LEGAL & ANTI-REPRESSION COSTS FOR QUEER PALESTINIAN ACTIVIST

We are a group of friends, comrades, and community organizers coming together to raise funds for our friend, Sam, who has been wrongfully incarcerated in the Netherlands.

Sam, a queer Palestinian artist and activist, has been targeted by the oppressive Dutch regime. Sam was recently snatched from a protest by undercover police and wrongfully imprisoned.

On the 13th of May, during a protest raising awareness for the ongoing genocide in Gaza, a unit of undercover police jumped our friend and violently tackled him to the ground. They proceeded to punch and kick him, forcing him inside a van.​​​​​ After the violent arrest, it took nearly 24 hours before Sam was allowed to speak to a state-assigned lawyer. Despite the hourly attempts from friends and family, the lawyer was completely unreachable by phone.

For nearly 72 hours of his initial detainment, his friends and loved-ones had no idea where Sam was, as he was not allowed to contact anyone from jail. During this time, Sam was abused to such an extent that he had to appear before the Rechter Commissaris for a rapid trial on May 16 in a wheelchair. After the rapid trial, he was declared a public danger ad taken to administrative detention for 2 weeks to await his trial. There he was left in isolation and was denied access to basic human necessities and proper medical care. On May 29th during his court case, he was charged and will prospectively be incarcerated for 1.5 more months.

Since the moment of arrest, Sam's rights as a detainee have been consistently disrupted or denied. With the bureaucratic systems working against detainees, 10 days have passed until Sam was allowed access to any money sent to him. His loved ones brought him clothes, books and letters but all were witheld or rejected. Constant humiliation, threats and forced isolation are amongst the dehumanizing tactics used against him. Despite these attempts to break his activist spirit, in his first talk with friends over the phone, Sam powerfully proclaimed: "Free Palestine!"

Sam is an honoured member of many local communities, and is respected by all who witness his love and hospitality. Born a displaced Palestinian, he sought protection in the Netherlands as a member of the LGBTQ community. He arrived ​​​with the hopes of finding love, joy and fullfillment in Netherlands, a supposedly queer friendly and multicultured country. He is a prominent member of LGBT Asylum Support, preparing fundraisers and petitioning signatures to advocate for the rights of gay asylum seekers in the Netherlands. Holding a degree in International Law and Political Science, he works on queer rights and has been invited to lecture at the Vrije Universiteit. 

Since the escalation of "Israel"s genocide on Gaza, the savage treatment of Palestinian protestors in Netherlands has been blatant. Police surveillance and violence disproportionately increased towards the demonstrations calling for an end to the oppression of Palestinians, including the recent crackdowns at UvA student encampments. Demonstrator report that the police, in cooperation with the IND, have been targeting individuals with immigration background, singling out and snatching Arab-presenting or otherwise marginalised men from protests. 

Palestinian political prisoners in occupied Palestine and around the world are subjected to unfair prosecutions, surveillance and torture. Sam's situation is a case in point. In court on May 29, Sam described his time since the arrest as unimaginable physical and mental torture, uncompareable to anything he has experienced before. The court based Sam's conviction substantially on police statements and dismissed Sam's testimony regarding the inhumane treatment during and flowing the arrest. The accusations that convicted Sam were made by the same law enforcement that inflicted violence and abuse on him. The judge has decided this will suffice to strip away the freedom of a man and to further mentally and physically torture him. 

Sam has been subjected to maltreatment that follows from the racial bias of the police and the judge. Through years of dehumanisation and criminalisation of Arab-presenting men, they make the effort to deem him as somehow 'dangerous', on the sole basis of physical apperance and body posture. Evidently in the Netherlands racial profiling is a form of direct discriminination and unconstitutional. Sam's case is alarming for all human rights groups that reject the criminalisation of activists. 

Therefore, we are asking our communities to help raise funds to cover the legal costs of Sam's lawyers--both criminal and immigration--to help us fuel this fight and appeal in the court system, for Sam and for all political prisoners and queer asylum seekers in similar positions. All funds collected will go towards lawyer bills, medical costs, call fees, and commissary charges.

Thank you from our hearts, for helping us get Sam free.