Anniversary of the suspension of the dissolution of the Comité Action Palestine (Palestine Action Committee)

April 29, 2023

A year ago, on April 29, 2022, a decision by the Council of State suspended the decree dissolving the Palestine Action Committee, signed on March 9, 2022 by President Emmanuel Macron. It was a historic victory.

Under the article L212-1 of the internal security code, the State pulled out the club in order to banish the Comité Action Palestine from all associative and militant life. It considered, with big lies in support, that Comité Action Palestine, under the guise of anti-Zionism, “ incitait à la haine, à la discrimination et à la violence contre un groupe de personnes en raison de leur religion “ (« incited hatred, discrimination and violence against a group of people because of their religion »), by one word, to anti-Semitism.

To load the mule, it also did not hesitate to accuse us of “soutien et d’incitation au terrorisme sur le territoire et à l’étranger” (“supporting and inciting terrorism at home and abroad”) because we unconditionally support the legitimate resistance of the Palestinian people. Faced with these heavy accusations, invented and badly cobbled together, the game was not won for the Comité Action Palestine.Yet thanks to the appeal filed with the Council of State, the decree of dissolution was suspended sine die.

Contrary to the complaints of the Ministry of the Interior, the Council of State considered that the dissolution of the association was a serious violation of the freedom of expression and association. The line of defense was clear. The association denounced the lies and manipulations of the government and at no time did it deny its political principles of support for the Palestinian people. In the appeal we filed and during the hearing before the Council of State, our association spoke loud and clear about the demands of the Palestinian people and their main organizations. It made a point of specifying, in accordance with its Charter, that the Comité Action Palestine supports the resistance of the Palestinian people in all its forms and recalled the non-negotiable principle of the sovereignty of peoples. Thus the French government got a historic slap in the face by this Council of State’s decision.

While the decrees of dissolution or threats of dissolution are on the rise, attacks on freedom of expression are daily, and any form of protest is violently repressed by the government, this victory is not only ours, but also and above all, that of all sincere militants. It shows that it is crucial not to be intimidated and to continue the fight at all costs!

Long live Palestine, long live the Palestinian people!