Curbs towards Palestinian prisoner assist community imposed amid mounting strain since Israel’s Gaza battle started.
America has imposed sanctions towards the Palestinian prisoner assist community Samidoun, accusing the organisation of being a “sham charity” that raises funds for a blacklisted, left-wing Palestinian political faction.
In a statement on Tuesday, the US Division of the Treasury stated Samidoun acts as a world fundraiser for the Common Entrance for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), which Washington has designated as a “terrorist” group.
“Organizations like Samidoun masquerade as charitable actors that declare to offer humanitarian assist to these in want, but in actuality divert funds for much-needed help to assist terrorist teams,” Treasury official Bradley Smith stated within the assertion.
The US sanctions had been imposed in coordination with the Canadian authorities, which on Tuesday designated Samidoun as a “terrorist entity”.
Canada stated the group “has shut hyperlinks and advances the pursuits of” the PFLP, which can be listed as a “terrorist” organisation within the nation.
“Violent extremism, acts of terrorism or terrorist financing don’t have any place in Canadian society or overseas. The itemizing of Samidoun as a terrorist entity beneath the Felony Code sends a powerful message that Canada won’t tolerate this kind of exercise,” Dominic Leblanc, Canada’s minister of public security, stated in an announcement.
Samidoun didn’t instantly reply to Al Jazeera’s request for touch upon Tuesday’s sanctions and “terrorist” designation.
On its web site, Samidoun – also referred to as the Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Community – described itself as “a world community of organizers and activists working to construct solidarity with Palestinian prisoners of their wrestle for freedom”.
“We work to lift consciousness and supply sources about Palestinian political prisoners, their situations, their calls for, and their work for freedom for themselves, their fellow prisoners, and their homeland,” it stated.
Professional-Israel teams throughout North America and Europe have been pushing to record Samidoun as a “terrorist” group for years.
However the organisation got here beneath renewed scrutiny in current months throughout mass protests in Canada, the US and elsewhere towards Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip, which has killed greater than 42,200 Palestinians within the besieged enclave since early October 2023.
Simply weeks into the Israeli army’s bombardment of Gaza late final yr, Germany – a staunch ally of Israel – banned Samidoun after it stated the group disseminated “anti-Israel and anti-Jewish propaganda” and “glorified” the Palestinian group Hamas.
In a statement at the moment, Samidoun rejected the German ban as an try “to repress dissent with the complete drive of the state”.
“This assault ought to be of great concern to all who perform political work, particularly for Palestinian liberation,” the group stated.
On Tuesday, the US additionally designated a Canadian citizen it stated serves as a member of the PFLP’s management overseas and helps increase cash for the group.
The US sanctions freeze the focused particular person’s and organisation’s belongings within the nation and forestall any US residents or entities from doing enterprise with them.
