Back in March, my friends and I traveled to Victoria and we came up with a game, while strolling the streets. Looking at passersby or cafe visitors we would try to guess: “For us, or against us?”. We heavily relied on stereotypes (for example, purple hair) when taking a guess, and often fell back to a neutral “they don’t care” option. The most annoying part was never being certain if our guess was correct.
Last week, however, the young couple crossing the road right in front of my car not far from the intersection of 1st Avenue and Commercial, left no doubt. A tall, slim, long-haired girl wearing a white T-shirt and denim shorts with fringes; I didn’t get a good look at the young man accompanying her, but I noticed an elegant tattoo on the back of her arm.
My friend rolled down the car window and asked them, “Is there some sort of an event?”
“Yes,” said the girl and waved her hand towards the church building.
“What kind of event is that?”
“It is a teach-in,” explained the girl, “about Palestinian prisoners.”
The name of the “Palestinian prisoner” they gathered to commemorate was Walid Daqqa. He passed away a few weeks ago after serving over thirty years in an Israeli prison. During his time behind bars, he completed his Bachelors and Masters in political sciences, wrote a few books, got married, and even had a child. All of these are things that Moshe Tamam never got to do.
Moshe Tamam was a 19 years old Israeli soldier who was kidnapped by a group of Arab terrorists led by Walid Daqqa back in 1984. I’ll spare you the details of how exactly Moshe was tortured for several days before being shot to death.
Walid Daqqa was caught and convicted 2 years later. In 2021 he was diagnosed with cancer. Amnesty International visited him a few weeks before his death and, ignoring his diagnosis, declared that he is losing weight because he is being tortured. Maybe they’ve never seen terminal cancer patients before? If you google his name, all you find are titles accusing Israel of imprisoning innocent Palestinians.
So who is honoring and praising convicted terrorists in front of the hipster vancouverite youth? The answer is simple. Just as we thanked the young couple and turned the corner, we saw her, Charlotte Kates in propria persona.
I have previously written about Charlotte Kates and her husband Khaled Barakat – they are leaders of Samidoun, a Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network; prisoners, such as Walid Daqqa, for example. Samidoun is closely affiliated with the PFLP (Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine); Barakat is one of the leader of the PFLP – a terrorist organization responsible for plane hijackings, suicide bombings, and other murderous terror attacks.
PFLP is designated as a terrorist organization in the US, Canada, Japan, and the EU. Samidoun is only designated as a terrorist organization in Israel and Germany. Barakat and Kates were deported from the EU a few years ago. Deported into Canada, where they happily reside in one of the most expensive areas in Vancouver. Samidoun is a registered non-profit in Canada.
Recently, Kates and Barakat spoke via Zoom at a Resistance 101 event at Columbia University. They explained to students that there is nothing wrong with being a member of Hamas, Islamic Jihad, or PFLP (link in comments). I assume that you’ve all seen what’s happening at Columbia these days.
Samidoun is very active in Canada. Their logo is found on all posters of anti-Israel, pro-Hamas demonstrations or actions. They are also the ones advocating for the motion to add “Nakba and occupation” to the school curriculum.
Strangely, very few people know about Samidoun. There isn't even an article about them on Wikipedia. Honestly, I myself only learned about them after October 7th, and although I had seen Kates in videos many times and knew she lived in Vancouver, seeing her in person was unsettling.
She was walking down the street, clumsily swaying, a hefty woman in a ridiculous baggy dress. No, I wasn't expecting the earth to open up and swallow her. But I wouldn't have regretted it if it had.
PFLP and Samidoun: https://mashakleiner.substack.com/p/antisemitism-villans-1-pflp-and-samidoun
Samidoun @ Columbia: https://twitter.com/ShaiDavidai/status/1772104657894101154
Petition to deport Barakat and Kates from Canada: https://www.bnaibrith.ca/petition-deport-charlotte-kates-and-khaled-barakat/
Petition to list Samidoun as a terrorist organization: https://www.cija.ca/add_samidoun_to_the_list_of_terrorist_entities