While this October marks the fortieth anniversary of his incarceration,
a new request for the release of George Ibrahim Abdallah has been filed
by his lawyer and, as every year, a demonstration in Lannemezan (65)
will be organized. A look back at this case and what it sheds light on
our times. ---- Georges Ibrahim Abdallah is a Lebanese communist
activist. In 1979, he participated in the creation of the Lebanese
Revolutionary Armed Fraction (FARL), an organization declaring itself
communist and anti-imperialist, and whose operations he directed in
France. In 1982, the FARL claimed responsibility for the assassination
of Lieutenant Colonel Charles R. Ray, American military attaché in
Paris, and Yacov Barsimentov, second counselor at the Israeli embassy, a
member of the Mossad. "Acts of armed resistance" in response to the
Israeli military aggression in Lebanon supported by the United
States[1]. This is the defense used by Georges Abdallah during his trial.
An imperialist justice
Arrested and imprisoned in 1984, he was only charged with forgery and
use of forgery on March 6, 1985. The American and Israeli authorities
exerted strong pressure to increase his sentence. The discovery of a
weapon used in the assassinations in one of the FARL hideouts led to his
trial by the special assize court for complicity in murder on February
28, 1987. Overwhelmed by the press (in particular by Le Monde under the
pen of a certain Edwy Plenel! who only recently admitted to having been
deceived[2]) the court sentenced him to life imprisonment. In 1987, a
confession book was published in which Jean-Paul Mazurier, Georges
Ibrahim Abdallah's lawyer, said that he was actually working for the
DGSE[3]. However, the validity of the trial was not called into
question. Eligible for release since 1999 under French law, between 2004
and 2020 nine of his requests for conditional release were refused.
On 21 November 2012, the sentencing court issued a favourable opinion on
his request for release, which the sentencing chamber granted by making
it conditional on an expulsion order. Laurent Fabius, Minister of
Foreign Affairs, received a phone call at the time from his American
counterpart Hillary Clinton, who asked him not to release him[4]. Manuel
Valls, then Minister of the Interior, refused to sign the expulsion
order on 14 January 2013. The release decision was annulled in April
2013 by the Court of Cassation. Jacques Vergès, his lawyer, denounced
"the United States government which is opposing an intolerable veto to
his release"[5]. In June 2023, his new lawyer Jean-Louis Chalanset
announced that he was making a new request for release. It will be
studied in a closed hearing on October 7.
What is Georges Ibrahim Abdallah the name of?
Supporting Georges Ibrahim Abdallah also means remembering his fight. He
was a schoolteacher when the Lebanese civil war of 1975-1990 began, in
which France bore significant historical responsibilities. Lebanon was
placed under French mandate from 1920 following the dismemberment of the
Ottoman Empire, until its independence in 1943. France relied on
Maronite Christians as an allied population. From this mandate came the
Lebanese community institutional system where for 30 years the Maronites
dominated the country politically and economically.
This French colonial history meets that of Zionist colonialism, which
saw Palestinian resistance settle in Lebanon, where the number of
Palestinian refugees from the Nakba is very high. The Maronite minority
was then worried about losing its hegemony. Indeed, after years of
significant class struggles, Lebanese far-left groups are connecting
with the Palestinian resistance. This will be the case for Georges, who
first joins the PFLP motivated by the Palestinian cause, then
participates in the guerrilla war in southern Lebanon.
Remembering Georges is remembering this forgotten history but also a
decade, the 80s, which is crucial: it will see the Israeli invasion of
southern Lebanon, during which the Sabra and Chatila massacres will be
committed; but also American and French interference in a key region of
the Mediterranean and the energy resources of the Middle East[6]. The
1980s were also the time of the neoliberal turn of capitalism and the
redeployment of Western imperialism, the two going hand in hand,
participating in anchoring Islamophobia in French society: Gaston
Defferre, Minister of the Interior, would for example tax the immigrant
strikers of Renault-Flins as "fundamentalists, Shiites" in 1983, during
the period when France was fighting the Shiite militias in Lebanon.
Georges' story begins at the beginning of this historical phase of
triumphant Western globalization that is violently coming to an end
today with the ongoing genocide in Gaza. Fighting for his liberation
places the anti-imperialist struggles of yesterday and today in a
continuity.
Freedom for political prisoners
The French and American determination to keep Georges in prison is
indicative of the system of imperialist repression. This is why the
fight for the liberation of political prisoners is a major
anti-colonialist battle, and there are many of them: Mumia Abu Djamal
and Léonard Pelletier in the USA, Ahmed Saadat and Marwan Bargouthi in
Israel, Ocalan in Turkey and so many others. Beyond the natural
solidarity for comrades who are victims of repression, it is about
making the repression against the least of us pay dearly for as long as
it takes.
Let us recall the international campaigns for the release of Angela
Davis, or the "Free Huey" campaign in support of Huey P. Newton of the
Black Panthers Party, where each support committee will allow the
development of the BPP. Each mobilization in favor of prisoners is an
opportunity for political education and to unmask the ferocious nature
of the so-called "rule of law" states!
As a result, this year several initiatives in France took place for
Georges on April 6 in Lannemezan, on June 15 in Lyon. So let's all be
there on October 7 to demand his release!
Nicolas Pasadena (The Anti-Racist Commission)
Validate
[1]"Terrorist" one day, terrorist always?», Pierre Carles in Le Monde
diplomatique, August 1, 2020.
[2]The last secrets of the George Ibrahim Abdallah affair, France inter,
June 22, 2024.
[3]The black agent, a mole in the Abdallah affair, Laurent Gally, Robert
Laffont edition.
[4]«Release of Georges Ibrahim Abdallah: how Clinton tried to put
pressure on Fabius», Arrêt sur images, January 20, 2016.
[5]«Judicial harassment against Mr. Georges Ibrahim Abdallah: An
expiatory political prisoner», Le Monde diplomatique, May 2012.
[6]It was during this murderous 15-year war that the Phalangists,
Maronite fascist militias, committed atrocities such as those of Sabra
and Chatilla, under the eye of the IDF
https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Georges-Ibrahim-Abdallah-40-ans-d-acharnement-judiciaire-et-politique
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
a new request for the release of George Ibrahim Abdallah has been filed
by his lawyer and, as every year, a demonstration in Lannemezan (65)
will be organized. A look back at this case and what it sheds light on
our times. ---- Georges Ibrahim Abdallah is a Lebanese communist
activist. In 1979, he participated in the creation of the Lebanese
Revolutionary Armed Fraction (FARL), an organization declaring itself
communist and anti-imperialist, and whose operations he directed in
France. In 1982, the FARL claimed responsibility for the assassination
of Lieutenant Colonel Charles R. Ray, American military attaché in
Paris, and Yacov Barsimentov, second counselor at the Israeli embassy, a
member of the Mossad. "Acts of armed resistance" in response to the
Israeli military aggression in Lebanon supported by the United
States[1]. This is the defense used by Georges Abdallah during his trial.
An imperialist justice
Arrested and imprisoned in 1984, he was only charged with forgery and
use of forgery on March 6, 1985. The American and Israeli authorities
exerted strong pressure to increase his sentence. The discovery of a
weapon used in the assassinations in one of the FARL hideouts led to his
trial by the special assize court for complicity in murder on February
28, 1987. Overwhelmed by the press (in particular by Le Monde under the
pen of a certain Edwy Plenel! who only recently admitted to having been
deceived[2]) the court sentenced him to life imprisonment. In 1987, a
confession book was published in which Jean-Paul Mazurier, Georges
Ibrahim Abdallah's lawyer, said that he was actually working for the
DGSE[3]. However, the validity of the trial was not called into
question. Eligible for release since 1999 under French law, between 2004
and 2020 nine of his requests for conditional release were refused.
On 21 November 2012, the sentencing court issued a favourable opinion on
his request for release, which the sentencing chamber granted by making
it conditional on an expulsion order. Laurent Fabius, Minister of
Foreign Affairs, received a phone call at the time from his American
counterpart Hillary Clinton, who asked him not to release him[4]. Manuel
Valls, then Minister of the Interior, refused to sign the expulsion
order on 14 January 2013. The release decision was annulled in April
2013 by the Court of Cassation. Jacques Vergès, his lawyer, denounced
"the United States government which is opposing an intolerable veto to
his release"[5]. In June 2023, his new lawyer Jean-Louis Chalanset
announced that he was making a new request for release. It will be
studied in a closed hearing on October 7.
What is Georges Ibrahim Abdallah the name of?
Supporting Georges Ibrahim Abdallah also means remembering his fight. He
was a schoolteacher when the Lebanese civil war of 1975-1990 began, in
which France bore significant historical responsibilities. Lebanon was
placed under French mandate from 1920 following the dismemberment of the
Ottoman Empire, until its independence in 1943. France relied on
Maronite Christians as an allied population. From this mandate came the
Lebanese community institutional system where for 30 years the Maronites
dominated the country politically and economically.
This French colonial history meets that of Zionist colonialism, which
saw Palestinian resistance settle in Lebanon, where the number of
Palestinian refugees from the Nakba is very high. The Maronite minority
was then worried about losing its hegemony. Indeed, after years of
significant class struggles, Lebanese far-left groups are connecting
with the Palestinian resistance. This will be the case for Georges, who
first joins the PFLP motivated by the Palestinian cause, then
participates in the guerrilla war in southern Lebanon.
Remembering Georges is remembering this forgotten history but also a
decade, the 80s, which is crucial: it will see the Israeli invasion of
southern Lebanon, during which the Sabra and Chatila massacres will be
committed; but also American and French interference in a key region of
the Mediterranean and the energy resources of the Middle East[6]. The
1980s were also the time of the neoliberal turn of capitalism and the
redeployment of Western imperialism, the two going hand in hand,
participating in anchoring Islamophobia in French society: Gaston
Defferre, Minister of the Interior, would for example tax the immigrant
strikers of Renault-Flins as "fundamentalists, Shiites" in 1983, during
the period when France was fighting the Shiite militias in Lebanon.
Georges' story begins at the beginning of this historical phase of
triumphant Western globalization that is violently coming to an end
today with the ongoing genocide in Gaza. Fighting for his liberation
places the anti-imperialist struggles of yesterday and today in a
continuity.
Freedom for political prisoners
The French and American determination to keep Georges in prison is
indicative of the system of imperialist repression. This is why the
fight for the liberation of political prisoners is a major
anti-colonialist battle, and there are many of them: Mumia Abu Djamal
and Léonard Pelletier in the USA, Ahmed Saadat and Marwan Bargouthi in
Israel, Ocalan in Turkey and so many others. Beyond the natural
solidarity for comrades who are victims of repression, it is about
making the repression against the least of us pay dearly for as long as
it takes.
Let us recall the international campaigns for the release of Angela
Davis, or the "Free Huey" campaign in support of Huey P. Newton of the
Black Panthers Party, where each support committee will allow the
development of the BPP. Each mobilization in favor of prisoners is an
opportunity for political education and to unmask the ferocious nature
of the so-called "rule of law" states!
As a result, this year several initiatives in France took place for
Georges on April 6 in Lannemezan, on June 15 in Lyon. So let's all be
there on October 7 to demand his release!
Nicolas Pasadena (The Anti-Racist Commission)
Validate
[1]"Terrorist" one day, terrorist always?», Pierre Carles in Le Monde
diplomatique, August 1, 2020.
[2]The last secrets of the George Ibrahim Abdallah affair, France inter,
June 22, 2024.
[3]The black agent, a mole in the Abdallah affair, Laurent Gally, Robert
Laffont edition.
[4]«Release of Georges Ibrahim Abdallah: how Clinton tried to put
pressure on Fabius», Arrêt sur images, January 20, 2016.
[5]«Judicial harassment against Mr. Georges Ibrahim Abdallah: An
expiatory political prisoner», Le Monde diplomatique, May 2012.
[6]It was during this murderous 15-year war that the Phalangists,
Maronite fascist militias, committed atrocities such as those of Sabra
and Chatilla, under the eye of the IDF
https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Georges-Ibrahim-Abdallah-40-ans-d-acharnement-judiciaire-et-politique
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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