, an annual occasion for evaluation, criticism, development and correction, and an opportunity to draw lessons gained through practical experience and militant practice on the streets.
The launch of the Alternative Revolutionary Path movement coincides with the anniversary of the launch of the Algerian liberation revolution that defeated French colonialism after 132 years of fighting and steadfastness. This glorious, immortal revolution that started on 1 November 1954 is for us a model and a guide in confronting the Zionist colonial project until the achievement of all of the goals and national aspirations of our people.
Eighth: The immediate launch of organizing open and continuous tours for direct communication with all the sites and locations of our people throughout the homeland and in the five continents through national visits and events that enhance the strength of the Palestinian presence at the Arab and international levels.
Ninth: Developing the political, social, economic and cultural boycott of the Zionist entity, combatting normalization and those calling for it, and exercising all forms of popular pressure on the embassies of complicit regimes and countries around the world.
We call for a comprehensive boycott and are committed to confronting the approach of normalization with the institutions and entity of the enemy, and at the same time seek to strengthen our relationships of struggle and our human bonds with various anti-Zionist, anti-racist and anti-colonial forces and personalities of all ethnic and religious and affiliations, that support the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, first and foremost the right of return and the right to self-determination over the entire Palestinian national territory, in order to establish a just and democratic society free of Zionism, racism and class exploitation.
Tenth: The permanent affirmation of the right of return for Palestinian refugees as the core of our people’s cause and the right of the Palestinian people, and working to establish it as a priority of struggle in the program of the Arab and international boycott movements and the forces of solidarity with the Palestinian people. In this context, we also call for putting pressure on UNRWA to not respond or adapt to the policies and positions of funders that contradict or undermine the fundamental national rights of the Palestinian people.
On the day of our launch, we salute the whole struggle of our Palestinian people in all their places of residence, and all the resistance forces in Palestine. We also salute the struggle of the Palestinian prisoners’ movement, the leadership of our people’s struggle in the occupied land, and the revolutionary school from which we derive all the determination and will to continue on the path until freedom and decisive victory are reached.
Long live the struggle of our Palestinian people everywhere!
No voice is louder than the voice of the Palestinian people!
Glory to the martyrs, freedom to the prisoners!
We shall return and be victorious!
The Palestinian Alternative Revolutionary Path Movement
November 2, 2021
***
Madrid Declaration
Issued by the Conference on the Alternative Palestinian Revolutionary Path in Madrid, Spain
Over the course of four days, the Alternative Palestinian Path Conference (Masar Badil Conference) was convened in the Spanish capital, Madrid. This coincided with the 30th anniversary of the infamous Madrid liquidation conference in 1991 and as a practical and popular response to the catastrophic path of Oslo and its consequences, in order to confront the policies of Zionist colonialism and regimes of surrender and normalization.
The participants in the conference adopted the following political positions:
Our Palestinian people, who have been fighting the national liberation battle for 104 years confronting Zionist settler colonialism, are aware, through their long experience of struggle of the importance of Palestinian popular unity in the fields of struggle, fighting, and resistance, and the need for consensus on direct goals and general strategy that protects its struggle, preserves its achievements, and preserves its identity, unity, dignity, and national rights.
On the basis of this firm understanding, we call upon the Palestinian resistance forces, the various national and popular bodies, the youth, student and feminist movements, the boycott and anti-normalization committees and all the masses of our struggling people in the occupied homeland and throughout the Diaspora to unite nationally to establish a united Palestinian national front to resist racist Zionist settler colonialism in all of Palestine, to confront the Zionist movement and its allies in the world, and to work to break all the cycles of siege by developing the ability of our Palestinian people to restore and liberate their institutions, and to strengthen the position and role of the Palestinian liberation movement and its active presence in the Arab and international arenas.
Our conference considers the Palestine Liberation Organization to be a confiscated and hijacked institution, whose decision-making is dominated by a corrupt class sector, acting as agents of Zionist colonialism, and a weak leadership lacking revolutionary, popular or legal legitimacy. On this basis, we consider that the Organization and its leadership, in their current form, do not represent us and cannot represent the struggles and rights of our people.
The conference therefore calls on all popular forces, associations and organizations affiliated with the Alternative Palestinian Revolutionary Path Movement to escalate the pace of mass struggle inside and outside occupied Palestine and to confront the “self-rule administration” liquidation project on the road to isolating and overthrowing it.
The Alternative Palestinian Revolutionary Path Movement is committed to working to escalate the political and public struggle, and the struggle in the fields of confrontation, against the approach of liquidation and surrender, which began with and was embodied in the signing of the Camp David Accords in 1978 between the Sadat regime and the Zionist entity under American auspices, and to confront the results of the Madrid-Oslo stage, the 1994 Wadi Araba agreement, and all the economic and security agreements signed between reactionary poles in the official Arab regimes with the Zionist entity, the latest of which is the so-called “Abraham Agreements”. We consider them invalid and illegitimate agreements and treaties.
The Alternative Palestinian Revolutionary Path Movement emphasizes the need to strengthen the unity of the resistance camp in Palestine, the Arab region, and the world, which includes multiple political and intellectual movements and embraces the various colors of the Arab and Islamic spectrum from the ocean to the Gulf. Only this popular camp is capable of confronting the forces of colonialism, imperialism, racism and exploitation, accomplishing the project of return, liberating the Palestinian and Arab lands, and overthrowing the approach of surrender and normalization led by the United States and the reactionary regimes and their agents in the region.
At the same time, we affirm that the task of developing the capacity of the resistance camp and the cohesion of our internal front requires frank internal dialogue between its various national and social currents and poles in a way that serves the liberation of our peoples from the tyranny of external domination and from regimes of oppression and tyranny at home, and to achieve complete national independence. This enhances the ability of peoples to protect their national wealth and capabilities and to safeguard civil peace in our great Arab homeland, from the ocean to the Gulf.
We reaffirm our firm and fundamental position on the necessity of respecting the struggle of Palestinian women and the active participation of Palestinian women, and respecting their central leadership role in the Palestinian struggle and in the Palestinian national movement, on the path to achieving full participation and equality within the framework of our national and social liberation project.
The holding of our popular conference in Beirut, Madrid and Sao Paulo, under the banner of Palestine and under the auspices of our struggling people, 30 years after the 1991 Madrid liquidation conference and 28 years after the disastrous, treacherous Oslo Agreement of 1993, and the organization of our popular and international march that was launched under the slogan “All Palestine from the river to the sea,” our documented, declared positions, and the culture of self-reliance, are all evidences that confirm the correctness of the clear compass of struggle of our new revolutionary path in confronting the forces of Zionist colonialism and the project of surrender.
We are committed to confronting the approach of normalization with the institutions and the enemy entity. At the same time, we affirm the strengthening of relations of struggle with the various militant Jewish forces and personalities, anti-Zionist and anti-racist, and supportive of the rights of our people and their valiant resistance to liberate all of Palestine and the establishment of a democratic society in all of Palestine based on justice and equality: A society free from class exploitation, racism and Zionism.
The Palestinian revolutionary approach with Arab and international dimensions, whose features were drawn by thousands of Palestinian, Arab and international martyrs over decades of struggle, is the path of radical change that interprets reality in order to change it, understands the challenges and national and local specificities in every Palestinian community and sees them as a source of strength and pluralism. We adhere to our rights and roots while looking to the future and keeping pace with the times. This revolutionary approach is rising today to walk confidently and with steady steps toward liberated Palestine…towards a new Arab and human dawn.
On the day of our launch, we salute the whole struggle of our Palestinian people in all their places of residence, and all the resistance forces in Palestine. We also salute the struggle of the Palestinian prisoners’ movement, the leadership of our people’s struggle in the occupied land, and the revolutionary school from which we derive all the determination and will to continue on the path until we obtain our freedom and reach our decisive victory.
Long live the struggle of our Palestinian people everywhere!
No voice is louder than the voice of the Palestinian people!
Glory to the martyrs, freedom to the prisoners!
We shall return and be victorious!
The Palestinian Alternative Revolutionary Path Movement
Saturday, 20 November
Friday, 19 November
Friday 19 November 2021
Friday, 19 November
On Monday, 8 November, the Collectif visited the 
The Chess Club takes inspiration from the ideas and vision of Palestinian and Lebanese revolutionaries like George Habash and Georges Abdallah, whose portraits are prominently displayed in the Club.
The discussion addressed the campaign to support Georges Abdallah in Lebanon as well as the economic crisis, the dire situation of Palestinian refugees and regional policies in regard to the Zionist occupation. The delegates ended the first day in a bar called Red Night, run by former members of 
On Tuesday, 9 November, the front page of the Lebanese newspaper, Al-Akhbar, was dedicated to a complete report on Georges Abdallah. The issue included an article by the 
The day ended with the premiere of “Fedayin: Georges Abdallah’s Fight” in Lebanon, at the Al Madina Theater in Beirut’s Hamra district. Over 120 people participated in the event, which concluded with a discussion about the current situation of the mobilization to free the longest-held political prisoner in Europe, moderated by a representative of the film directors and Robert Abdallah, spokesperson of the Lebanese Campaign for the Liberation of Georges Abdallah.
Anwar Yassin, Lebanese resistance icon and communist activist, jailed in the Israeli occupation prisons from 1987 through 2004, was present at the screening to reaffirm his support for Georges Abdallah. He was liberated as part of a prisoner exchange organized by Hezbollah after over 17 years in Israeli prisons following various operations against the Zionist occupation of southern Lebanon.
After the rally, a new screening of “Fedayin” brought over 170 people to a cinema in the heart of Tripoli. The film was introduced by Robert Abdallah, who spoke about the importance of the film in developing and intensifying the campaign to free the Lebanese Communist imprisoned in France since 1984.
The Palestinian Chess Club organized a screening of “Fedayin,” bringing this historical documentary on Georges Abdallah and the Palestinian resistance to young people in Shatila. The event ended with a discussion of France’s role in the oppression of the Palestinian people and a dabkeh dance performed by the children of the Club.
An open-air screening of “Fedayin” followed at the Rawdat al-Qassam stadium of the camp, which was attended by dozens of people, including several heads of Palestinian and Lebanese organizations. The evening concluded with a letter-writing session to Georges Abdallah, who has become a true symbol of anti-imperialism for the residents of the camp.
The delegates visited the 
The delegation offered a meaningful opportunity to connect with the Lebanese Campaign for the Liberation of Georges Abdallah and to affirm collective commitment to develop the campaign for his freedom. The mobilization is entering an important stage in France by enlarging significantly, with over 
Wednesday, 17 November 2021
The Palestinian Alternative Revolutionary Path Movement (Masar Badil) launched amid a series of conferences in Madrid, Spain; Beirut, Lebanon; and Sao Paulo, Brazil, between 30 October and 2 November 2021. The Masar Badil is a popular, mass movement of Palestinians, Arabs and internationalists struggling for the liberation of Palestine from the river to the sea, in complete rejection of the so-called “peace process” of the Madrid Conference and the Oslo Accords, which have led to nothing but destruction for Palestinian rights and the Palestinian national liberation movement.
Conference participants were clear on the role of imperialism, Zionism and reactionary Arab regimes in attacking the Palestinian cause. The conference, held on the 30th anniversary of the Madrid so-called “Peace Conference,” highlighted the necessity of reviving Palestinian struggle and uniting the resistance to liberate Palestine from the river to the sea. The conference also emphasized that Palestinian prisoners and the prisoners’ movement as the leadership of the Palestinian struggle inside occupied Palestine and “the revolutionary school from which we derive all of the determination and will to continue on our path until freedom and a decisive victory are achieved.”
The following articles highlight the views and experiences of various participants in the conference: