On 15 October, a joint statement by the US and Canadian treasuries declared Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network a ‘terrorist entity,’ also sanctioning Palestinian writer and revolutionary Khaled Barakat. These outrageous acts come in the context of a global, imperialist-led campaign to silence voices supporting resistance in Palestine and beyond, finding parallels in Britain, where campaigners have faced anti-terror charges and prison sentences. The RCG condemns this intensified attack on Samidoun in the strongest terms and calls for renewed organisation to smash state repression.
Formed through campaigning in solidarity with Palestinian political prisoners on hunger strike in 2011, Samidoun has been a vital platform for anti-imperialist politics, organising international calls for action to expose Western complicity with Zionism and proving to be a thorn in the side of liberal opportunism. Politically, the network has drawn clear links with international struggles, including opposition to imperialist sanctions from Cuba to Iran, and defending the Venezuelan revolution. Samidoun also campaigns to defend black, indigenous and other oppressed peoples locked up in the heartlands of imperialism. Crucially, in the face of barbaric slaughter upon Gaza and Lebanon, Samidoun centres Palestinian resistance:
‘At a time when the bombing of refugee camps, the destruction of hospitals, and the slaughter of mangled children have become daily news updates that could provoke despair in all who love life and cherish humanity, it is the ingenuity, resourcefulness, faith and deep dedication of the resistance, its leaders and its fighters, from the depths of the tunnels of Gaza to the paragliders soaring over the colonial fences, that continues to spark not only hope but certainty of victory and empower a growing global Intifada.’ (‘Freedom Tunnel to Al-Aqsa Flood,’ 6 September 2024)
This is why imperialism is so desperate to suppress the campaign, resorting to smears, lies and outright repression. The joint US-Canadian press release claimed that Samidoun is the fundraising front for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), which both countries plus the European Union consider a ‘terrorist’ organisation. No evidence has been provided for the spurious claims of the 15 October statement, nor the assertion that comrade Barakat’s ‘fundraising and recruitment efforts support the PFLP’s terrorist activity against Israel’. The latter is, of course, a total denial of the rights of occupied peoples to take up arms as defined by a series of historic UN resolutions. Focusing this attack on Samidoun shows clearly that all forms of armed and unarmed resistance are unacceptable to the imperialists.
As detailed in previous FRFI reports* the campaign against Samidoun has gathered pace in recent years, as imperialist ruling classes collaborate directly with Zionists lobbying for censorship of pro-Palestine activism. Attacks in Canada have included the 26 April arrest of Samidoun coordinator Charlotte Kates for speeches supporting the Palestinian struggle and mainstream newspaper articles targeting Barakat and furthering racist lobbying for his deportation by the German fascist organisation ADL and B’nai Brith, a US-based Zionist group, who declared a ‘major victory’ with the Samidoun terrorism designation. In Europe, the network has been attacked mercilessly by the French state, which suspended the affiliated Palestine Vaincra campaign in April 2022 – defeated after concerted campaigning; by Germany and Belgium, which have implemented de facto proscriptions on the organisation and attacked the rights to refugee status of Samidoun supporters; and by the Dutch parliament, which voted to classify Samidoun as a ‘terrorist group’ and ‘PFLP front’ on 11 October 2024.
This now global attempt to suppress Samidoun among ruling classes backing the Zionist genocide finds expression in Britain, where successive Tory and Labour governments have wielded state machinery to try and intimidate and silence anti-imperialists. Repeating patterns seen in Europe and North America, this has included arrests of RCG and Samidoun supporters under ‘anti-terror’ legislation in London and Manchester in January and June, upon the reporting and social media lobbying of Zionist racists like Gnasher Jew, Harry’s Place and UK Lawyers for Israel. Barely a month on from the Labour victory in Britain’s general election, five Palestine Actionists were sentenced to a combined five years imprisonment for ‘vandalism,’ after they targeted the Thales arms factory in Scotland. Another 10 are on remand in prisons in England, including four in Wormwood Scrubs prison who have been denied access to letters and cards from supporters and banned from communicating with Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism! Journalists writing in support of the Palestinian struggle, such as Asa Winstanley, Richard Medhurst and Sarah Wilkinson have also been targeted under ‘anti-terrorism’ legislation.
As the Zionist state lurches from failure in Gaza towards expanding its war aims, it is vital that the centrality of Palestinian armed resistance is emphasised, and with it the leading role of Palestinian political prisoners. Defending the Samidoun campaign must form a key component of defeating Israel’s imperialist backers.
No to imperialist terror designations!
Victory to Samidoun!
Victory to the Palestinian resistance!
* See https://revolutionarycommunist.org/letters/letters-frfi-300-jun-jul-2024/
