Speaker At Samidoun Vancouver Event: Western Countries Are Desperate To Paint Operation Al-Aqsa As Some Barbaric Assault, Propagating Outrageous Lies; Armed Struggle Is Indivisible From The Palestinian Revolution; We Stand With The Heroic Resistance! Former PFLP Official Barakat: Asking Us To Live Side By Side With Israel Is Asking Us To Live Next To A Monster; Zionism Was Born In Europe And America And Must Die There; Long Live October 7th!

In a May 8, 2024 Vancouver panel discussion on the "Right to Resist" following the arrest of Samidoun international coordinator Charlotte Kates, Kates's husband, former PFLP official Khaled Barakat said that the only way for the Palestinians to liberate themselves is through armed struggle. He echoed the statement that led to Kates's arrest, saying: "No more two-state solutions. Palestine will be free from the River to the Sea, and long live October 7!"

One of the panelists, who was introduced as a Canadian Samidoun activist, read the Samidoun official statement in support of Charlotte Kates following her arrest. The statement lauded the October 7 "Al-Aqsa Flood Operation" as heroic and momentous and called for the removal of Palestinian and Arab "resistance movements" from the terror list. It concluded: "Long live October 7! Long live the Palestinian Resistance! Long live international solidarity!" In a portion of his talk prior to reading out the statement, which is not included in the clip, he shared an anecdote in which an activist was moved to donate money for the U.S. terror designated group PFLP after hearing a speech by Charlotte Kates.

Charlotte Kates was arrested and investigated with hate crimes following her April 27 speech, in which she praised U.S. designated terrorist groups such as Hamas, Hizbullah, and the PFLP and stated: "Long live October 7!"

Khaled Barakat is a member of the executive committee of Masar Badil, Palestinian Alternative Revolutionary Path Movement. Other participants in the event were Suzanne Adely, president of the National Lawyers Guild in the United States, Hanna Kawas, chair of the Canada Palestine Association. The event was moderated by David Diewert of Samidoun Canada. For more about Samidoun, see Special Dispatch No. 11374.

Canadian Samidoun Activist: "The threat that the Palestinian resistance and the Palestinian liberation struggle pose to US led imperialism including Canada is long recognized by the ruling classes of the imperialist countries which is why all factions of the Palestinian resistance are included on the Canadian, European, and US so called terrorist lists.

"That is also why political establishments and their mainstream media instruments in countries like the United States, Canada, and Germany, the United Kingdom, France, and the Netherlands are so desperate to paint Operation Al Aqsa Flood as some kind of barbaric assault, beyond the pale of legitimate resistance and why they continue to produce, disseminate and propagate outrageous lies and atrocity propaganda about October 7th.

"What they can't admit is that the Palestinian resistance in Gaza, even in the face of the criminal siege, the campaign of assassinations, the periodic bombings and massacres, were able to mount a brilliant and heroic counterattack to defeat the occupiers, break the siege, and take prisoners for exchange for the thousands of Palestinians held in Israeli jails.

"Armed struggle is an indivisible and indispensable component of the Palestinian revolution. Dividing Palestinians from this aspect of the national liberation struggle and steering the solidarity movement away from understanding and supporting armed struggle is a key strategic objective of Zionism and imperialism.

"This is the moment in which we all must fight back by raising our voices in support of the Palestinian armed resistance including the heroic and momentous operation Al-Aqsa Flood, launched on October 7th, and by calling for the removal of the Palestinian and Arab resistance movements from the so-called terrorist lists.

"We stand together with Charlotte Kates and all those targeted for repression and we stand together with the heroic resistance. From the River to the Sea Palestine will be free. Long live October 7th! Long live the Palestinian resistance! Long live international solidarity!"

Khaled Barakat:"The only way for the Palestinians to liberate themselves and their enemies is through armed struggle. We wish there were other alternatives. If you know one, tell us. If you know a path that can lead us to our liberation, please tell us. That is what we tell the world every day.

"Those who are asking us to live side by side with Israel are asking us to live next to a monster. This Zionist, rotten, racist movement called Zionism we need together to fight this movement and to end that movement. It was born in Europe and North America, and it has to die in Europe and North America. No more two-state solutions. Palestine will be free from the River to the Sea and long live October 7th!"