Introduction

Masar Badil – an organization operating in the network of groups linked to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a US- and EU-designated terrorist organization – is raising funds via PayPal. Under the heading of the Palestinian Alternative Revolutionary Path Movement, the officials describe the group as “a radical popular political movement,” operating as “a framework and a popular resistance movement confronting Zionist colonialism and the project of liquidation and surrender.”

In April 2019 and June 2020, Paypal denied services to two of Masar Badil’s founding member–NGOs, Samidoun and Collectif Palestine Vaincra (CPV, Samidoun’s French chapter) respectively, due to their PFLP-links. In February 2021, Israel designated Samidoun as a terrorist organization, accusing it of serving as a branch of the US and EU-designated terrorist organization, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).

Masar Badil’s ties to Samidoun

Launched in October-November 2021, the close relationship between Masar Badil and Samidoun manifests in multiple ways:

Founding member of Masar Badil

As noted above, Samidoun and CPV are listed as founding members of Masar Badil, alongside other pro-Palestinian organizations. According to Masar Badil, “we are honored by the participation of the Samidoun Network as one of the fundamental pillars in organizing the Alternative Palestinian Path conference” (the gathering that officially launched Masar Badil).

Shared leadership

Masar Badil leadership is drawn from Samidoun’s, several of whom have links to the PFLP:

  1. Khaled Barakat – Identified by Masar Badil as an “Executive Committee member” and by Samidoun as one of Masar Badil’s “founders,” Barakat is described by the Israeli Ministry of Defense as “a senior member of the PFLP” and “the chief coordinator of Samidoun.”

In a November 1, 2022, article titled “The Masar Badil and the international popular incubator of resistance,” Barakat lists “the Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, [and] the Collectif Palestine Vaincra” as being among “the solid core and key allies of the Masar Badil movement.”

  1. Mohammed Khatib – Identified by Samidoun as its “Europe coordinator” and a “member of the central follow-up committee of the Masar Badil.” Khatib was the primary speaker at a Masar Badil-organized “March for Return and Liberation” outside the European Parliament, on October 29, 2022. See Khatib’s links to the PFLP in the following section
  2. Zaid Abdulnasser – Identified by Samidoun as the “Samidoun Germany coordinator” and identified by CPV as “Masar Badil’s Executive Committee member.”

According to an interview with Abdulnasser conducted by a German website and republished by Samidoun on September 18, 2023, his residency permit in Germany is under review: “I received a letter from the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees: ‘Due to a communication from the State of Berlin, according to which you are an activist of Samidoun and Masar Badil… a withdrawal procedure has been initiated regarding the protection you were granted by the Federal Office… the Federal Office has weighed the public interest in the withdrawal against the individual’s private interests’” (emphasis added).

Fundraising

Masar Badil has solicited donations through Samidoun. For instance, Masar Badil’s webpage promoting its October 29, 2022 “March of Return and Liberation for Palestine” event directed supporters to donate via Samidoun.

Joint events

  1. An October 2022 Masar Badil-organized event in Brussels – endorsed by Samidoun and CPV et al – reportedly featured “Pro-Palestinian activists marched across Brussels shouting violent slogans, wearing terrorist organization headbands and carrying posters glorifying terrorist figures.”

CPV’s Facebook post featuring Masar Badil-organized “March for Return and Liberation” outside the European Parliament (October 2022)

During his speech at the event, Mohammed Khatib (see above) declared, “Defeating Israel means defeating the US. Defeating Israel means defeating Canada, these settlements that exist on the backs of the Indigenous people and Black people. Defeating Israel means defeating this colonial institution [the European Union parliament], means payback for all Africans, Algerians, Moroccans, Sahraoui, second and third generations who are in Brussels. We’ve built this city and we still face fascism and racism.”

  1. On April 8, 2022, Samidoun and Masar Badil were listed as co–organizers of a public event “in defense of Palestine and Al-Aqsa” in Berlin, during which demonstrators chanted “Death to the Jews, death to Israel!” Subsequently, on April 13 2023, Berlin authorities banned a planned Samidoun demonstration; according to the Berlin newspaper BZ, the ban was “on the grounds that it could lead to inflammatory or anti-Semitic calls, glorification of violence or acts of violence. The Administrative Court and the Higher Administrative Court had confirmed the ban in summary proceedings.”
  2. Masar Badil, Samidoun, and CPV are organizing “a series of events, political and popular activities,” in Toulouse (France) on October 19-22, 2023, “in support of the Palestinian resistance, and the prisoners’ movement in the prisons” to mark the second anniversary of its founding. The four-day event is hosted by Toulouse-based CPV. It will culminate with a march to the prison of the city of Lannemezan (France) “for the liberation” of convicted terrorist Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, who is serving a life sentence for “complicity in the assassinations” of two diplomats.

Masar Badil/Samidoun leadership – ties to PFLP and support for terrorist organizations and “armed resistance”

Khaled Barakat –As noted above, the Israeli Ministry of Defense identifies Barakat as “a senior member of the PFLP.”

  • A May 2016 PFLP statement describes how he – and Samidoun officials Charlotte Kates and Mohammed Khatib – represented the terrorist organization in a meeting with the South African deputy Ambassador to the European Union.
  • In 2019, the German Interior Ministry rejected Barakat’s application for an extension of his residency and imposed a four-year ban on his entry into the country. This owed “specifically to what the German Interior Ministry called Barakat’s proclivity for violent, antisemetic rhetoric.”
  • In March 2022, the Berlin Administrative Court (VG Berlin) rejected his appeal, finding that Barakat is “at least close to the PFLP” and that he “repeatedly participated in activities of the PFLP in Germany and/or appeared publicly under the PFLP label.” The court also noted Barakat’s “support for a terrorist organization is a case of endangering public safety according to the definition in Section 54 (1) no. 2 of the Residence Act,” and “The connection between the plaintiff’s position on the PFLP…and his statements on the armed resistance refutes the…claim that the plaintiff only identifies with individual humanitarian/political goals of the PFLP.”

In a November 1, 2022, article Barakat describes the relationship that should exist between “the armed resistance” and the “popular international incubator,” [Masar Badil and its allies] urging “the resistance” to provide “a greater clarity in its vision of the strategic relationship with the liberation movements.”

Mohammed Khatib – Was a member of the 2016 PFLP delegation that met with the South African deputy Ambassador to the European Union (see above).

Zaid Abdulnasser – As noted above, he reported that he received a 2023 letter from German authorities threatening his residency status because he is “an activist of Samidoun and Masar Badil” (see above).

On September 5, 2023, in an interview published on Masar Badil’s website, Abdulnasser declared:

  • “Through its grassroots work, the movement [Masar Badil] aims to…express unconditional support for Palestinian resistance.”
  • “We in Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network acknowledge that the most direct, secure, and expedient way to liberate prisoners is through armed resistance.”
  • “In our movement, we see that our role as complementary to the [armed] resistance in Palestine.”
  • “Our movement also values the vanguard role of the Islamic resistance [Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad] in confronting the Zionist enemy’s attacks on our people and holy sites, defending the dignity and rights of our people wherever they are, and continuing the national liberation struggle which has never ceased, from the British occupation of our land until today.”

Conclusion – Samidoun leaders using Masar Badil as an alternative identity

As discussed through this report, Masar Badil has clear and visible links, on both the organizational level and through its leadership, with Samidoun and the PFLP terror group. While Samidoun does not hide the considerable overlap and cooperation, Masar Badil has taken conspicuous steps to hide or deny any organizational affiliation. On June 16, 2023, both the PFLP and Masar Badil issued statements denying the links, although the Masar Badil statement ironically lauded its “comrades in the Popular Front” as “an advanced revolutionary movement.”

The formation of Masar Badil may reflect Samidoun-PFLP dynamics. Since 2019, governments, law enforcement, and financial institutions have taken steps against Samidoun due to its myriad ties to the PFLP (see Appendix A). Reportedly in response, Khaled Barakat “was reprimanded by his PFLP comrades for insufficiently distancing the PFLP from Samidoun” (emphasized added).

In conclusion, the evidence indicates that Masar Badil is a complementary platform for Samidoun and PFLP activists, designed to advance the same agenda, but under a different label.

 

Appendix A: Governments and financial institutions act against Samidoun

Israel designation of Samidoun

In February 2021, Israel designated Samidoun as a terrorist organization. According to the Israeli Ministry of Defense, the NGO “acts on the PFLP’s behalf abroad” and “plays a leading and significant role in the PFLP’s anti-Israel propaganda efforts, fundraising, and recruiting activists. These activities compliment the armed and violent terrorist struggle that the PFLP engages in against Israel.”

The designation order indicates that “the leadership of Samidoun belongs to the PFLP, some of them are senior members of the PFLP and are even members of the PFLP’s central committee,” and that “the chief coordinator of Samidoun is Khaled Barakat. Barakat is a senior member of the PFLP.”

Israel’s designation of Samidoun also lists CPV’s website, as well as its Twitter and Facebook accounts as related to the NGO.

The French government outlawed CPV

In a February 2022 official note, France, which then held the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, published “Combating the threat posed by actors contributing to radicalisation leading to terrorism,” and accused Collectif Palestine Vaincra, Samidoun’s French chapter, of “play[ing] a key role in the dissemination of such [radical] ideologies and in the subsequent radicalisation.

Subsequently, on March 9, 2022 the French government outlawed Collectif Palestine Vaincra. The decree of dissolution referenced clauses 6 and 7 of Article L. 212-1 of the Internal Security Code, which permits dissolving groups that:

  • Provoke discrimination, hatred or violence towards people because of their ethnicity, nationality, race, or religion, and/or are found to propagate ideas or theories which justify or encourage such discrimination, hatred or violence (clause 6).
  • Engage in acts that provoke terrorism (clause 7).

On April 22, 2022, the French State Council suspended the decree, pending an appeal by the NGO.

CPV acknowledges its partnership with the PFLP terror group. In 2019, the PFLP praised the establishment of CPV and “reaffirmed that it is in coordination, meeting and direct contact with the comrades of the Collectif Palestine Vaincra” (emphasis added).

Germany sanctions Samidoun and Masar Badil leaders and bans their demonstrations

Samidoun and Masar Badil leaders are under the scrutiny of German Federal authorities. In 2019, the German Interior Ministry imposed a four-year ban against Masar Badil’s “founder” and Samidoun’s chief coordinator Khaled Barakat. As reported by Samidoun, another Masar Badil/Samidoun leader, Zaid Abdulnasser, faces revocation of his residency permit in Germany.

Additionally, on April 13, 2023, Berlin authorities banned a Samidoun rally. According to the Berlin newspaper BZ, German police banned a planned Samidoun-organized “demonstration on the grounds that it could lead to inflammatory or anti-Semitic calls, glorification of violence or acts of violence. The Administrative Court and the Higher Administrative Court had confirmed the ban in summary proceedings.” This ban followed an April 8, 2022 rally in Berlin organized by Samidoun and Masar Badil during which demonstrators chanted “Death to the Jews, death to Israel!” (emphasis added).

PayPal denies services to Samidoun

As noted above, in April 2019 and June 2020 respectively, Paypal denied services to Samidoun and CPV, due to their PFLP-links.

A January 2023 reporting by the Washington Examiner – based on NGO Monitor research – focused on the fiscal-sponsorship of Samidoun by US-based charity Alliance for Global Justice (AFGJ), as well as a AFGJ fundraising for CPV.

As a result, in February 2023, AFGJ the lost the ability to raise funds online via Salsa Labs, and in September 2023, online processing firm Stripe stopped processing online donations for AFGJ.