The US and Canada have called The Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network a “sham charity” and declared that anyone doing business with or donating to the group could face criminal charges.

Samidoun (meaning steadfast in Arabic) was formed in support of the 2011 hunger strike by Palestinians in Israeli prisons. At the time, there were fewer than 5,000 in indefinite “administrative detention” - effectively in limbo and held without charge.

Now, according to the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem, there are about 9,500 such prisoners. And for researchers and activists, Samidoun has been a resource in the campaigns to free these detainees.

Samidoun’s website describes the group as “an international network of organizers and activists working to build solidarity with Palestinian prisoners in their struggle for freedom”.

In 2022, the US State Department cited Samidoun as a source in its annual human rights report for the West Bank and Gaza. That report is still available on the site.

The group has long expressed public support for armed resistance in occupied Palestinian territories - a stance which has been dramatically amplified since Israel’s war on Gaza following the 7 October attacks on southern Israel.

#world