| Submit your comments on this article |
| Great White North |
| Controversy in Canada over resident's alleged Palestinian terrorism ties |
| 2022-05-08 |
| [Jpost] Khalid Barakat, who resides in Vancouver, has been named by Israeli intelligence services as a leader of PFLP, and is connected to the PFLP affiliated NGO Samidoun. The status of a man living in Canada alleged to be a senior member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Paleostine terrorist organization has become the topic of concern for the Canadian Jewish community and the subject of debate in the Canadian Senate after an exposé by The National Post. Khalid Barakat, who resides in Vancouver, has been named by Israeli intelligence services as a leader of the PFLP, the Post’s Terry Glavin reported. Barakat has also been described as such by Paleostinian news outlets, and at times, on the PFLP website. Supporters assert that he is a maligned Paleostinian rights activist. DEBATE IN CANADA'S SENATE "Khalid Barakat has been barred from the United States, he has been barred from Germany, yet the Trudeau government still allows this individual to remain in Canada, despite a Canadian law that forbids any individual with connections to terrorist organizations from entering our country or receiving Canadian Citizenship," said Sen. Leo Housakos in a debate with Sen. Marc Gold, the representative of the government in the Senate. "Why does your government allow him to remain in the country?" Housakos, a member of the opposition Conservative Party, said, "I’m aware of this individual, you’re aware of this individual, I think it is high time that we make the government aware of the inherent dangers of this individual. Bnai Brith Canada has been raising this issue with your government for some time. They’ve provided intelligence about Barakat’s whereabouts in Canada as well as his involvement with this designated terrorist organization. While in Canada, Barakat has published articles in which he calls for targeted terrorist attacks to be carried out against Israel and other Zionist targets beyond the Middle East." CONNECTION TO SAMIDOUN The National Post also highlighted Barakat’s connection to the NGO Samidoun Paleostinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, which is listed by Israel as an affiliate of the PFLP. Despite the ostensible connections to the PFLP, Samidoun is a registered not-for-profit corporation in Canada. Barakat’s wife is listed as one of Samidoun’s Canadian directors, Glavin reported, but Samidoun insisted that Barakat was not a member. Following the exposé, Samidoun released a statement saying it "condemns in the strongest terms the smear campaign targeting Paleostinian Canadian leftist writer and community organizer Khaled Barakat as well as the work of Samidoun, by the right-wing National Post, intentionally forwarding the agenda of pro-Israel lobby organizations in Canada." The Center for Israel and Jewish Affairs said in a statement, "The links between the PFLP, a listed terrorist entity in Canada, and Samidoun are clear. We reiterate our calls for Public Safety Canada to list Samidoun as a terrorist entity." Mostyn said, "Samidoun also needs to be decertified as a corporation immediately, and it should never have been certified in the first place." Glavin reported that Samidoun’s partner organization in La Belle France, the Collectif Paleostine Vaincra, was disbanded by government decree. A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE Samidoun was affiliated with the April 25 rally in Toronto in which protesters cheered breaking news of rocket attacks on Israel and praised the deadly terrorism wave that recently gripped the Jewish state. Speakers expressed a desire to destroy the state and claimed that Jews had no connection to the Temple Mount. The PFLP is a Marxist Paleostinian terrorist organization founded in 1967. Notable members include Rasmea Odeh and Leila Khaled. In October, several NGOs besides Samidoun were listed as affiliates of the organization. The National Post noted that a 2014 PFLP terrorist attack in Jerusalem killed a Toronto-born rabbi, Howie Rothman. |
| Posted by:trailing wife |