On 9 March 2022 the French imperialist government of Emmanuel Macron announced the banning of Collectif Palestine Vaincra, a leading anti-imperialist campaign whose activities in Toulouse and other cities form part of the Samidoun Palestinian prisoner solidarity network. Claims by French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin that the movement is based on ‘hatred, violence and discrimination’ are in fact a smokescreen for an attack on anti-Zionist, pro-Palestine organising.
The ban represents a harbinger of what is to come in Britain if moves by the ruling class and Labour movement agents are not fought tooth and nail. The RCG stands with Collectif Palestine Vaincra and demands that France retract this vicious ban. We present this interview with a former Collectif activist in solidarity with the comrades fighting this political repression.
Can you explain where this ban comes from and summarise previous attacks against the campaign?
This ban is the product of two political dynamics underway in France. First, we are witnessing an authoritarian turn by the Macron government, through the adoption of anti-democratic laws and the successive dissolutions of several Muslim and/or anti-racist organisations. At the same time, we see an accentuation of the policy of criminalisation of the solidarity movement with Palestine and a hardening of support for Israeli apartheid on the part of the French executive. This is expressed in many ways, such as the attempts to assimilate anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism through adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition, or by the intention to criminalise the boycott of Israel, despite the condemnations of the European Court of Human Rights in June 2020. The dissolution of the Collectif Palestine Vaincra is part of this dynamic.
What does the ban represent politically? Who has pushed for it and why?
This ban is a serious attack on freedom of expression and association in France, and it is aimed here more specifically at the solidarity movement with Palestine, which is already under attack. It is the result of a propaganda campaign led first by the Israeli extreme right through the classification of the Samidoun network, of which the Collectif Palestine Vaincra was a member, on the list of ‘terrorist’ organizations by Israel in February 2021. Following this announcement NGO Monitor, an organisation allied to the Israeli government, led a campaign for the dissolution of the collective in France. This campaign was carried out by the main pro-Israeli organisations in France as well as several personalities of the French far right. After a year of campaigning, the French government decided to dissolve the collective under false pretexts by aligning itself with the arguments provided by these proxies of the Zionist extreme right.
The organisations supporting Israeli apartheid have led this campaign against a dynamic collective with a clear anti-imperialist political line that finds a certain echo in the French and international political landscape. The Collectif Palestine Vaincra has received wide support, especially in the city of Toulouse where it is based. Many trade unions have affirmed their solidarity and also several left-wing organizations, such as France Insoumise and the New Anticapitalist Party.
How does this ban affect pro-Palestine campaigning in France on a national level?
This dissolution effectively bans a collective that was active in Toulouse and that had a national audience. However, the solidarity movement with Palestine is diverse and multiform. This dissolution will not stop the growing campaign for the boycott of Israel or the important mobilization for the liberation of Georges Abdallah, a Lebanese communist and fighter for the Palestinian resistance imprisoned in France since 1984 on murder charges. More than ever, these initiatives must be supported and strengthened in France and throughout the world.
What is the plan to fight the ban and what can British revolutionaries do to support the campaign?
The Collectif Palestine Vaincra is appealing to the Council of State to challenge this decision. In parallel to this legal process, it is important that a political campaign of solidarity is widely expressed and British revolutionaries can play an important role in this, through declarations of support, street initiatives, solidarity photos etc. But also by indicting the role of French and British imperialism in the continuation of Zionist colonisation in Palestine. And this includes the development of the solidarity campaign with Georges Abdallah in Britain, as his continued detention is a symbol of this complicity.
This dissolution removes a major player in the campaign for the release of the longest serving political prisoner in Europe. Actually, the participation of the Collectif Palestine Vaincra in the campaign to free Georges Abdallah was one of the reasons given by the government to justify its decision, which says a lot about the political nature of this attack. Despite this offensive, this campaign is growing and is supported by hundreds of organisations in France. The dissolution will not undermine this fight!
