The Canadian BDS Coalition congratulates the Collectif Palestine Vaincra and the Committee Against the Dissolution of the Collectif Palestine Vaincra on this important victory for Palestine. The French Council of State, the body that hears legal appeals against the dissolution of an organization by the French government, ruled on Friday, 29 April that the dissolution order banning the Collectif will be suspended while the full appeal against the ban proceeds. This means that the Collectif can function once again as an organization advocating or justice and liberation in Palestine!
Below is the statement from Collectif Palestine Vaincra on the occasion of this important victory for all who struggle for Palestinian liberation:
Today, the French State Council announced the suspension of the decree of dissolution of the Collectif Palestine Vaincra, published on 9 March by the French Interior Ministry. This is a first victory for Collectif Palestine Vaincra and the Committee against the dissolution of the Collectif Palestine Vaincra, pending judgment on the appeal to cancel the ban entirely.
In its order of 29 April, the State Council considered that the ban is “neither necessary nor appropriate and constitutes a disproportionate attack on freedom of expression and freedom of association, given that the Collectif Palestine Vaincra “does not cause or contribute to discrimination, hatred or violence, that its positions on Israel and Zionism do not have an anti-Semitich character, that it has always condemned anti-Semitism, that the campaign to boycott Israeli products constitutes a legitimate means of expressing protest opinions (…)” therefore sweeping away the false allegations made against the collective. This, while the French President, Emmanuel Macron, shamelessly affirmed some time ago in Toulouse that the CPV is an “anti-Semitic collective,” this decision is a real push back against the misuse of authority and undermines the propaganda of the Zionist extreme right and its attempts to link anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism.
The decision of the State Council reaffirms the legitimacy of support for the Palestinian people and the existence of the Collectif Palestine Vaincra and its various activities conducted for over three years in Toulouse and elsewhere. The Collectif Palestine Vaincra is delighted to be able to continue its struggles freely and would like to particularly salute the Union Juive Française pour la Paix, the Association France-Palestine Solidarité and the Union Syndicale Solidaires for their significant support in this legal battle, and also the great mobilization of the Committee Against the Dissolution of the Collectif Palestine Vaincra, which brings together more than 30 organizations and many supporters around the world. The mobilization must continue for a total cancellation of the ban!
Palestine will live, Palestine will win! (Palestine vivra, Palestine Vaincra!)
Collectif Palestine Vaincra
29 April 2022
Read translations via Samidoun, a member of the Canadian BDS Coalition