Sujet : The addition of Samidoun to Canada’s terror list reflects the anti-Palestinian history of the "terrorist" designation and how Canada uses it to support U.S. imperial interests.
De : adhellman1 (at) *nospam* gmail.com (Auric Hellman)
Groupes : talk.politics.miscDate : 21. Oct 2024, 00:56:50
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By Yves Engler October 20, 2024
On Tuesday the Liberal government listed Samidoun: Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network as a terror entity. Made in conjunction with Washington, the move criminalizes the Vancouver-based grassroots solidarity group. It’s now illegal to finance or materially assist Samidoun.
After Israel labeled Samidoun a terror organization in 2021, Zionist groups and the National Post began pushing Ottawa to follow suit. But the Liberals wavered under pushback from the BC Civil Liberties Association, Canadian Union of Postal Workers and dozens of other civil society organizations. After October 7 the Conservatives launched a full court press to list Samidoun that seems to have tipped the scales.
Listing Samidoun is a direct attack against those opposing genocide. An August parliamentary petition calling on the government to list the organization began, “Samidoun Prisoners Solidarity Network (Samidoun) is viewed as one of the main groups behind anti-Israeli protest rallies that have been staged across Canada.” Immediately after its listing Zionists started denouncing individuals and organizations that have worked with Samidoun or its two principal organizers Charlotte Kates and Khaled Barakat. For its part, Samidoun criticized its listing as “meant to introduce a norm in which organizations may be designated as ‘terrorist’ for organizing demonstrations, lectures, publishing posters and engaging in entirely public and political work that challenges imperialist states’ complicity in Israeli war crimes, crimes against humanity, and ongoing genocide in Gaza.”
Notwithstanding the menacing “terror” label, no one claims Samidoun has engaged in any violence. Criticism of the group focused on its supports for Palestinian armed resistance and that someone burned a Canadian flag at a protest they co-organized October 7. But that isn’t illegal, let alone grounds to ban an organization.
In the government’s statement listing Samidoun they claim the group has “close links with and advances the interests of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), which is a listed terrorist entity.” In its statement the US accused Samidoun of financing the secular leftist PFLP but curiously Canada hasn’t charged anyone associated with Samidoun for what was already illegal.
If Samidoun is a terrorist organization because it has ties to the PFLP — which has barely engaged in armed struggle for decades — then it won’t be long until they target other groups on the grounds they have “close links” to Samidoun. And on and on.
Created in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, attack in the U.S., Canada’s terror list grants the government powers to ban an organization without providing a standard legal burden of proof. In essence the government can list a group and poof it’s illegal to assist it. It’s also near impossible for that organization to mount a defense against their listing.
Canada’s terror list reinforces the U.S.-led imperial system. It consists overwhelmingly of organizations viewed as challenging U.S. hegemony and is a concrete example of why Benjamin Netanyahu’s immediate response to the 9/11 attacks was to blurt out that “it’s very good”. Asked on the day of the attack how it would impact U.S.-Israel relations, the then former Israeli prime minister said it would “strengthen the bond between our two peoples, because we’ve experienced terror over so many decades, but the United States has now experienced a massive hemorrhaging of terror.”
During its first 12 years the list consisted solely of groups based abroad. That’s changing. According to the president of the Canadian Association for Intelligence and Security Studies Jessica Davis, Samidoun’s listing “is a rare case of a Canadian organization being listed, with someone leading it who is resident in Canada (and will likely feel the effects of this listing). If we’re going to see a legal challenge to this regime, it could well be this case.”
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https://mondoweiss.net/2024/10/the-addition-of-samidoun-to-canadas-terror-list-reflects-a-long-history-of-anti-palestinian-racism-in-service-of-u-s-interests/-- Dr. Auric D. Hellmanadhellman1@gmail.comJoin me on FaceBookhttps://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100084994637953