Statement from the Clarity Coalition on the Recent Sanctions and Ban on Samidoun
The Clarity Coalition applauds the joint decision by the United States and Canada to designate the Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network as a front for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, or PFLP.
The government of Canada listed Samidoun as a “terrorist entity,” and the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned the group, designating it a “sham charity” that provides cover for the PFLP, a designated terrorist group under U.S. law.
The joint U.S.-Canada action follows bans or terror designations of Samidoun in Israel, the Netherlands and Germany. These latest designations underscore the urgent need to confront organizations that pose a direct threat to global security and democracy.
The PFLP, which took part in the October 7 slaughter and kidnapping of Israelis and others, is a Marxist terror group which boasts of close ties with the regimes of Iran and China.
Khaled Barakat, a senior Samidoun official, is also a senior PFLP leader and self-described Marxist. He has publicly acknowledged Samidoun’s ties to the PFLP. Under his leadership, Samidoun has consistently promoted violence, the incitement of hatred, antisemitism and anti-West propaganda, and it has glorified terrorism under the guise of advocating for Palestinian prisoners.
Samidoun promotes a dangerous ideology that converges with other anti-Western and Islamist movements in an intersection commonly referred to as the “red-green alliance.”
The U.S. decision to sanction Samidoun is a significant step in curbing its ability to raise funds for terror or recruit supporters, especially on college campuses and in public demonstrations in major cities across North America.
However, Samidoun is not the only terror proxy on European and North American soil. Supporters, officials and charitable and activist fronts for the designated terrorist organizations Hamas and Hezbollah continue to operate with near impunity throughout much of the West. The Clarity Coalition urges legislators, political leaders, law enforcement agencies and regulators to enforce the law consistently by designating and sanctioning these proxies as well.
As Clarity Coalition members have regularly warned, these terror enablers include charities that openly sign contracts with Hamas leadership while receiving money from Western taxpayers. There is a great deal of work left to do.
CLARITy (Champions for Liberty Against the Reality of Islamist Tyranny) is a global coalition founded by Muslims, ex-Muslims, academics, scholars, authors, and activists who stand for peace, democracy, liberty, and secular governance and who are deeply concerned by the continuing threat posed to these values by the actions and demands of Islamists in various places around the world. Find us on the web at claritycoalition.org and on X @CLARITyCoaltion.
