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Memri
10-07-2025
- Politics
- Memri
In Speech At International Imperialism And Law Conference In Greece, Charlotte Kates, Of PFLP-Affiliated Designated Terror Organization Samidoun, Praised Hizbullah And Hamas 'Martyrs' Hassan Nasrallah
On April 5-6, 2025, the 2nd annual International Conference on Imperialism and Law was held at the Athens Bar Association in Greece. Charlotte Kates the international coordinator of the Samidoun Prisoner Solidarity Network, which is designated terrorist by the U.S., Canada, The Netherlands, and other countries, spoke at the conference. In her presentation, she honored "martyrs" of the resistance, including leading figures of Iran-backed designated terror organizations Hizbullah and Hamas. Samidoun, Kates's organization, is affiliated with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), which has been designated terrorist by the U.S. for over two decades. She is married to Khaled Barakat, identified by the U.S. government as a senior member of the PFLP and who was designated terrorist by both the U.S. and Canada in October 2024, since which time he has been residing in Beirut. Additionally, a recent conference at the European Parliament concluded that the EU should also designate Samidoun as a terrorist entity. Kates was arrested in May 2024 following her speech at a rally in Vancouver, British Columbia in which she expressed support for Hamas, the PFLP, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and Lebanese Hizbullah and demanded that they be removed from Canada's terror list. In August 2024, Kates traveled to Iran to accept Iran's "Eighth Annual Islamic Human Rights And Human Dignity Award," presented in Tehran on August 4 by the secretary general of the High Council for Human Rights of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The following day in Tehran, she gave a detailed interview to Iran's Ofogh TV, discussing her arrest. Kates traveled to Lebanon to attend the funeral of Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah in February 2025 and so far appears to still be there. More recently, both Kates and Barakat expressed support for the murder of a young couple who were Israeli Embassy staffers in an attack outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C. where an event for Jewish professionals was being held. Kates's presentation at the April conference in Greece featured a slideshow honoring "martyrs" of the resistance, among them Hassan Nasrallah, secretary-general of the Iran-backed terror organization Hizbullah in Lebanon; his successor Hashem Safieddine; and numerous leading Hamas figures, including Ismail Haniyeh, Yahya Sinwar, Saleh Arouri, and Muhammad Deif. The following report will focus on Kates's speech at the International Conference on Imperialism and Law in Athens, Greece. Samidoun Posts Charlotte Kates's Speech On its X account, on April 27, 2025, Samidoun posted about the event. It read: "Honoring the martyrs, advocating for the resistance: Charlotte Kates at the Athens conference on Imperialism and Law." A post on Samidoun's website the same day provided the full text of Kates's speech and its accompanying slideshow.[1] Samidoun's X post about the conference ( At The Conference: The Anti-Imperialist Front Kates shared the stage with an unnamed woman representing the Anti-Imperialist Front, an organization apparently based in Europe, which on its Facebook account openly calls for the destruction of Israel and glorified Elias Rodriguez, who had murdered the two Israeli Embassy staffers in Washington, D.C. and shouted "Free Palestine!" The Anti-Imperialist Front appears to have streamed the conference on Twitch, although the stream is no longer available to view. Photos from the event posted by the Anti-Imperialist Front ( May 22, 2025 Facebook post by the Anti-Imperialist Front sharing the video of Elias Rodriguez's arrest following the shooting and praising his actions. Charlotte Kates's Speech Honoring Hizbullah And Hamas 'Martyrs': 'The Great, Heroic Operation On October 7, 2023 Was An Organized, Strategic Operation' The following are portions of Kates's speech, as published on the Samidoun website, along with images from the accompanying slideshow. "I Want To Begin By Saluting All Of The Martyrs... The Great Leaders Of Our Global Anti-Imperialist Movement And Movement For Justice, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, Sayyed Hashem Safieddine, Ismail Haniyeh, Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif" "I want to begin by saluting all of the martyrs, from the great leaders of our global anti-imperialist movement and movement for justice, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, Sayyed Hashem Safieddine, Ismail Haniyeh, Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif... and every heroic resistance fighter, every martyr on the road to al-Quds, whose lives have been taken by the malign forces of imperialism and Zionism... From the slideshow by Charlotte Kates during her speech at the conference ( April 27, 2025 "The armed resistance, the fighters of Hamas and the Al-Qassam Brigades, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad Movement and [its armed wing] Saraya al-Quds [Al-Quds Brigades], the PFLP and the [PFLP's armed wing] Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades and all the factions of the Resistance, the warriors of Hizbullah in Lebanon, the armed forces, the people, and the AnsarAllah [Houthis] movement of Yemen, the resistance fighters of Iraq and the revolutionary forces of Iran who continue to resist imperialism in the region... at the center of our global movement. "The vast destruction imposed upon humanity, upon the global majority, by imperialism, led by the United States but accompanied by the imperialist powers from Britain to the European Union countries to Canada to Australia and New Zealand – NATO, the Five Eyes and similar aggressive alliances – is immense and terrible, and cannot be confronted except by confronting those directly responsible and the systems that they profit from... "What We See Today Is The Facade Of Freedoms Of Expression And Association Falling Before The Crisis Of Imperialism And A Revolutionary Upsurge Which Bears The Name Al-Aqsa Flood" "So, for us as people's lawyers, as revolutionary lawyers, as anti-imperialists, there is always the question to ask, and, indeed, to answer: why are we here? What is our role?... [W]e must address this by being clear about the purpose of 'law,' particularly bourgeois law, which is not to protect us nor to defend us but to repress us. If we have revolutionary movements, they will not be protected by the systems of bourgeois law, because that is not the purpose of this legal system... What we see today is the facade of freedoms of expression and association falling before the crisis of imperialism and a revolutionary upsurge which bears the name Al-Aqsa Flood. "As we speak about Palestine, of course, we must be clear – the genocide in Palestine did not begin on 7 October 2023. It did not even begin in 1947-1948 and the illegitimate establishment of the so-called "state of Israel," the Zionist regime, on Palestinian land... "The Great, Heroic Operation On October 7, 2023... The Great Al-Aqsa Flood, Changed The World, Irreversibly" – " And Every Day Since Then, The Unified Resistance Has Continued To Defend And Uphold Humanity Against Genocide" "The great, heroic operation on October 7, 2023 was an organized, strategic operation by the Palestinian resistance, which holds a deep relationship and alliance with the other forces of the Axis of Resistance, or, more broadly, what we might call the global camp of resistance, centered in Palestine, Lebanon, Yemen, Iraq, Iran, and, of course, Syria, where we are today witnessing a great tragedy and crime created by the machinations and the killing sanctions of U.S. Imperialism. "It was a brilliantly planned military action that surprised even the fighters and leaders when they encountered the inability and unpreparedness of the Zionist soldiers in their military bases to actually fight against an attack, a tactical offensive... The leadership of the Al-Qassam Brigades, including the martyrs Mohammed Deif, Marwan Issa, and of course Yahya Sinwar, clearly viewed this action as, as Deif said in video footage released after his martyrdom was announced on 30 January 2025, one that would change the world, and they were correct to do so... "We must be clear: October 7, the great Al-Aqsa Flood, changed the world, irreversibly. This day made clear before the world that it is quite possible to envision a Palestine free of Zionism and a region free of imperialism, and that this resistance camp is capable of achieving that goal with its own hands... "And every day since then, the unified Resistance has continued to defend and uphold humanity against genocide. The unified resistance front, stretching from Palestine to Lebanon, where the Lebanese Resistance cleared northern occupied Palestine of occupation soldiers and settlers and sacrificed its beloved leaders in order to uphold Palestine; to Yemen, where the Yemeni people, government, armed forces and AnsarAllah movement have shut down the supply lines of genocide in the Red Sea, causing the port of Eilat to declare bankruptcy; to Iraq, to Iran, and stretching around the world to all who confront imperialism, Zionism and reaction... "We know that armed struggle is a legal right under international law and upheld by UN resolutions, but it would be a legitimate right even without that as a basic framework for humanity defending itself against occupiers and destructive forces that come to exploit and plunder by force of arms... And one of the things that has happened since 7 October at a popular level is a wide-scale, popular support and recognition, even in the heart of the imperial core, after a campaign of lies and propaganda aimed to smear the Palestinian resistance and its fighters, is that of the justice of the Palestinian cause and the heroism of its fighters. "In 1968, The Palestinian National Charter Affirmed: 'Armed Struggle Is The Only Way To Liberate Palestine... Today, [This] Is Led By Hamas And Islamic Jihad" "In 1968, the Palestinian National Charter affirmed: 'Armed struggle is the only way to liberate Palestine. This is the overall strategy, not merely a tactical phase... At that time, the Palestinian revolution was led by the armed factions of the Palestine Liberation Organization, and today, it is led by Hamas and Islamic Jihad, with a broad alliance of forces. But the compass to liberation remains the same... "It is within this context that it is important to discuss multiple mechanisms by which genocide is carried out... These include but are not limited to: The assassination policy; Anti-terror laws and designations; Sanctions and unilateral coercive measures. "The assassination policy has been a core tactic of Zionist strategy for decades and is a policy pursued around the world... From Sayyed Nasrallah to Sayyed Safieddine, from [Hizbullah officials] Ibrahim Aqil to Fouad Shukr to Abbas al-Mussawi, from [Hamas officials] Ismail Haniyeh to Saleh al-Arouri to [Palestinian Islamic Jihad founder] Fathi Shiqaqi, [PFLP leader] Abu Ali Mustafa, [Hamas cofounder] Abd Al-Aziz Rantisi, [Hamas cofounder] Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, [Hizbullah official] Imad Mughniyyeh, [Hamas bombmaker "The Engineer"] Yahya Ayyash, [Fatah military commander] Abu Jihad, [PLO leader] Kamal 'Udwan, [1972 Munich massacre terrorist] Mohammed al-Najjar, [PFLP official] Basil al-Kubaisi, [top PFLP official] Wadie Haddad, [PFLP official] Mohammed Boudia, [Palestinian resistance activist] Basil al-Araj, [Palestinian Islamic Jihad official] Tariq Izzedine to [top Hizbullah operative] Samir Kuntar; the Zionist regime relies on the assassination weapon against the liberation movement. We see this also with the US assassination of [Iranian IRGC Qods Force commander] General Qassem Soleimani and [Popular Mobilization Front official] Abu Mahdi al-Mohandis, part of the same strategy. From the slideshow by Charlotte Kates during her speech at the conference ( April 27, 2025 "[Palestinian Islamic Jihad official] Tareq Izzedine said, 'Whenever a leader ascends, 10 will emerge to replace them. When a martyr ascends, 100 martyrs will emerge to replace them. The march continues, and it does not stop until the defeat of the occupation.' And as Saleh al-Arouri said, 'We are martyred like our people, we are arrested as they are arrested, our homes are demolished and we are being chased and pursued. We fight because we must'... "For the past weeks, since the overt resumption of genocidal bombing on 18 March, we have witnessed the assassination policy in extreme escalation in Gaza, clearly relying on intelligence obtained during the ceasefire period, because these are by and large political and social leaders being targeted for assassination, with the exception of Naji Abu Saif, known as Abu Hamza, the spokesperson of Saraya al-Quds: Issam Al-Da'alis, Chairman of the [Hamas] Government Work Follow-Up Committee; Yasser Harb, member of the Political Bureau of Hamas; Ahmad Al-Hatta, [Hamas] Deputy Minister of Justice; Mahmoud Abu Watfa, [Hamas] Deputy Minister of Interior; Bahjat Abu Sultan, Director General of the [Hamas] Internal Security Service; Mohammed Al-Jamasi, Chairman of the [Hamas] Emergency Committee; Salah al-Bardawil, member of the Political Bureau of Hamas; Ismail Barhoum, member of the Political Bureau of Hamas and responsible for social and charity affairs; Abdel-Latif al-Qanou, spokesperson of Hamas... From the slideshow by Charlotte Kates during her speech at the conference ( April 27, 2025 "Assassinating those responsible for justice, security, charity and aid distribution, and those who document Zionist crimes, is a central tactic meant to allow the genocide to continue. On too many occasions, we discuss the crimes of the Zionist regime and assure listeners that the victims were 'not Hamas'... but the killing of these men is itself a crime – it is quite clearly the international crime of extrajudicial killing and execution, and it is also a key mechanism to disrupt society and enable genocide..." "We Must Clearly Call For An End To The Terrorist Designation Of Palestinian Lebanese Yemeni, Iraqi, Iranian Forces, And For That Matter, Organizations In Solidarity Like Samidoun... Anti-Terror Laws Serve As A Form Of Psychological Warfare That Aims To Unroot The 'Solidarity' Framework From The Leadership Of The Revolutionary Movement" "The turnout of over 1.5 million people in the streets of Beirut to honor and remember the martyrs [Hizbullah leader] Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and [his deputy] Sayyed Hashem Safieddine sparked the Zionists to fly warplanes over the crowd and bomb several locations in Lebanon... They aim not only to assassinate the leaders of the Resistance movement but to assassinate their legacy and memory... "This of course, goes hand in hand with the use of anti-terror laws and 'terrorist' designations, organization bans and the like, to suppress support for the resistance... In short: anti-terror laws and terrorist designations exist not only to persecute and imprison people for supporting the resistance.... We must clearly call for an end to the terrorist designation of Palestinian Lebanese Yemeni, Iraqi, Iranian forces, and for that matter, organizations in solidarity like Samidoun, which was itself designated a "terrorist entity" by Canada, a "specially designated global terrorist" by the US, banned by Germany and designated a "terrorist" group by the Zionist entity... We must very clearly call to abolish these lists in imperialist countries, which are designed to create arbitrary mechanisms of repression... and to de-list Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the PFLP, Al-Aqsa Brigades, Hizbullah, AnsarAllah and indeed Samidoun... Anti-terror laws serve as a form of psychological warfare that aims to unroot the 'solidarity' framework from the leadership of the revolutionary movement..." "Al-Aqsa Flood Is A Flood Of The People, For Liberation, An End To Colonialism And Zionism, And A Head-On Confrontation With Imperialism. Let Us Play Our Role And Join The Flood" "Al-Aqsa Flood is a flood of the people, for liberation, an end to colonialism and Zionism, and a head-on confrontation with imperialism. Let us play our role and join the flood, in the name of the martyrs and the prisoners, in support of those fighters, for a free Palestine from the river to the sea. For a liberated Arab nation free of imperialism. For a self-determined, revolutionary Iran continuing its revolution after 40 years free of war threats, and for a world liberated from US imperialism and Zionism. "As the martyr Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said in his last speech, "The end of this battle will be a historic victory." Let us do everything in our power to bring about that victory and play our unique role as anti-imperialist lawyers, with and as part of the global camp of Resistance and revolution."
Memri
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Memri
Leaders Of Designated Terror Organization Samidoun Call Murder Of Young Couple By Pro-Palestinian At Jewish Event In Washington, D.C. 'Only Logical' – Adding 'Yes – To Globalize The Intifada'
Following the murder of a young Jewish couple, both employees of the Israeli Embassy, outside the Capital Jewish Museum last night, the founder and international coordinator of the Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network expressed support for the murder and blaming "Israel's crimes in Gaza" for it. Samidoun is affiliated with the designated terrorist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and in October 2024 was designated terrorist by the U.S., Canada, and other countries. It raises funds for the PFLP. Khaled Barakat, founder of both Samidoun and Masar Badil, the Palestinian Alternative Revolutionary Path Movement, and a member of the latter's executive committee, has been identified by the U.S. government as a senior member of the PFLP. He is also designated terrorist by the U.S. and Canada. A Canadian citizen, Barakat has been residing in Beirut for several months after being designated in Canada in October 2024. Charlotte Kates, Barakat's wife, is Samidoun's international coordinator. Kates was arrested in May 2024 following her speech at a rally in Vancouver, British Columbia in which she expressed support for Hamas, the PFLP, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and Lebanese Hizbullah and demanded that they be removed from Canada's terror list. In August 2024, Kates traveled to Iran to accept Iran's "Eighth Annual Islamic Human Rights And Human Dignity Award," presented in Tehran on August 4 by the secretary general of the High Council for Human Rights of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The following day in Tehran, she gave a detailed interview to Iran's Ofogh TV, discussing her arrest. Kates traveled to Lebanon to attend the funeral of Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah in February 2025 and so far appears to still be there. Barakat and Kates (Source: May 18, 2018) Below are statements by Barakat and Kates about last night's murder: Samidoun Founder Khaled Barakat: "Israel's Crimes In Gaza Are Responsible For The Killing Of Its Representatives In Washington"; "We Affirm That The Occupation Is The Original Crime, And That Those Who Seek To Criminalize The Reactions While Remaining Silent On The Massacre Are Complicit In The Ongoing Crime" In a report published on the website of Masar Badil, aka the Palestinian Alternative Revolutionary Path Movement, following the murder, Barakat was quoted as saying: "[T]he shooting incident that occurred in the U.S. capital, Washington, targeting employees of the 'Israeli' embassy, is a natural consequence of the Zionist entity's crimes in the Gaza Strip." He added: "This explosion of anger in the heart of the U.S. capital is neither isolated nor random, but one of the manifestations of pain and deep rage stemming from the international community's disregard for the suffering of Palestinians, and its complicity in shielding the killers and granting them impunity. We affirm that the occupation is the original crime, and that those who seek to criminalize the reactions while remaining silent on the massacre are complicit in the ongoing crime." Samidoun International Coordinator Charlotte Kates: "People Will Act When There Is No Accountability Whatsoever Imposed Upon That Genocidal Regime [Israel]"; "It's Only Logical That People Will Find Alternative Means Of Imposing Consequences" – "And Yes, To Globalize The Intifada" On her X account, Samidoun International Coordinator Charlotte Kates wrote: "Urging everyone to avoid speculation about 'false flags' whenever an incident occurs that people find inconvenient for media." She added in the past that "basic actions of 'legal' protest are being criminalized." In subsequent messages, she went on to write: "It should surprise literally no one that people will act when there is no accountability whatsoever imposed upon that genocidal regime," i.e. Israel, and that "it's only logical that people will find alternative means of imposing consequences." She concluded: "And yes, to globalize the intifada."
