Samidoun
{{Short description|Palestinian prisoners' rights organization}}
{{Use American English|date=October 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2024}}
{{Infobox organization
| name = Samidoun
| formation = {{start date and age|2011}}
| full_name = Samidoun: Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network
| native_name = صامدون
| native_name_lang = ar
| logo = File:Samidoun logo.svg
| logo_size = 300
| logo_caption = Samidoun's logo
| image = Samidoun (Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network), Rotterdam-Centrum, Rotterdam (2023) 02.jpg
| caption = Samidoun stand in Rotterdam (March 2023)
| founding_location =
| website = {{URL|https://samidoun.net/}}
}}
Samidoun ({{langx|ar|صامدون|Ṣāmidūn|steadfast}}—see sumud for the cultural context of this term), officially Samidoun: Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, is an international pro-Palestinian advocacy group, founded in 2011. It describes itself as a "network of organizers and activists working to build solidarity with Palestinian prisoners in their struggle for freedom."{{Cite web
|title=About Samidoun |url=https://samidoun.net/about-samidoun/
|access-date=15 October 2024 |website=Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network
|date=27 November 2011 }}{{Cite news
|title=US and Canada impose sanctions, blacklist pro-Palestinian group Samidoun
|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/10/15/us-and-canada-impose-sanctions-blacklist-pro-palestinian-group-samidoun
|access-date=2024-10-15
|publisher=Al Jazeera
|language=en}} It has chapters in the United States, Canada, Germany, United Kingdom, France, Sweden, the Netherlands, Belgium, Greece, Spain, Palestine, and Lebanon. Since the October 7 Hamas-led attack on Israel and ensuing Gaza war, Samidoun has been a prominent organizer of Palestinian solidarity protests in the U.S. and Canada.
Samidoun has been accused by states of raising funds for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a political and militant group that the US, European Union, and several other countries designate as a terrorist organization.{{Cite web |date=2025-02-08 |title=United States and Canada Target Key International Fundraiser for Foreign Terrorist Organization PFLP |url=https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy2646 |access-date=2025-03-05 |website=U.S. Department of the Treasury |language=en}} On that basis, Samidoun has been designated as a terrorist group by Israel{{Cite web
|date=2021-02-28
|title=Israel designates PFLP international branch as a terrorist organization
|url=https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/samidoun-declared-terrorist-organization-due-to-dflp-ties-660464
|access-date=2024-10-16
|website=The Jerusalem Post
|language=en}} and Canada. Samidoun has also been restricted by Germany and the United States.{{Cite web
|date=2024-09-20
|title=United States and Canada Target Key International Fundraiser for Foreign Terrorist Organization PFLP
|url=https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy2646
|access-date=2024-10-16
|website=United States Department of the Treasury
|language=en}}
History
Based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Samidoun was founded in 2011 after a hunger strike in Israeli prisons organized by the PFLP.{{cite web
| last=Carrigg
| first=David
| title=Four things to know about Vancouver-based terror group Samidoun
| website=Vancouver Sun
| date=2024-10-16 | url=https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/four-things-to-know-about-vancouver-based-terror-group-samidoun
| access-date=2024-10-16}} Samidoun was incorporated as a federal not-for-profit agency in Canada in 2021.{{Cite web
|url=https://www.newwestrecord.ca/bc-news/jewish-association-wants-vancouver-pro-palestine-group-banned-7876509
|title=Jewish association wants Vancouver pro-Palestine group banned
|date=24 November 2023|website=New West Record}}
Samidoun is led by Charlotte Lynn Kates, Dave Diewert and Thomas Gerhard Hofland. Kates is a New Jersey native and Rutgers University graduate, married to Samidoun founder, Khaled Barakat, who was born near Jerusalem. Barakat is considered to be a PFLP leader by the US government. He was deported from the United States in 2003.{{Cite news |last=Hedges |first=Chris |date=18 July 2003 |title=PUBLIC LIVES; Law Student With a History of Taking Left Turns |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/18/nyregion/public-lives-law-student-with-a-history-of-taking-left-turns.html |access-date=17 October 2024 |work=The New York Times}}{{Cite web|url=https://nationalpost.com/opinion/terry-glavin-the-curious-case-of-khaled-barakat|title=Terry Glavin: The curious case of Khaled Barakat| publisher= National Post}} The couple are banned from entering the European Union.{{Cite web|url=https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/charlotte-kates-samidoun-iran|title=Vancouver Samidoun leader praises October 7 on Iranian television|publisher= National Post}} Kates was arrested in April 2024 after she allegedly praised the October 7 attacks and referred to a number of designated terrorist organizations as heroes at a demonstration in Vancouver.{{Cite news
|last=Proctor
|first=Jason
|date=1 May 2024
|title=Comments at pro-Palestinian demonstration lead to hate crime investigation
|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/hate-investigation-demonstration-comments-1.7190914
|access-date=17 October 2024
|work=CBC News}} She travelled to Iran to accept an Islamic Human Rights and Human Dignity Award in August 2024. B'nai Brith Canada is petitioning the Canadian government to deport both Kates and Barakat.{{Cite web
|url=https://www.bnaibrith.ca/petition-deport-charlotte-kates-and-khaled-barakat/
|title=PETITION: Deport Charlotte Kates and Khaled Barakat
|first=Jonah
|last=Fried
|date=5 December 2023
|website=B’nai Brith Canada}}{{Cite web
|url=https://bc.ctvnews.ca/vancouver-activist-appears-on-iranian-tv-months-after-rally-arrest-1.7004313
|title=Vancouver activist appears on Iranian TV months after rally arrest
|date=16 August 2024
|website=British Columbia}}
In 2021, Israel's Defense Ministry designated the association as a terrorist organization, based on recommendations from the Shin Bet and the National Bureau for Counter Terror Financing. The designation alleged that, although its official aim is to assist in securing prisoners' release, it effectively operates as a front for the PFLP abroad.
In November 2023, the association was banned by the Federal Ministry of the Interior of Germany for allegedly distributing candy to celebrate the October 7 attacks.{{cite web
|access-date=October 15, 2024
|date=Nov 2, 2023
|publisher=Federal Ministry of the Interior
|title=HAMAS and Samidoun banned in Germany |url=https://www.bmi.bund.de/SharedDocs/pressemitteilungen/EN/2023/11/banned-hamas-samidoun.html}}{{cite news
|access-date=October 15, 2024
|date=October 12, 2023
|publisher=Reuters
|title=Germany bans pro-Palestinian group Samidoun
|url=https://www.reuters.com/world/germany-bans-pro-palestinian-group-samidoun-2023-10-12/}}
On 1 October 2024, the Parliament of the Netherlands voted to recommend that Samidoun be designated as a terrorist organization.{{Cite web
|date=2024-10-01
|title=Rechtsstaat en Rechtsorde
|url=https://www.tweedekamer.nl/kamerstukken/detail?id=2024Z14900&did=2024D36371
|access-date=2024-10-31
|website=www.tweedekamer.nl
|language=nl}} Upon that vote, international reports claimed that the Netherlands had actually placed Samidoun on the state's list of terrorist organizations.{{Cite web
|date=2024-10-10
|title=Dutch Parliament votes to designate Samidoun as terror organization
|url=https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/article-824116
|access-date=2024-10-16
|website=The Jerusalem Post
|language=en}} {{As of|2025|January}}, Samidoun does not appear on the country's list.{{Cite web
|last=Zaken
|first=Ministerie van Buitenlandse
|date=2024-10-03
|title=Nationale sanctielijst terrorisme - Rapport
|url=https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/documenten/rapporten/2015/08/27/nationale-terrorismelijst
|access-date=2024-11-01
|website=www.rijksoverheid.nl
|language=nl-NL}}
Meta Platforms and YouTube have blocked certain online platforms of the organization, citing breaches of their community guidelines.
= October 2024 Vancouver rally =
File:صامدون in Barcelona (Spain).jpg Samidoun sticker on a pole in Barcelona, Spain]]
On the first anniversary of the October 7 attacks, a speaker at a rally in Vancouver organized by Samidoun identified themselves with Hezbollah and Hamas and called for death to the United States, Canada, and Israel. Participants at the same event were seen burning a Canadian flag.{{Cite web
|title=Vancouver Police probe Oct. 7 rally where 'death to Canada' cry went up
|url=https://globalnews.ca/news/10800899/political-party-leaders-condemn-hateful-rhetoric-at-b-c-protest/
|access-date=2024-10-15
|website=Global News
|language=en-US}} Samidoun confirmed and defended the actions, saying they accurately reflected its goal of "destroying the colonialist, capitalist state of Canada" and stand by the "death to Canada" phrase "as the call to action that it is".{{Cite web
|last=Hopper
|first=Tristin |date=October 14, 2024
|title=Samidoun doubles down, says 'death to Canada' an accurate summation of its goals
|url=https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/samidoun-doubles-down-says-death-to-canada-an-accurate-summation-of-its-goals
|website=National Post}}{{Cite web
|url=https://globalnews.ca/news/10800899/political-party-leaders-condemn-hateful-rhetoric-at-b-c-protest/
|title=Vancouver Police probe Oct. 7 rally where 'death to Canada' cry went up
|website=Global News}}
On 15 October 2024, in a joint action, the Government of Canada declared Samidoun a terrorist entity, and the US Department of the Treasury sanctioned Samidoun as a Specially Designated National.The SDN status is distinct from the Foreign Terrorist Organization status; that is, the United States did not designate Samidoun a terrorist organization. The United States sanctioned Samidoun for alleged association with terrorist organizations, calling Samidoun a "sham charity." Samidoun is on the SDN list under the Specially Designated Global Terrorist program, which includes both organizations considered capable of terrorism and their alleged associates.{{Cite web
|url=https://www.canada.ca/en/public-safety-canada/news/2024/10/government-of-canada-lists-samidoun-as-a-terrorist-entity.html
|title=Government of Canada lists Samidoun as a terrorist entity
|date=15 October 2024
|website=www.canada.ca}}{{Cite web
|date=2024-09-20
|title=United States and Canada Target Key International Fundraiser for Foreign Terrorist Organization PFLP
|url=https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy2646
|access-date=2024-10-17
|website=United States Department of the Treasury
|language=en}}{{Cite web
|title=Samidoun, group behind 'death to Canada' chant, listed as terrorist entity
|url=https://globalnews.ca/news/10812072/samidoun-canada-terrorist-entity/
|access-date=2024-10-15
|website=Global News
|language=en-US}}{{Cite news
|title=US, Canada impose sanctions on Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network
|url=https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/us-canada-impose-sanctions-samidoun-palestinian-prisoner-solidarity
|access-date=2024-10-15
|publisher=Middle East Eye
|language=en}}{{Cite web
|date=2024-10-15 |title=US slaps sanctions on 'sham charity' fundraising for Popular Front for Liberation of Palestine
|url=https://www.voanews.com/a/us-slaps-sanctions-on-sham-charity-fundraising-for-popular-front-for-liberation-of-palestine/7823098.html
|access-date=2024-10-15
|website=Voice of America |language=en}}{{cite web
|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/-hamas-group-helped-organize-college-protests-sham-charity-treasury-sa-rcna175529
|title=Pro-Hamas group that helped organize college protests is a 'sham charity,' Treasury says
|date=15 October 2024
|publisher=NBC News}}
National bans and sanctions
Notes
See also
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category multi|Samidoun}}
- {{official website|https://samidoun.net/}}
Category:Palestinian solidarity movement
Category:Organizations designated as terrorist by Israel
Category:Organizations designated as terrorist by Canada
Category:Palestinian entities subject to the U.S. Department of the Treasury sanctions
Category:Banned political parties in Germany
Category:Political organizations established in 2012
Category:Anti-Canadian sentiment