The Belgian Office of the Commissioner General for Refugees and Stateless Persons (CGRS) has revoked the refugee status of the European head of the pro-Palestine group Samidoun.
Former secretary of state for asylum and migration Nicole De Moor (CD&V) requested a review of Khatib’s refugee status in spring 2024; however, the withdrawal of his status only occurred on Wednesday.
Palestinian national Mohammed Khatib, the European coordinator of Samidoun, has resided in Belgium since 2010 and was granted asylum in 2015. He is registered as a “hate preacher” with the Belgian Coordination Unit for Threat Analysis (CUTA) due to his overt support for Palestinian armed resistance, and his “respect” for Hamas and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), which are both on the list of terrorist organizations in the EU.
Samidoun itself released a statement on Thursday confirming the news, and informing of Khatib’s intention to appeal the decision to the Council for Asylum and Immigration Proceedings.
It referred to the revocation as “the latest development in a comprehensive attack upon the Palestinian population in Belgium.”
“This dangerous development threatens not only Mohammed, but all Palestinians in Belgium who are active and involved in the struggle to end the ongoing Zionist-imperialist genocide in the Gaza Strip.”
It added that CUTA’s designation of Mohammed as a “hate preacher” is “clearly made on racist grounds.”
“Mohammed Khatib is targeted, because he is Palestinian. He is targeted because he supports the resistance on the path to the liberation of Palestine from the river to the sea, because he advocates for the liberation of all Palestinian prisoners, and because he honors the lives and legacy of the martyrs of the Palestinian liberation struggle.”
Samidoun claimed Khatib has a right to this status and to international protection, “as a Palestinian refugee born in Lebanon, stateless, a consequence of the Zionist colonization of Palestine,” and accused Belgium of making a mockery of international law by withdrawing his status.
Belgium moves to ban Samidoun
This comes in the wake of Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever’s announcement that he is seeking to ban Samidoun.
At the end of July – just before the summer recess – De Wever introduced a new bill to ban extremist and radical organizations such as Samidoun and the Muslim Brotherhood.
The bill would permit the prohibition and dissolution of all organizations that “pose a threat to national security or the foundations of the rule of law.”
“The government believes that our liberties and fundamental rights should never be used to undermine the foundations of a free and open society,” De Wever told the Chamber in the recording viewed by The Jerusalem Post.
“Organizations like Samidoun glorify terrorist groups and their atrocities but are careful never to be caught explicitly inciting violence,” he continued. “They exploit our freedoms to spread toxic ideologies without committing criminal offenses that would lead to prosecution.”
Samidoun: Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network was founded in 2012 by members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), which is a designated terrorist group in many places due to its history of massacres, plane hijackings, assassinations, and more.
Two of Samidoun’s leaders, Mustapha Awad and Mohammed Khatib, reside in Belgium.
Khatib told De Standaard in July, “This is not only an attack against us but against the freedom of expression of everyone in Belgium. These ministers seem to serve the Israeli interest rather than that of their own people.”
In a separate statement, Samidoun said, “We will go to the Constitutional Court, we will take to the streets, we will protest, we will appeal to civil society, we will fight this law because it is part of the ongoing war against the Palestinian people.”
De Wever has previously said that no criminal violations have been committed by Samidoun. However, the Belgian branch was met with significant condemnation after it staged an October 7 massacre reenactment on 7 June during its third annual “Resistance Festival” in central Brussels.
Pro-Palestinian activists dressed as Hamas terrorists with masks, keffiyehs, and army fatigues pointing prop guns, while other actors played dead bodies heaped on the floor. The reenactment, accompanied by music and a voice-over about “From the river to the sea,” was met with whoops, cheers, and applause from the audience.
The Jerusalem Post reached out to CGRS for comment.