Hieronder publiceren we een statement van Samidoun Palestijnse Gevangenen Solidariteitsnetwerk over het Duitse verbod op demonstraties voor de Internationale Dag van Palestijnse Gevangenen op 15 en 16 april. Als Revolutionaire Eenheid staan we volledig achter onze kameraden in Samidoun Duitsland wiens demonstratie is verboden. Ook de Grieks-orthodoxe aartsbisschop van Sebastia, Atallah Hanna, heeft zijn veroordeling uitgesproken over deze anti-Palestijnse maatregelen en repressie in Duitsland.
Ook het Samidoun protest in Keulen voor politieke gevangenen is aangevallen door de politie. Een banner werd in beslag genomen, en ze beëindigde de demonstratie vroegtijdig omdat de leuzen die werden geroepen voor het Palestijnse verzet “verboden” zouden zijn. We onderschrijven volledig de reactie hierop de Samidoun Duitsland kameraden:
“Ondanks alle repressie in Berlijn hebben we onze boodschap duidelijk overgebracht: Wij staan zij-aan-zij met de dappere gevangenen tot hun laatste adem. Wij zijn voor het Palestijnse verzet in elke vorm, vooral het gewapend verzet tot onze laatste adem. Lang leve de martelaren, het recht op terugkeer is heilig en heel Palestina, van de rivier tot aan de zee, is Arabisch!”
Onderteken hier het collectieve statement voor organisaties ter ondersteuning van de Palestijnse beweging in Duitsland: https://forms.gle/8RqifeX46EwinzD96
Als Revolutionaire Eenheid staan we volledig achter onze Palestijnse kameraden in Duitsland, Palestina en de gehele diaspora. De Palestijnse bevrijdingsstrijd is een van de frontlinies van de wereldwijde antikoloniale en anti-imperialistische strijd. Elke overwinning van het Palestijnse volk en hun verzetsbeweging is een overwinning voor de strijdende mensen en volkeren over de hele wereld. We salueren de dappere Palestijnse kameraden in Duitsland, het Palestijnse verzet in Gaza en heel bezet Palestina, en alle martelaren en gevangenen. Van Al-Quds tot Amsterdam – globaliseer de intifada voor de bevrijding van Palestina van de rivier tot aan de zee en het recht op terugkeer voor alle Palestijnse vluchtelingen!
Het statement van Samidoun Palestijnse Gevangenen Solidariteitsnetwerk:
Op 13 april 2023 verbood de Berlijnse politie twee demonstraties ter gelegenheid van de Dag van Palestijnse Gevangenen op 15 en 16 april, waarvan de laatste werd georganiseerd door Samidoun Duitsland. Dit verbod volgt het voorbeeld van vorig jaar, toen in mei alle Nakba-demonstraties werden verboden. Het is het zoveelste bewijs dat de Duitse staat een racistische staat is die bewondering heeft voor de zionistische kolonisatie en hun model van een etnostaat.
Elk jaar wordt op 17 april stilgestaan bij de Dag van de Palestijnse Gevangenen. Palestijnse gevangenen die achter de tralies zijn opgesloten door de koloniale bezetting vormen de kern van onze strijd en zijn een centrum van het Palestijnse verzet. Op deze dag staan we op tegen de marteling, de opsluiting van kinderen en het koloniale gebruik van gevangenschap als wapen tegen de Palestijnse bevrijdingsbeweging.
Op deze dag staan we stil bij de verhalen van Palestijnse gevangenen die dag-in dag-uit strijden tegen de bezetting. Van Khader Adnan – op dit moment 72 dagen in hongerstaking – tot Walid Daqqah – die op de intensive care ligt met een zeldzame vorm van kanker na jaren van medische verwaarlozing. We groeten Israa Jaabis, Ahmad Sa’adat, Marwan Barghouthi, Nael Barghouthi, Abdullah Barghouthi, Ahmad Manasra en alle 4.800 Palestijnse gevangenen achter de tralies, evenals Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, die 38 jaar in Frankrijk gevangen zit, en de Palestijnse activisten die in de Verenigde Staten vastzitten als onderdeel van het proces tegen de Holy Land Five.
Deze verboden van de Berlijnse politie zijn een aanval op de Palestijnse gevangenenbeweging en moet ons allemaal motiveren om nog harder te werken voor hun onmiddellijke vrijlating. Duitsland is duidelijk geen neutrale partij in de voortdurende kolonisatie en bezetting van Palestina. Het levert wapens en onvoorwaardelijke politieke steun voor de bezetting van ons volk in Palestina, terwijl het de Palestijnse mensenrechten schendt, niet alleen in Palestina maar ook hier in Duitsland en met name in de hoofdstad van de Palestijnse diaspora, Berlijn, de thuisbasis van de grootste Palestijnse gemeenschap in Europa.
We waarschuwen daarom voor een nieuwe poging om de herdenking van Nakba-dag in Berlijn te verbieden, zoals ook in 2022 gebeurde. We zien deze collectieve aanval op de Palestijnse gemeenschap ook als een poging om de Palestijnse beleving en identiteit strafbaar te stellen en om druk uit te oefenen op onze beweging om concurrentie en verdeeldheid te zaaien tussen “goede” en “slechte” Palestijnen. We maken vandaag duidelijk: wij en onze collectieve beweging zullen niet toestaan dat dergelijke tactieken slagen. De stem van het Palestijnse volk – inclusief de overgrote meerderheid van de Palestijnse gemeenschap in Berlijn, die Palestijnse vluchtelingen zijn – zullen worden gehoord, samen met de stem van ons volk en ons verzet, voor de bevrijding van onze gevangenen en ons land, van de rivier tot aan de zee.
We roepen alle voorstanders van gerechtigheid in Palestina, in Duitsland en internationaal op om de Duitse regering verantwoordelijk te stellen voor de voortdurende schendingen van de Palestijnse mensenrechten hier in de straten van Berlijn. Deze aanvallen maken deel uit van hetzelfde systeem van onderdrukking en bondgenootschap van imperialisme, zionisme en reactie dat zich richt op onze mensen binnen en buiten het bezette Palestina. We zullen niet zwijgen!
Het is Europa, en Duitsland in het bijzonder, zijn heersende klasse en zijn systemen van onderdrukking, die verantwoordelijk zijn voor antisemitisme, anti-Joodse haat, nazisme en fascisme. Dit is slechts de laatste poging om de verantwoordelijkheid voor deze misdaden en de dreiging van extreemrechts in Duitsland van zich af te schudden en zich in plaats daarvan te richten op Palestijnen, Arabieren en moslims – dezelfde groepen die zelf een primair doelwit zijn van fascisten in Duitsland en in heel Europa. We accepteren niet dat de verantwoordelijkheid voor nazimisdaden zal worden afgewenteld op Palestijnen en Arabieren die strijden voor bevrijding van kolonialisme. Onze bevrijdingsstrijd is antikoloniaal en antiracistisch, en onze strijd zal niet het zwijgen worden opgelegd door lastercampagnes of staatsrepressie.
We zullen niet toekijken terwijl ons volk het doelwit is van criminalisering en repressie. Dit is het moment waarop het belangrijk is dan ooit: we moeten doorgaan met het organiseren en escaleren van onze activiteiten om alle Palestijnse gevangenen te bevrijden, om achter het Palestijnse volk en hun dappere verzet te staan, voor de bevrijding van Palestina, van de rivier tot de zee.
Stand up against German repression of the Palestinian liberation movement in diaspora!
Below we publish a statement from Samidoun Palestinian Prisoners Solidarity Network about the German ban on demonstrations for the International Day of Palestinian Prisoners on April 15 and 16. As a Revolutionaire Eenheid, we fully support our comrades in Samidoun Germany whose demonstration has been banned. The Greek Orthodox Archbishop of Sebastia, Atallah Hanna, has also condemned these anti-Palestinian measures and repression in Germany.
Also in Cologne, Germany, the Samidoun protest for political prisoners was attacked by the police. A banner was confiscated, and they ended the demonstration early because the slogans chanted for the Palestinian resistance were said to be “forbidden”. We fully endorse the response to this from the Samidoun Germany comrades:
“Despite all the repression in Berlin, we have clearly conveyed our message: We stand side by side with the brave prisoners until their last breath. We are for the Palestinian resistance in every form, especially the armed resistance until our last breath. Long live the martyrs, the right of return is sacred and all of Palestine, from the river to the sea, is Arab!”
Sign the collective statement for organizations supporting the Palestinian movement in Germany here: https://forms.gle/8RqifeX46EwinzD96
As a Revolutionaire Eenheid, we fully stand with our Palestinian comrades in Germany, Palestine and in the entire diaspora. The Palestinian liberation struggle is one of the frontlines of the global anti-colonial and anti-imperialist struggle. Every victory of the Palestinian people and their resistance movement is a victory for the struggling people and peoples around the world. We salute the brave Palestinian comrades in Germany, the Palestinian resistance in Gaza and all of occupied Palestine, and all martyrs and prisoners. From Al-Quds to Amsterdam – globalize the intifada for the liberation of Palestine from the river to the sea and the right of return for all Palestinian refugees!
The complete statement by Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network:
On 13 April 2023, the Berlin police banned two demonstrations marking the Palestinian Prisoners’ Day on 15 and 16 April, including the 16 April demonstration organized by Samidoun Deutschland. This heinous attack by the German state against Palestinian rights, freedoms, expression and existence, is in accordance with Germany’s support for and admiration of the ethnostate model that the zionist occupation presents. It is also important to note, that this attack follows the 2022 ban on Nakba Day demonstrations, which was met with widespread condemnation in Germany and around the world. Now, the German state — through the Berlin police — is attacking the over 4,800 Palestinians imprisoned by the zionist occupation and are struggling for justice and liberation by targeting Palestinian Prisoners’ Day for repression and silencing.
We commemorate Palestinian Prisoners’ Day annually on 17 April to stand with those Palestinians at the core of our cause and the center of our resistance, the Palestinian prisoners locked behind bars by the colonial occupation. On this day, we raise our voices against torture, the imprisonment of children, and the colonial use of imprisonment as a weapon against Palestinian liberation and self-determination. This is an international day marked in all the cities of the world, when we raise the names and stories of the prisoners who continue to lead and struggle behind prison bars, from Khader Adnan — on hunger strike for the 68th day — to Walid Daqqah, in intensive care with a rare cancer after years of medical neglect. We salute Israa Jaabis, Ahmad Sa’adat, Marwan Barghouthi, Nael Barghouthi, Abdullah Barghouthi, Ahmad Manasra and all of the 4,800 Palestinian prisoners behind bars, as well as Georges Abdallah, jailed in France for 38 years, and the Palestinian activists jailed in the United States. This action by the Berlin police is an attack on the Palestinian prisoners’ movement, and must urge all of us to act even more strongly for their immediate release.
Germany is clearly not a neutral party or observer in the ongoing colonization and occupation of Palestine. It provides weaponry and unlimited political support for the occupation of our people in Palestine, while violating Palestinian human rights not only in Palestine but also here in Germany and particularly in the capital of the Palestinian diaspora, Berlin, the home of the largest Palestinian community in Europe.
This raises an important question: why? Why is the German government repressing the voices of hundreds of thousands of its own citizens and residents that support the Palestinian struggle for liberation, as we saw so vividly in the demonstrations that took place in Germany during “Saif Al Quds” uprising, in order to protect the interests of a foreign colonial occupation? Why is the German state following the U.S. blindly into a deadly war in Ukraine, creating an economic disaster that crushed its own population? And why is Germany quiet about the U.S. bombing its own strategic gas pipeline, costing the German people hundreds of billions of euros in economic damages and pushing the state towards a confrontation with a nuclear power? Why does a foreign power, the U.S., station 29,000 of its troops and maintain 40 military installations on German soil? And why is there a CIA base in Frankfurt that was allowed to operate freely as revealed in WikiLeaks? And why was the German state quiet about its former head of state, chancellor Angela Merkel, being hacked by U.S. intelligence? All these unanswered questions reveal Germany’s lack of sovereignty and the extent at which the German state routinely acts against the interests of its residents to serve its imperialist interests in alignment with U.S. imperialism.
It is also clear that the demonstration ban today is being carried out as a form of collective punishment and silencing targeting the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians and Arabs in Germany and their supporters. It is a manufactured crisis that aims to create a pretext for the ongoing banning of demonstrations for Palestine and the free expression of the Palestinian community and supporters of Palestine. The document issued by the Berlin Police reads as if it were written by an Israeli security or intelligence agency, as it offers an array of political analyses that solely reflect a Zionist approach to Palestine and entirely disregard Palestinian rights and even humanity.
We warn against another attempt to ban the commemoration of al-Nakba day in Berlin, as we saw in 2022. We also view this collective targeting of the Palestinian community as an attempt to criminalize Palestinian expression and identity as well as to pressure our movement into competition and division into “good” and “bad” Palestinians. We make clear today: We and our collective movement will not allow such tactics to succeed. The voice of the Palestinian people — including the overwhelming majority of the Palestinian community in Berlin, who are Palestinian refugees denied their right to return to their occupied and colonized homeland for over 75 years — will be heard, along with the voice of our people and our resistance, for the liberation of our prisoners and our land, from the river to the sea.
We call upon all supporters of justice in Palestine, in Germany and internationally, to hold the German government accountable for the ongoing violations of Palestinian human rights taking place here on the streets of Berlin, and specifically the ban on Palestinian Prisoners’ Day commemorations. These attacks are part and parcel of the same system of oppression and alliance of imperialism, Zionism and reaction that targets our people inside and outside occupied Palestine. We will not be silent!
The 12 page document by the Berlin Police purporting to justify this ban follows a series of political attacks, including interventions by the Israeli ambassador, demanding the silencing of the Palestinian community. Like previous documents of this nature, it is littered with anti-Palestinian racism and gratuitous and highly politicized commentary that fully adopts a Zionist narrative to an extreme and even offensive level.
This comes after the police identified no incidents at the demonstration last Saturday, 8 April, and after a manufactured media and political outrage scandal sparked by a suspicious video produced by a Zionist organization with a lone, unidentifiable voice shouting an anti-Jewish slogan. It is clear that this is the result of political pressure and not the reflection of any real concern about “public safety” or “fighting antisemitism”. It is also clear that the safety and security of the Palestinian and Arab community is of no value at all to the Berlin and German federal governments and can be cast aside or endangered at any moment for political expediency.
- The police document adopts an offensive Zionist narrative in describing the attacks on Al-Aqsa Mosque, attacks which were even condemned by many pro-Zionist Western governments. It portrays the Israeli occupation forces drawing their weapons on worshipers and beating Palestinians inside the mosque as defenders of the Muslims praying there, while disregarding entirely the experience of those same Palestinian Muslims:
“According to reports, groups of young Palestinians threw firecrackers and stones at police officers late in the evening and tried to barricade themselves in the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Furthermore, these groups of young Palestinians are said to have prevented believers from leaving the mosque, so that the police had to clear the way for the believers to leave the mosque and in this connection expelled the Palestinians from the complex. According to Palestinian sources, another six people were injured.”
- It once again engages in anti-Palestinian racism and stereotyping while declaring that Palestinians and Arabs should apparently be emotionless about the violent attacks and dispossession of themselves and their people: warning of “emotionalization among local sections of the population with a Palestinian background.”
- It engages in anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian and anti-Arab racism and criminalization: “The gathering had a distinctly militant appearance to outsiders, with aggressive chants of “Allahu Akbar”.”
- It describes the participation of Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims as a justification for banning the action: “The assembly participants will therefore largely be made up of people from the Arab diaspora, particularly those with a Palestinian background. In addition, other Muslim groups, preferably from the Lebanese, Turkish and Syrian diaspora, will take part in the demonstration. In addition, a large number of young people and young adults can be expected.”
- Further, the police also declare that Palestinians referencing their capital Jerusalem and its occupation is a reason to ban the demonstration:
“It must be considered that the demonstration is developing into a replacement event for the canceled annual “al-Quds demonstration”. This is also supported by flyers published on the Internet, which make a reference to Jerusalem (Arabic: al-Quds) in words and pictures.”
- Once again, the German government is using the allegedly “non-legally-binding” IHRA definition to trample on the legal rights of Palestinians, Arabs and supporters of Palestine, and equating Jews and Zionism in the crudest of terms (therefore promoting anti-Semitism and anti-Jewish animus, in reality):
“Propagating the non-existence and destruction of the State of Israel in words and pictures is to be seen as the most succinct expression of anti-Semitism according to all common definitions of anti-Semitism…This applies both to the definition of anti-Semitism adopted by Germany in 2017 from the “International Alliance for Holocaust Remembrance” (IHRA) as well as the scientific anti-Semitism definition of the report of the second “Independent Expert Group Anti-Semitism” from 2017.”
- Further, the statement once again affirms the German government’s repeated statement that Zionist colonialism in Palestine is a “reason of state” for the country, justifying the ban on th basis that: “Its assembly participants are recruited from a circle of people who are critical of the State of Israel, the Israeli people and people of the Jewish faith.” What “people of the Jewish faith” are referred to here? Zionist settlers and occupying soldiers and war criminals? Once again, anti-Zionist Jews are rendered invisible while Jewishness is yoked to the actions of a settler colonial, imperialist project. The deception could not be clearer.
It is Europe, and Germany in particular, its ruling class and its systems of oppression, that are responsible for anti-Semitism, anti-Jewish hatred, Nazism and fascism. This is only the latest attempt to shed responsibility for these crimes and the threat of the extreme right in Germany and instead target Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims — the same groups who are themselves a primary target of fascists in Germany and throughout Europe. We do not accept that the responsibility for Nazi crimes will be displaced onto Palestinians and Arabs struggling for our liberation from colonialism. Our liberation struggle is anti-colonialist and anti-racist, and our struggle will not be silenced by smear campaigns or state repression.
We commemorate the struggle of the Palestinian prisoners and the Palestinian people, and the International Day of Palestinian Prisoners lives on as an immortal day. We urge all who support us not only to speak out against the ban but to attend and organize events for Palestinian Prisoners’ Day in your community and city, particularly the events in Köln and Hamburg on 15 April.
We will not stand by as our people are targeted for criminalization and repression. Now is the time when it is more urgent than ever: We must continue to organize and escalate all of our efforts to free all Palestinian prisoners, to stand with the Palestinian people and their brave resistance, for the liberation of Palestine, from the river to the sea.
