The Vultures of anti-Palestinianism:
What Not to Do When the Cops Come Calling!
The last 15 months have witnessed an inspiring increase in public support for Palestine; simultaneously, it has also been a time of ramped-up police repression especially in the imperial core.
Let’s look at the case of Vancouver, Canada that has been a target of particular interest to the Zionist lobby, partly because of the strong presence of Samidoun. For four years, CIJA and other pro-Israel groups pushed for the banning of Samidoun based on flimsy accusations with no evidence. Samidoun has always been a political advocacy group that defended Palestinian prisoners with education and mobilization, and the Canadian government designating them as “terrorist” in October 2024 set a new and dangerous precedent.
How did this come about, and what lessons can we learn from the Vancouver experience? How should the solidarity movement have responded to these challenges and what might be done differently in the future?
The first indication that the groundwork was actively being laid to ban Samidoun was the arrest of Charlotte Kates, their international coordinator, on a bus in Vancouver on April 29, 2024. She was charged on suspicion of “hate crimes” and released with stringent conditions. This was all based on her public comments of “Long Live Oct. 7” during a previous rally. Although no charges have been filed after eight months and counting, this did not stop the immediate vilification of Ms. Kates by the political and institutional establishment.
The pro-Palestine solidarity movement in Vancouver needed to respond forcefully to defend Kates, the right to protest and to free speech, and to show that such actions would be challenged. There were groups that spoke out quickly and decisively, including the BCCLA, but there were also some elements within the community and its supporters that wanted to take a “safer” approach.
This is not a new issue in the diaspora Palestinian community (or in most immigrant communities, for that matter). Do you take the risk of standing up against the huge forces of oppression lined up against you or do you think you should try to stay quiet and perhaps protect what little you have? Security and police forces are well aware of these contradictions and are very adept at manipulating and exploiting them to advantage; and no amount of appeasement or collaboration with the police will change that agenda.
These are not academic debates for marginalized people, but the decision by some to disassociate from Kates and Samidoun had negative repercussions. Repercussions that impacted everyone in the solidarity movement and that eventually contributed to the banning of a strictly political advocacy organization as “terrorist”.
After Kates’ first arrest in late April 2024, Samidoun continued to organize in the Vancouver area. There was increased police harassment of other protestors, most notably on May 31 at a rail blockade, and then the high-profile smear of a protest in July of the Israeli national softball team as “anti-Semitic”.
But it seems that the Zionist lobby, the Vancouver Police and others were not satisfied with these results…folks were still out on the streets vocally supporting Palestinian resistance and had not been cowed into disavowing Samidoun or others supporting the Palestinians’ legitimate right to resist. And we now know further plans were in the works, as evidenced by what happened on October 15 with the joint Canadian-US banning of Samidoun.
Although comments made at an October 7 rally were used as a pretext for the “terrorist” banning, it’s difficult to believe that two governments implementing the exact same action on the same day didn’t require weeks of high-level coordination. But the stage was set, public opinion was inflamed and the deed was done.
But even that wasn’t enough for the vultures of anti-Palestinianism, as two raids on the private residences of local activists have followed. The first one was a high-profile militarized VPD raid on Nov. 14, again on Charlotte Kates, this time at her home; and the second was another raid and arrest of other supporters. Both times, people were eventually released without charge.
So back to the original question, what are the lessons going forward for the pro-Palestine movement. Samidoun was pivotal in holding space within the movement for radical thought and action, at least in the Lower Mainland of BC. That was their main threat to the establishment, not any calls for “violence” or any “terrorist” fundraising. As such, everything that has been done so far by the VPD has failed, because there are still groups working to hold that space open as well
But the precedent of censoring political speech and the chill effect on the solidarity work must be recognized. People are afraid (understandably so) but has the “safer” approach still being promoted by certain elements achieved anything for the community? No, the exact opposite. In fact, this ambivalence was just what the Zionist lobby and the government were looking for, and only served to empower and embolden their repression.
Even for those that felt they had political differences with Samidoun, once people are arrested and targeted, it is our duty to close ranks and defend them. This is the only response that can and will stem the violent repression currently underway, both in Palestine and globally.
Slogans are not enough, we must be willing to put those words into action. The only reason the Palestinian struggle is still alive is because of the bravery of generations of its fighters during the last century. We cannot shy away now from honouring that proud legacy of Sumoud and resistance, the Palestinian people deserve our last breath of courage and strength. We fight until victory and liberation!
(by Marion Kawas, an activist and writer, and longtime member of Canada Palestine Association)