Israel’ designates prisoner solidarity group as terrorist organization

Occupied Palestine (QNN)- The Israeli minister of war Benny Gantz Sunday signed a decision, designating Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, operating in Europe and North America, as a terrorist organization.

Samidoun, which works to build solidarity with Palestinian prisoners in their struggle for freedom, developed out of the September-October 2011 hunger strike of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. It works on raising awareness and providing resources about Palestinian political prisoners, their conditions, their demands, and their work for freedom.

In response to the Israeli decision, Samidoun said it “will continue to organize and mobilize internationally in defense of Palestinian rights and liberation.”

“This is the latest manifestation of a smear campaign that is intended to silence international support for the Palestinian people and especially the nearly 5,000 Palestinians jailed by the Israeli occupation”, a statement by the solidarity group read.

The statement also rejected an Israeli claim that the Palestinian writer Khaled Barakat is a “chief coordinator” of Samidoun, stressing that he “is not now, nor has he ever been, a director or “chief coordinator” of Samidoun.”

According to its website, Samidoun is an independent international, Arab and Palestinian organization that mobilizes for the liberation of nearly 5,000 Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli jails. It advocates for the boycott of the occupation state, and upholds the right of Palestinians to resist occupation, apartheid and oppression, and the right of all Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and lands.