Samidoun has responded after being sanctioned in the United States and designated a terrorist entity in Canada. The group vowed to "keep resisting" until "victory, return, and liberation" were achieved.In a statement, Samidoun described the moves as "a coordinated attempt by the enemies of the Palestinian people to stop every form of solidarity with the Palestinian people and political organizing efforts," suggesting it was "meant to introduce a norm in which organizations may be designated as 'terrorist' for organizing demonstrations, lectures, publishing posters and engaging in entirely public and political work that challenges imperialist states.""Our response to this designation is clear," the group added. "We will keep struggling to stop the genocide, stop imperialist support for Israel, until the liberation of Palestine from the river to the sea."They went on to describe "those who resist occupation," which in the past has meant Hamas and Hezbollah terrorists, as "heroes of the Palestinian people" and "defenders of humanity."The group went on to complain that nobody in power in the west was on their side."All mainstream political parties, from Democrats to Republicans, and from social democrats to the extreme right-wing, have used the past year to propagate more racist, Islamophobic and repressive measures against the Palestinian people, Arabs, Muslims, refugees, migrants and activists," they said. "This repression reflects the interests of the US and Canada, themselves settler-colonial states built on genocide, ethnic cleansing and continued oppression of the Indigenous peoples, and Europe, the birthplace of the Zionist movement."Samidoun claimed it "does not have any material or organizational ties to entities listed on the terrorist lists of the United States, Canada or the European Union," however in a statement announcing its sanctioning, the US clearly laid out how the group was, in fact, closely linked to such entities.State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller labelled Samidoun "a sham charity that serves as an international fundraiser for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine terrorist organization," explaining that, "the PFLP uses Samidoun to maintain fundraising operations in both Europe and North America."The PFLP has been a listed terrorist entity in the US since 1997, and in Canada since 2003. Israel was the first to give Samidoun the same designation, making the move in 2021. Germany deported Samidoun leaders in 2019 and the EU denied them entry in 2022; both times they returned to Canada, where no such restrictions were in place. In the wake of the October 7 terrorist attack, Germany banned the group from operating on its soil, and outlawed the chant, "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free."
