US and Canada impose sanctions, blacklist pro-Palestinian group Samidoun

Curbs against Palestinian prisoner support network imposed amid mounting pressure since Israel’s Gaza war began.

The United States has imposed sanctions against the Palestinian prisoner support network 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 Department of the Treasury said Samidoun acts as an international fundraiser for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), which Washington has designated as a “terrorist” group.

“Organizations like Samidoun masquerade as charitable actors that claim to provide humanitarian support to those in need, yet in reality divert funds for much-needed assistance to support terrorist groups,” Treasury official Bradley Smith said in the statement.

The US sanctions were imposed in coordination with the Canadian government, which on Tuesday designated Samidoun as a “terrorist entity”.

Canada said the group “has close links and advances the interests of” the PFLP, which is also listed as a “terrorist” organisation in the country.

“Violent extremism, acts of terrorism or terrorist financing have no place in Canadian society or abroad. The listing of Samidoun as a terrorist entity under the Criminal Code sends a strong message that Canada will not tolerate this type of activity,” Dominic Leblanc, Canada’s minister of public safety, said in a statement.

Samidoun did not immediately respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment on Tuesday’s sanctions and “terrorist” designation.

On its website, Samidoun – also known as the Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network – described itself as “an international network of organizers and activists working to build solidarity with Palestinian prisoners in their struggle for freedom”.

“We work to raise awareness and provide resources about Palestinian political prisoners, their conditions, their demands, and their work for freedom for themselves, their fellow prisoners, and their homeland,” it said.

Pro-Israel groups across North America and Europe have been pushing to list Samidoun as a “terrorist” group for years.

But the organisation came under renewed scrutiny in recent months during mass protests in Canada, the US and elsewhere against Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip, which has killed more than 42,200 Palestinians in the besieged enclave since early October 2023.

Just weeks into the Israeli military’s bombardment of Gaza late last year, Germany – a staunch ally of Israel – banned Samidoun after it said the group disseminated “anti-Israel and anti-Jewish propaganda” and “glorified” the Palestinian group Hamas.

In a statement at that time, Samidoun rejected the German ban as an attempt “to repress dissent with the full force of the state”.

“This attack should be of serious concern to all who carry out political work, especially for Palestinian liberation,” the group said.

On Tuesday, the US also designated a Canadian citizen it said serves as a member of the PFLP’s leadership abroad and helps raise money for the group.

The US sanctions freeze the targeted individual’s and organisation’s assets in the country and prevent any US citizens or entities from doing business with them.