France to ban two Palestine solidarity groups

France’s Interior Minister announced that he is banning two Palestine solidarity organisations at the request of French President, Emmanuel Macron.

Gerald Darmanin tweeted yesterday that he will move to dissolve Palestine Vaincra (Palestine Will Win) and Comité Palestine Action (Palestine Action Committee).

“Under the cover of supporting the Palestinian cause, the government accuses the groups of promoting hatred of Israel,” French newspaper, Europe 1, reported.

Established in 2019, Palestine Vaincra  is accused by the government “of calling for hatred, discrimination and violence.”

Darmanin added that France is also accusing it of ties with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a group banned by the Israeli occupation.

This comes after a series of “dissolutions” imposed by the French State, including an order to dissolve the Collective Against Islamophobia in France, as well as various leftist and anti-racist organisations.

A la demande du Président de la République, je vais demander la dissolution du collectif "Palestine Vaincra", et du "Comité Action Palestine", pour appel à la haine, à la violence et à la discrimination et provocation à des actes terroristes.https://t.co/lfrscsGkwQ

— Gérald DARMANIN (@GDarmanin) February 24, 2022

In response, Palestine Vaincra denounced the move as “an attack against the solidarity movement towards Palestine and all anti-racist forces.”

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In a statement, its spokesperson, Tom Martin, said, “We condemn this announcement in the strongest terms and are preparing a legal and political response.”

Palestine Vaincra is part of Samidoun, the Palestinian Prisoners Solidarity Network, designated by Israel as a Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine affiliate.

According to Europe 1, Darmanin accuses Palestine Vaincra of claiming that Muslim people around the world are oppressed by “imperialism and world Zionism” and for “spreading the idea of there being Islamophobia at a global level.”

Moreover, the Macron administration is banning Comité Action Palestine for “relaying communiqués from Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Palestine and of Hezbollah and for reporting on their actions,” added Europe 1.

On its website, Comité Action Palestine, based in Bordeaux, describes itself as a group that “works for the realisation of the national rights of the Palestinian people, in particular the right to self-determination and the right of return of refugees, that is to say the liberation of the Arab land of Palestine.”

An online petition has been created by Palestine Vaincra calling out Darmanin and President Macron for their support to Israeli apartheid and for public support against the criminalisation of the  solidarity movement with Palestine.

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