La Organización Socialista Camino de la Libertad condena enérgicamente los ataques del Departamento del Tesoro de Estados Unidos y las autoridades canadienses contra la Red de Solidaridad con los Prisioneros Palestinos Samidoun (Samidoun). La Oficina de Control de Activos Extranjeros (OFAC) del Departamento del Tesoro alega que Samidoun es una “caridad vergonzosa”, una acusación que está diseñada para criminalizar la solidaridad con Palestina. Instamos a todos los progresistas o a quienes están preocupados por las libertades civiles a solidarizarse con Samidoun contra la represión política.

El gobierno de Estados Unidos ha elaborado una serie de leyes que tratan a los movimientos de liberación nacional, ya sea en Palestina, Filipinas o en lugares intermedios, como “terrorismo”. Como resultado, casi todos los grupos que luchan por poner fin a la ocupación israelí de Palestina están en la lista de organizaciones terroristas designadas por el Departamento de Estado de Estados Unidos. Y la situación empeora. Según la Ley Antiterrorista y de Pena de Muerte Efectiva de 1996, las personas pueden enfrentarse a largas penas de prisión por “apoyo material al terrorismo”. Es un marco legal que intenta convertir la solidaridad en un delito. Estas leyes deberían ser eliminadas.

Estas leyes represivas que pisotean los derechos de libertad de expresión y asociación conducen a un mundo al revés, donde los luchadores por la libertad son etiquetados como terroristas y los verdaderos terroristas son los que juzgan. Consideremos lo siguiente: Estados Unidos e Israel son responsables de al menos 44.000 muertos en Gaza, muchos de ellos niños pequeños. Estamos viendo los peores crímenes de guerra a diario. Pensemos en las bombas estadounidenses que caen sobre hospitales y en los 10.000 palestinos en campos de tortura financiados con dólares de los impuestos estadounidenses. Y luego los practicantes del genocidio alcanzan las alturas de la hipocresía, diciendo que quienes resisten estas atrocidades están participando en el terrorismo.

En 2010, el Departamento de Justicia de Estados Unidos lanzó un ataque contra activistas anti-guerra y de solidaridad internacional, junto con miembros de la Organización Socialista Camino de la Libertad, ataques que incluyeron redadas del FBI y citaciones del gran jurado. La campaña masiva que siguió logró derrotar la mayoría de estos ataques a nuestros derechos democráticos. Hoy en día es igualmente necesario manifestarse en contra de los ataques a nuestro movimiento.

En el momento político actual, en el que los gobiernos y las administraciones universitarias están tomando muchas medidas para reprimir el activismo pro-palestino, es importante recordar que nunca hay una buena razón para hablar con el FBI o con alguien de un grupo de trabajo antiterrorista conjunto. De eso no saldrá nada bueno. Jamás.

Vamos a seguir organizándonos por Palestina. Nos solidarizamos con quienes enfrentan represión política. Y seguimos adelante. ¡No descansaremos hasta que Palestina sea libre, desde el río hasta el mar!

#International #Palestine #AntiWarMovement #PoliticalRepression #Samidoun #FRSO #Statement

Freedom Road Socialist organization strongly condemns the attacks by the U.S. Treasury Department and Canadian authorities on Samidoun: Palestinian Political Prisoner Network. The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) claims that Samidoun is a “sham charity,” an allegation that is designed to criminalize solidarity with Palestine. We urge everyone who is progressive or concerned about civil liberties to stand with Samidoun against political repression.

The U.S government has devised a host of laws that treat movements for national liberation, be they in Palestine or the Philippines or points in between, as “terrorism.” As a result, almost every group that is fighting to end the Israeli occupation of Palestine is on the U.S. State Department’s list of designated terrorist organizations. And it gets worse. Under the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, folks can face long prison terms for “material support of terrorism.” It’s a legal framework that tries to make solidarity a crime. These laws should be scrapped.

These repressive laws that trample on the rights of free speech and association lead to an upside-down world where freedom fighters are labeled as terrorists, and the real terrorists sit in judgment. Consider this: the U.S. and Israel are responsible for at least 44,000 dead in Gaza, many of them little kids. We are seeing the worst kind of war crimes daily. Think of the U.S. bombs falling on hospitals and the 10,000 Palestinians in torture camps paid for with U.S. tax dollars. And then the practitioners of genocide reach for the heights of hypocrisy, saying those who resist these outrages are engaging in terrorism.

In 2010, the U.S. Justice Department launched an attack on anti-war and international solidarity activists—along with members of Freedom Road Socialist Organization—attacks that included FBI raids and grand jury subpoenas. The mass campaign that followed successfully beat back most of these attacks on our democratic rights. Speaking out against attacks on our movement is equally necessary today.

In the current political environment, where there are many moves underway by government and university administrations to repress pro-Palestine activism, it is important to remember that there is never a good reason to talk to the FBI or someone from a Joint Terrorism Task Force. No good will come of it. Ever.

We are going to continue to organize for Palestine. We stand with those facing political repression. And we are moving forward. We will not rest until Palestine is free, from the river to the sea!

#AntiWarMovement #International #Palestine #InJusticeSystem #PoliticalRepression #Samidoun #FRSO #Statement #Feature

The Anti-War Committee of Chicago strongly condemns the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designation of Samidoun: Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network as a sanctioned entity and gross slander as a “sham charity.”

Done in tandem with the government of Canada, this designation serves only to repress Palestinian solidarity at a time where Israeli war crimes spit in the face of international law. The same week both governments colluded to designate Samidoun with these outrageous sanctions, Israeli Occupation Forces burned Palestinians alive in Al Aqsa Hospital, destroyed an entire village in south Lebanon, and bombed Syria.

It is also evidently clear this designation comes at a time where Palestinian solidarity is at the highest it has been, not only in the US and Canada, but worldwide. The world can no longer ignore the plight of the Palestinian cause. US insistence of the world following its “rules based order” is contradicted by the endless financial and political protection it gives to Israel, which cannot go a day without violating international law – the very “rules based order” the U.S. insists everyone else follow.

This heinous designation should raise several red flags for anyone in solidarity with the Palestinian cause. This is an attempt to normalize repression on behalf of imperialist, colonialist interests who profit from the death and destruction of sovereign countries and people.

Since the onset of the October 7 Al Aqsa Flood Operation, the US has begun a crackdown of Palestinian activists – harassing peace activists at home, in schools, at airports, at work, and disrupting their daily lives and livelihoods in order to intimidate them into silence. The U.S. government and the Canadian government both insist that the general public should look the other way as they sponsor genocide through the Israeli occupation of Palestine. This is but one instance in this country’s history of criminalizing liberation movements from indigenous American organizations to Black liberation organizations.

While actual, racist and domestic terrorist gangs are on record operating within the Chicago Police Department, the U.S. government instead chooses to criminalize opposition to their genocide. Opposing genocide is not a crime! Solidarity is not a crime! Demanding an end to apartheid and occupation is not a crime!

We demand the immediate removal of these designations and an end to unjustified lawfare imposed on organizations seeking justice for Palestine. Hands off Samidoun! An attack on one is an attack on us all! Free Palestine, no more aid to Israel, no more arms to Israel!

#ChicagoIL #IL #AntiWarMovement #Samidoun #AWCChicago #PoliticalRepression

Seattle, WA – On May 20, students at the University of Washington in Seattle ended their Palestine solidarity encampment following a protracted struggle that led to an agreement with the university administration. While not a complete win, the agreement marked a real step forward.

On Monday, April 29, students started an encampment. Begun by the Progressive Student Union, a chapter of New Students for a Democratic Society, the encampment had three demands: material and academic divestment from Israel, the cutting of ties with Boeing, and an end to the repression of pro-Palestinian staff, students and faculty.

The encampment grew, with organizations such as Students United for Palestinian Equality and Return (SUPER), Resist US Led War, and the Muslim Student Association joining. By the end of the week, over 100 students and community members were on the Quad of the university. Students were doing their homework on the grass, while also participating in discussions with other encampments and reading groups around Palestinian novels.

While the university’s administration appeared at first to take a stance of waiting out the encampment, it was happy to let counter-protesters approach on two separate occasions. On Tuesday, May 7, Turning Point USA founder and director Charlie Kirk held a speaking event at UW. Those who came to listen to the racist, homophobic right-wing leader speak then came to the edge of the encampment, where they were met over 1000 people, led by the Palestinian Youth Movement, who had come out to show support for the students.

The student government passed a resolution supporting the demands of the encampment after months of dragging its feet. The encampment stressed its popular support, and connection with Palestine; Bissan Barghouti of Samidoun said, “Palestine will be freed, not by the ruling elite, but by the people!”

On Sunday, May 12, Zionists again marched to the encampment, this time explicitly in support of Israel. However, they were once again turned away by the community support for the encampment.

The encampment’s staying power is due to the organizing of the students and community members present. Those camping there could count on hot drinks and meals, whether they were donated or cooked at the encampment itself. Students were also able to join in the encampment even if they did not have supplies, thanks to generous community donations. Students often worked throughout the night to cook, clean, set up tents, and more. As the encampment showed that it would not fizzle out, administration was forced to make concessions.

The president of the University of Washington, Ana Mari Cauce, had originally announced to the entirety of the student body by email that “the University’s response to students’ calls for change will not be based on an encampment.” Many students recognized this as insulting, and wrong.

Mathieu Chabaud of the Progressive Student Union, stated. “If someone was on my front lawn, I’d listen to them.”

By Friday, May 17, Cauce was forced to publicly change her stance. The UW United Front for Palestinian Liberation, composed of many of the groups at the encampment, announced the details of an agreement made with the university. In return for ending the encampment, the University of Washington would begin the processes that would end UW’s financial investment in weapons manufacturers and companies with ties to the Israeli occupation of Palestine; establish a Palestinian studies center; hire Palestinian faculty; provide the resources for at least 20 students from Gaza to study at UW at no cost; and provide transparency on its ties to Boeing and other companies profiting from the Israeli occupation. The agreement also provided amnesty for students and community members who had camped on the Quad.

While not a full victory, the agreement is a strong step forward. It was only due to the encampment that the university made any concessions after years of ignoring students at the university. Students made it clear that they will continue to organize and put pressure on the board of regents and other bodies at the university as the process towards divestment continues.

#SeattleWA #WA #AntiWarMovement #International #MiddleEast #Palestine #StudentMovement #SDS #PSU #PYM #Samidoun

Miami FL – On February 11, over 60 people gathered at the Torch of Freedom in Miami during the Miami Heat basketball game to protest a bill up for a vote in the U.S. Senate that would send more than $14 billion to aid in Israel’s genocidal occupation of Palestine.

Laid at the feet of demonstrators were dozens of white cloth bundles, stained red to symbolize the infants killed by the IDF bombing of Gaza. Chants of “From Florida to Palestine, stop the U.S. war machine” and “Money for jobs and education not for war and occupation” rang out to the beat of drums drawing honks, photographs, live streams and support from passersby. Activists distributed informational pamphlets to those exiting the Sunday game and succeeded in distributing every copy they brought.

A speaker gave the reason for the genocide and the necessity of staying the streets, stating, “The genocide in Gaza, why? Because they are trying to resist, they are trying to live!” and quoted Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish, “We also deserve to live and we love life,” and for that reason the activist said, “We need to stop this genocide and will not be quite until justice is served!”

Despite slowly escalating police presence, the rally concluded without arrests.

Organizations endorsing the rally of the rally included Freedom Road Socialist Organization in SoFlo, The People for Palestine, Food Not Bombs FtL, SoFlo Antifa, Code Pink SoFlo, Black Rose Miami, Palestine Car Rally, Trans Asylum Seeker Support Network, Samidoun Network, Broward County Democratic Socialist of America, and the SoFlo Working Group to Shut Down Elbit.

#MiamiFL #AntiWarMovement #International #MiddleEast #Palestine #FRSO #Samidoun #CodePink #DSA

The U.S. Palestinian Community Network (USPCN), the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (NAARPR), and National Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) call for a week of action against the U.S./Israeli genocide in Gaza from February 5 to 11.

The call for the week of actions comes at a time when President Biden states the U.S. is going to step up its military intervention in the Middle East.

A statement from the groups initiating the week of protests states, “The people of Palestine are fighting for their liberation and the people of Yemen are standing with them. The U.S. government is sending billions in military aid to Israel and bombing Yemen. We will never be silent. All of us who stand with Palestine and believe in liberation need to act. The genocide must be stopped!”

“Israel is being defeated on every level – politically, militarily, legally at the International Court of Justice, and in the court of public opinion – so we must continue to apply pressure from the belly of the U.S. imperialist beast,” said Hatem Abudayyeh, national chair of the U.S. Palestinian Community Network. “Genocide Joe Biden is on the ropes as well, and the week of action will do what we've been doing so powerfully for four months with our Black and brown coalitions in Chicago and beyond – expose Zionism and U.S. complicity in the genocide.”

Frank Chapman, executive director of the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, states, “The recent decision by the UN International Court of Justice makes crystal clear the utter moral bankruptcy of the U.S./Israel axis waging genocidal war against the Palestinian people. Now more than ever we must demand that not another dime of our tax dollars be spent on a war being carried out by war criminals. It is clear now that a majority of the community of nations sees the U.S., Israel and their allies as perpetrators of war crimes, of crimes against humanity.”

Chrisley Carpio, of New Students for Democratic Society said, “The U.S. and its puppet, the Israeli government, are determined to fund and carry out a genocide of the Palestinian people. They will bomb Yemen, Iraq, and go to war with sovereign countries to maintain their criminal domination of the region. It's imperative that people in the United States do everything they can to damage this agenda, starting with calling for the end of all U.S. aid to Israel. Students across SDS are facing discipline, code of conduct charges, and other threats for opposing this genocide and for standing with Palestine. We won't stop now!”

Endorsers of the national week of action include the Samidoun Political Prisoners Network, National Students for Justice in Palestine, International League of Peoples’ Struggles – U.S., and the United National Antiwar Committee.

#AntiWarMovement #International #Palestine #Yemen #USPCN #NAARPR #SDS #Samidoun #SJP #ILPS #UNAC #Feature

The protest was called for by Within Our Lifetime, Samidoun, Existence is Resistance, Decolonize this Place, and countless other progressive organizations. It was another incredible protest in a series of successful actions held almost daily since October 7.

Nerdeen Kiswani, from Within Our Lifetime, chanted to a loud crowd, “Every time the media lies, a neighborhood in Gaza dies!” Kiswani continued by saying, “We can’t just call an end to the cease fire, but we must call an end to the killings, the occupation, and apartheid.”

The protest continued into a militant march where thousands continued onto the streets of Brooklyn.

In the coming days, New Yorkers are ready to continue protesting for Palestine. And forces like today show that Zionists are not welcome in New York.

#BrooklynNY #Samidoun #WithinOurLifetime #Palestine

Seattle, WA – On October 14, over 1000 people rallied in Westlake Park to show support for the liberation of the Palestinian people.

Since the successful offensive by the Palestinian Resistance only a week before, many organizations in Seattle and across the world have held massive demonstrations showing support for Palestine. Amid calls by the Israeli minister of defense for “total war on Gaza,” calling Gazans “human animals” and making plans to treat them as such, the Seattle community has been made it clear that they support the right for Gaza to defend itself.

The rally began in Westlake Park, and then marched through the heart of downtown Seattle. Protesters chanted “One, two, three, four! Occupation no more! Five, six, seven eight! Israel is a terrorist state!” and “Palestine is our demand, no peace on stolen land!” as they took to the streets.

The International League of People’s Struggle, joined by Freedom Road Socialist Organization-Seattle, formed a contingent and gave speeches during the march.

Carly Brooks, a member of Resist US-Led War, spoke, “This movement does not come from a position of comfort. It comes from the most impoverished area of our people, under siege, on the front lines confronting Israel. This is the time to support the Palestinian armed forces and the Lebanese resistance. The time is now to take a position, to be clear, to stand for justice. Do not wait until after the battle is done.”

Riqui Castellanoz, a member of the Seattle Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, weighed in, “The police is an entity that is made to oppress people. That’s what they do. It goes hand in hand with what Israel is doing in Palestine. I joined the Seattle Alliance because of the repression I saw all around me. It is our duty to fight for everyone, especially the oppressed, all over the world.”

As the rally came to a close after nearly three hours, Bissan Barghouti of Samidoun Seattle took to the stage and echoed the powerful words of the Palestinian poet Samih Al-Qasim:

You may build walls of hatred around me, You may glue my eyes to humiliations, O enemy of the sun, But I shall not compromise, and to the last pulse in my veins, I shall Resist!

#SeattleWA #Palestine #Samidoun #Poetry #SAARPR #ILPS #FRSO

New York, NY – On the afternoon of October 9, thousands gathered outside the Israeli Consulate on 43rd Street and 2nd Avenue to stand in solidarity with the brave people of Palestine. This was the second rally in two days, as the previous day several thousand gathered in Times Square.

The rally began in front of the Israeli Consulate General with fiery chants and speeches. The emcees loudly shouted, “We don’t want two-states, we want ‘48!”, and the crowd matched the militant energy.

Despite the inordinate number of NYPD officers, the march took the thousands of protesters throughout New York City’s East Side until they ended at the United Nations. Spirits were high, the chants were loud, and the energy was militant.

This action was called by Within Our Lifetime, Samidoun, CUNY Law Students for Justice In Palestine, Existence is Resistance, Decolonize this Place, and CunyForPalestine.

Organizational members of the International League of People’s Struggles attended the action as a contingent of over 50 people. Organizations included: Bayan USA, Malaya Movement, AnakBayan, Bronx and Brooklyn Boricua Resistance, and the New York Community Action Project.

Organizers and protesters alike are ready to continue marching for Palestine as the heroic resistance fighters face up against Zionism, Israel and U.S. imperialism.

#NewYorkNY #Palestine #NYCAP #ILPS #Samidoun