The Faculty of Political Sciences of the Complutense University of Madrid will host an event with the participation of Samidoun, a pro-Palestinian prisoners’ support organisation that was banned in Germany in November 2023 for “promoting or supporting the use of violence as a means to achieve its political objectives”.
In Canada, where the group is headquartered, it has been designated a terrorist organisation, and it was sanctioned by the United States in October 2024.
Samidoun raises funds for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which the European Union, Canada and the United States classify as a terrorist organisation.
The event to be held at the Madrid public university is titled “People’s Tribunal on Complicity with the Palestinian Genocide in the Spanish State”.
The Academic Network against Antisemitism in Universities criticises that materials using “openly antisemitic terminology and conceptual frameworks”, such as documentation on the “Zionist lobby”, will be presented.
According to this newspaper’s findings, the event, organised by the University Network for Palestine, will present evidence concerning institutional links and collaborations between Spain and Israel.
From this network, it is considered “particularly serious” that an event of this nature has received institutional authorisation, and they warn that the content may fall within the margins of current legislation, particularly regarding the prohibition of speech that encourages hatred or discrimination against protected groups.
For all these reasons, they call on the university to “immediately review” the criteria for authorising events and activities to ensure that “discriminatory or hate-inciting discourse” is not legitimised.
