The government of Canada has designated the pro-Palestinian group Samidoun┬аas┬аa terrorist entity in a joint action with the U.S., both governments announced Tuesday.
Samidoun,┬аalso known as the Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, has close links with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), both governments said in announcing the move.
The PFLP is a listed terrorist entity in Canada, the U.S. and the European Union.
“Violent extremism, acts of terrorism or terrorist financing have no place in Canadian society or abroad,” Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc said in a news release. He added the listing “sends a strong message that Canada will not tolerate this type of activity.”
The U.S. Treasury Department has listed Samidoun as a “Specially Designated Global Terrorist.” In its┬аstatement, the department said it’s declaring Samidoun┬а“a sham charity” that serves as an international fundraiser for the PFLP.
Last week, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre urged the Canadian┬аgovernment to “ban” Samidoun.
Those calls came on the heels of a Samidoun-organized protest in Vancouver on the┬аone-year anniversary of Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel. The attack killed┬аabout 1,200 people and triggered an Israeli counteroffensive that has left about 41,000 dead in Gaza.
In videos of the protest circulated online,┬аan┬аunidentified masked woman led a crowd of hundreds in chants of “death to Canada, death to the United States and death to Israel,” while some in the group burned Canadian flags.
CBC News has not independently verified the videos posted online of the rally, but a CBC journalist who passed by the rally said they clearly heard a speaker chant, “death to Canada, death to the United States.”
Earlier this year, Samidoun’s┬аinternational co-ordinator┬аCharlotte Kates┬аwas arrested in a Vancouver hate-crime investigation after she praised┬аthe Oct. 7 attack┬аas “heroic and brave.” Samidoun┬аalso posted a statement that called the┬аattack┬а“a legitimate military operation.”
Canada’s listing of Samidoun as a terrorist entity under the Criminal Code means certain actions related to the group are now illegal, including activities related to financing, travel and recruitment.
