November 5, 2024
A group called Samidoun: Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, an international nonprofit that posed as a Palestinian rights charity, has been simultaneously funding an anti-Israel terror group and supporting the pro-Hamas protests that have rocked college campuses over the past year.
In October, the group was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department and the Canadian government for raising money for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) — a decades-old internationally designated terrorist organization involved in Hamas' October 7 massacre of Israelis.
This group which describes itself as a "Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network" advocating for the rights of Palestinian prisoners, was cofounded in 2011 by American Charlotte Kates and her husband Palestinian-Canadian Khaled Barakat, a PFLP member also sanctioned by the Treasury Department. Kates was arrested in April 2024 in Canada for glorifying the October 7 massacre, and recently traveled to Iran in August to accept a “human rights award” from the Iranian regime.
Here are seven things you need to know about Samidoun, the group that both fundraised for an anti-Israel terror group and helped mobilize protests on American college campuses after the October 7 terror attacks.
What is the PFLP, and what was its role in the October 7 terror attacks?
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which Samidoun helped fund, is an anti-Israel terrorist group. The PFLP is designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S., Canada, Japan, and the European Union.
Members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine terror group stormed outposts and watchtowers of the Israeli Defense Forces during the Hamas-led October 7 massacre, according to video evidence shared by the PFLP. It has since fought alongside Hamas and other terror organizations inside Gaza.
But PFLP’s terrorist activities started long before October 7. Founded in 1967, the group has never recognized Israel’s right to exist. In the late 1960s and early ’70s, it gained notoriety for a series of airplane hijackings, including TWA Flight 840 in 1969 and another in 1970, led by member Leila Khaled. Khaled, now a frequently invited speaker on college campuses, was released from prison in a hostage exchange after her second hijacking attempt.
In 1976, the PFLP partnered with a West German terror group to hijack an Air France flight, diverting it to Entebbe, Uganda. They assassinated Israeli Tourism Minister Rehavam Ze’evi in 2001, murdered the Fogel family in 2011, carried out the 2014 Jerusalem synagogue massacre, and killed 17-year-old Rina Shnerb in 2019.
What is the connection between Samidoun and PFLP?
According to the U.S. and Canada, Samidoun is a “sham charity that serves as an international fundraiser for the PFLP” and has been involved in promoting its ideology and activities internationally. The PFLP, which is recognized as a terrorist organization by the U.S., Canada, Japan, and the European Union, has been reported to have active members working within Samidoun, leveraging it as a network to raise support and awareness for PFLP-aligned causes.
In 2021, Israel designated Samidoun as an official PFLP affiliate, citing its role in advancing PFLP's objectives abroad and organizing support for PFLP members, particularly those imprisoned.
What are Samidoun’s ties with anti-Israel campus organizations?
Even before October 7, Samidoun, which means “steadfast” in Arabic, has been linked to anti-Israel campaigns on U.S. college campuses, often collaborating with groups like Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), and Within Our Lifetime (WOL). These groups share goals and tactics, such as promoting the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel.
This association has sparked concerns about campus radicalization, as Samidoun's endorsement of figures linked to the PFLP and convicted terrorists served to legitimize extremist pro-terrorist views under the purported cover of human rights advocacy.
Samidoun has been involved in campus events organized by pro-Palestinian groups, sharing platforms with student activists and sometimes training them in protest techniques and organizing, such as its involvement in the pro-Hamas, anti-Israel encampments at Columbia University in the spring of 2024.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Samidoun organized a “Resistance 101” training for Columbia students in late March 2024 ahead of the encampments, where they were told by Samidoun co-founder Charlotte Kates, “There is nothing wrong with being a member of Hamas, being a leader of Hamas, being a fighter in Hamas.”
The group has hosted events at universities for several years, where speakers have promoted their stance on Palestinian “resistance” and justified the actions of convicted terrorists. Some campus activities have also included calls for "days of resistance" or support for violence, sparking concern from Jewish and pro-Israel organizations about threats of physical violence against Jews or support of Israel on campus.
Who are Samidoun’s founders, and what have they said about Israel?
Samidoun co-founders Charlotte Kates and Khaled Barakat have a history of glorifying terrorism and, more recently, praising the October 7 Hamas massacre in Israel that killed 1,200 people and took over 250 hostages.
As a 23-year-old Rutgers University law student in 2003, Kates led a pro-Palestinian student group that spearheaded the BDS movement on that campus. As the Second Intifada unfolded at that time, she refused to condemn the suicide bombings targeting Israeli civilians.
She met her husband, Khaled Barakat, a Palestinian-Canadian, during a Palestinian solidarity event in Canada. They have been married for 15 years. Barakat is a senior member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
In response to a hunger strike by Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, the couple established Samidoun in 2011 with the stated purpose of seeking “to achieve justice for Palestinian prisoners” in Israeli detention through demonstrations and other public events.
In April 2024, Kates praised Hamas’ October 7 massacre and called it “heroic and brave,” and chanted, “long live October 7.” She was arrested by Vancouver police who opened an investigation into whether she violated hate crime laws.
In August 2024, Kates traveled to Tehran, to accept the "Eighth Annual Islamic Human Rights And Human Dignity Award," from the Iranian regime alongside Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror leader Ziyad Nakhaleh. Palestinian Islamic Jihad is an Iranian-backed internationally designated terror group committed to Israel’s destruction and helped Hamas carry out the October 7 massacre.
Where is Samidoun active?
Since its establishment in 2011, Samidoun has started chapters and affiliates in the U.S., Canada, Germany, Britain, France, Sweden, the Netherlands, Belgium, Greece, Spain, the Palestinian territories, Lebanon, and Iran.
Samidoun spreads its views on social media, including the English-language Telegram channel Resistance News Network (RNN), a hotbed of anti-Zionist and pro-Hamas propaganda, and its demonstrations have taken over city sidewalks streets and college campuses.
After demonstrations in Berlin in 2019, Germany deported Kates and Barakat and barred them from returning to the European Union for four years. In October 2023, Germany banned Samidoun's operations, following the October 7 Hamas massacre.
But in addition to celebrating the atrocities committed on October 7, Samidoun also denies them – criticizing the traveling Nova Exhibit that commemorates the massacre of festival goers that day as “false,” “disinformation,” and “debunked.”
What is the impact of being designated as a terrorist entity?
By designating a group as a terrorist entity, it becomes a crime to provide them with material support. Such designations aim to curb support for terrorist activities and to encourage groups to distance themselves from terrorists.
Terrorist designations help by raising public awareness, so groups don’t receive misguided donations or support. It also helps law enforcement agencies investigate terrorist organizations and signals concern to other governments that the U.S. is concerned, and they should be too.
