Extremist Networks & European Security

Conference - European Parliament Brussels
March 5, 2025 @ 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm

Aim of the Conference

The primary aim of this conference was to assess the danger of terrorism-linked organisations, proscribed in the US, Canada, Germany and NL, that operate openly in EU member states such as Belgium, posing a threat to the safety and security of Europeans.

In particular these organisations include Samidoun and its nextgen iteration Masar Badil.

The conference considered the feasibility of proscribing these organisations together with their leaders, such as Muhammad Khatib, described as the EU Leader of Samidoun/Masar Badil, who operated openly in Belgium.

Key discussions and themes

Threat Assessment: Speakers repeatedly linked Samidoun and Masar Badil to the PFLP, a designated terrorist group in the EU. Samidoun was described as a front for prisoner support that glorifies violence, while Masar Badil was criticised for its “alternative revolutionary path” that endorses armed resistance and antisemitic rhetoric. Examples included their involvement in protests, conferences, and media campaigns that incite hatred.
  • European Impact: The conference explored how these groups operate in Europe through chapters in countries like Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, and the UK, contributing to polarisation, antisemitic incidents, and security risks. References were made to bans in Germany (2023 for Samidoun) and recent US/Canadian designations (2024) as evidence of escalating threats.
  • Policy Recommendations: There was a strong push for EU-level actions, including:
    • Designating Samidoun and Masar Badil as extremist or terrorist entities.
    • Restricting funding and online propaganda.
    • Enhancing counter-radicalisation programs in diaspora communities.
    • Collaborating with international bodies like the UN to monitor transnational networks.
  • Broader Context: Discussions touched on related issues, such as the groups’ praise for events like the October 7, 2023, attacks (referred to as “Al-Aqsa Flood” in their statements) and their role in campus radicalisation (e.g., links to protests at universities like Columbia).

Outcomes and Follow-Up: The conference concluded with a call for ongoing advocacy, including potential resolutions in the European Parliament to address these threats.  IMPAC committed to monitoring developments and sharing resources.

Videos from the playlist serve as primary documentation, offering unfiltered access to the speeches for further analysis.

Mentions of Samidoun subsequently appeared in amendments to a LIBE Committee report (document LIBE-AM-779631) dated November 12, 2025, urging actions against terror groups like Samidoun.
 
Two Parliamentary Questions were raised as a result of the Conference:
  • Submission Date: May 7, 2025
  • Submitted By: Bert-Jan Ruissen (on behalf of the ECR Group), with co-signatories including Antonio López-Istúriz White and others from various groups.
  • Subject: Adding Samidoun and Masar Badil to the EU terrorist list.
  • Key Content: The question highlights Samidoun’s links to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), its bans in Germany (2023), the US, and Canada, and its activities promoting violence and antisemitism. It notes that Masar Badil’s leadership overlaps significantly with Samidoun and pursues similar objectives. It urges the Council to assess designating both as terrorist entities under EU law to address threats to European security and democratic values
  • Submission Date: July 16 2025
  • Submitted By: Tomislav Sokol (EPP), co-signed by Antonio López-Istúriz White (EPP), Stephen Nikola Bartulica (ECR), and others.
  • Subject: Protect EU strategy and the inclusion of Samidoun and Masar Badil on the EU terrorist list.
  • Key Content: The question references the ProtectEU strategy for countering extremism and asks the Commission about plans to include Samidoun and Masar Badil on the EU terrorist list. It cites Samidoun’s ban in Germany and terrorist designations in the US and Canada, emphasising their ties to the PFLP and promotion of violence. 

Written response by High Representative/Vice-President Kaja Kallas on behalf of the European Commission September 1 2025

  • A listing of a group or entity under any EU regime of restrictive measures has certain legal and political requirements.
  • As regards the possibility of a listing under Council Common Position of 27 December 2001 on the application of specific
    measures to combat terrorism (2001/931/CFSP) (1), the main legal requirement is a decision by a national competent authority
    for the involvement of the group or entity in terrorist acts as defined by the same Common Position
  • If that legal requirement is met, a proposal to list a group or entity is adopted only if there is unanimous agreement by the Member States in the Council.
  • As regards making the counterterrorism sanctions instrument more effective, the Council could consider various options
  • Due to the sensitivity of the topic, all discussions on restrictive measures to counter terrorism are classified

Read online here.

Moderator, Hosts and Keynote Speakers

Bert-Jan Ruissen MEP
Host
Bert-Jan Ruissen is a Dutch politician and Member of the European Parliament (MEP) representing the Netherlands.
 
He is a member of the Reformed Political Party (SGP) and sits with the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group, where he currently serves as the group’s chief whip.Ruissen studied at Wageningen University and Research.
 
His career in European affairs began in 1995 as assistant to MEP Leen van der Waal in the European Parliament, followed by a role as advisor on EU Agriculture Policy at the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality.From 2006 to 2019, he was a member of the local council of Krimpen aan den IJssel. In 2019, he was elected to the European Parliament from the second position on the joint Christian Union–Reformed Political Party list.
 
He became a full member of the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development, and a substitute member of the Committees on Fisheries and on Foreign Affairs.
 
He also serves as First Vice-Chair of the EP delegation for relations with Israel.In the current parliamentary term, Ruissen is actively involved in intergroups, notably serving as Co-Chair of the Intergroup on Freedom of Religion, Belief and Conscience (FORB Intergroup), alongside MEP Miriam Lexmann (EPP, Slovakia). In this capacity, he advocates for stronger EU action on freedom of religion or belief issues, including calls for the reappointment of an EU Special Envoy on FoRB, hosting events on global religious persecution (e.g., rights of Baha’is and Christians in Qatar), addressing social media’s role in promoting or combating intolerance, and urging measures against violations in regions like South Asia.
 
Known for his conservative Christian-democratic positions, Ruissen has taken firm stances on several key issues. In his maiden speech in September 2019, he opposed patents on plant characteristics. He voted against Ursula von der Leyen’s European Commission due to its perceived federalist orientation, against the resolution condemning LGBT-free zones in Poland (due to its call for recognition of same-sex marriage), and against the European Green Deal, which he described as unrealistic.
 
He has also signed a declaration against surrogacy. In 2019, he was among the MEPs who visited Taiwan to express support.In the 2024 European Parliament election, Ruissen led the SGP list independently (no longer in coalition with the Christian Union), securing the party’s single seat and his own re-election.

Good afternoon everybody a warm welcome to you all. Nice to see so many participants in the in room. My name is Bert-Jan Ruissen and I’m a member of the European Parliament for the ECR and I am hosting this conference on extremist networks and European security together with my dear colleague and co-host Malik Azmani [Renew Europe], with Antonio Lopez Isturez-White [EPP]. He will be coming a bit later, and Hannes Heide [S&D] will be participating online.

We organise this conference in close cooperation with IMPAC – Patricia Teitelbaum [President] and Nigel Goodrich [CEO]. I’m very grateful that we can organise this event together with different members from different political parties from S&D, Renew, the EPP and also from the ECR and I would therefore like to start by thanking my colleagues for the excellent cooperation and particular Patricia and Nigel for helping to organise this event.

A  special warm welcome to our speakers today. Iman Hassan Chalghoumi chair of the Conference of Imans of France; Angel Mas, president of ACOM; Dr Hans Yakob Schindler, senior director of the Counter Extremism Project and Mzahem Alsaloum, a former intelligence analyst.

 

It’s not the first time ladies and gentlemen, it’s not the first time that we speak here in the parliament about organisations like Samidoun. Extremist networks, active here in Europe, Europe with clear links with terrorist organisations in the Middle East. Networks that undermine our European Society, promote violence and glorifying Terror attacks.

In March 2023 two years ago we organised also in cooperation with IMPAC a symposium here in this house, and I think it was in the same room, about these networks, and our conclusion in March 2023 were very clear: our conclusion was we cannot accept this – we cannot accept these kind of organisations. We have to act we have to add these kind of organizations to the EU list of terrorist organisations.

And I remember that we submitted some questions to Mr Borell [former EU High epresentative] but unfortunately his answers were very vague and disappointing – and that happens quite often to be [Laughter] honest. In the meantime, Germany has banned Samidoun but to be honest on the EU level nothing substantial has been done and today we say again we cannot accept this any longer.

The time for inaction and looking the other way is over. What made us decide to organise this follow-up conference today (it’s a kind of a follow-up conference) first of all Borrell has gone we have now a new High Representative Kaja Kallas. We expect a more constructive approach from her. I think that’s one reason, but for me and I think also for colleague Azmani the direct cause was the Jew-hunt in Amsterdam in November last year [2024].

Both Malik and I we both participated in that debate in the plenary in Strasburg and we both said in the debate about the attacks in Amsterdam that we have to take action: we have to stop these acts of violence, starting by banning the radicalised organisations that promote and organise these acts of violence in Europe against Jews. I think that was the main reason for us to organise this conference. So we are here for an update by experts. We are here to inform you about the real threats of these extremist organisations and networks and to discuss the question what we can do – how can we stop them. So without further ado let’s move on with our program.

Malik Azmani MEP
Co-Host

Malik Azmani is a Dutch MEP from the VVD (within Renew Europe) serving since 2019. He is also the Vice-President of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) and leads the VVD delegation in the European Parliament (EP).

Before his time in the EP, Azmani served in the Dutch House of Representatives. He is known for his strong focus on migration, security, and counter-terrorism. In December 2024, he notably called for a ban on Samidoun during a debate on antisemitism in Amsterdam.

Azmani is, furthermore, a member of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) and affiliated member of the Foreign Affairs (AFET) Committee, where he shapes European security policies and advocates for a balanced approach to rights and safety.

Azmani also recently joined the Frontex working group.

Thank you very much Bert-Jan Ruissen. Indeed we had the same debate through the horrible attacks in Amsterdam. As my dear colleague already mentioned we were in a debate in the plenary in Strasburg a week after the horrible attacks on Israeli football supporters in Amsterdam and we were not aware of it, but we had the same lyrics during that the debate. Thus in the end of the debate we concluded well we need to act towards Samidoun especially of course, but there are also other organisations in our society who threaten the stability and democracy of our societies.

We are fearing also the serious threats from outside the European Union but not everyone is aware of it that we have them also inside. My message today is therefore quite simple and clear: we have become too tolerant of intolerance, and that intolerance is not an abstract concept or something like that. This intolerance is something that is slowly but steadily creeping into our societies and undermining also our Democratic Values, values that have no long been the Cornerstone of our European society.

And to be clear part of this increasing intolerance is the direct result of unwanted foreign interference, and by pretending to stand for political activism but with a true agenda to destabilise not just one member state but the whole European Union. As a former member of the Dutch Parliament and also now in my mandate as a Member of the European Parliament I have always been committed to addressing the destabilising effects of foreign interference, and my message has always been clear and consistent.

I warned about the dangers posed by extremist groups that try to undermine our democracies. But what we are seeing today are not one-person actions but extremely well-organised organisations and networks that fuel hate incite violence and spread extremist ideologies that aim to dismantle our European freedoms. In this conference we are drawing the attention of course to two of such extremist organizations like Samidoun and its proxy Masar Badil. But there are more, that’s for certain. These organizations are actively spreading extremist views promoting divisive rhetoric and they are undermining also our freedoms, and their actions can no longer be ignored.

Well, you mentioned already what happened in Germany’ but also in Netherlands we had in the parliament a motion of a resolution for a bill to ban Samidoun. The Minister of Justice and security is now dealing with but it’s not enough. It’s spreading in whole European Union from the north towards the South and the action does not stop at one of our internal borders. Let me be clear: this is a European issue and this is also the reason why we are here. This is well the second event a follow-up event. I’m very curious about our experts today and I’m also very grateful that they want to participate in our event – so very curious.

And I’m also pleased to see that there are many in the audience this. Please don’t hesitate also to use the Q&A because we have also have this in our agenda and I think it’s quite necessary that we also conclude in the end of this of this meeting towards the next step what’s necessary to bring in this Parliament and to have broader support when we talk about these extremist organisations who are active in combating with our liberal values. Thank you.

Antonio López-Istúriz White
Co-Host

Antonio López-Istúriz White is a Spanish MEP from the Partido Popular, part of the EPP Group, serving since 2004.

He is a member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET) and the Subcommittee on Human Rights (DROI). Antonio served as President of the European Parliament’s Delegation for Relations with Israel for five years (2019-2024), where he played a central role in strengthening EU-Israel relations and advocating for peace and stability in the Middle East.

His leadership was particularly focused on countering terrorist organisations in the region, with a special emphasis on those linked to the Iranian regime and its proxies.

Thank you thank you very much ladies and gentlemen and guests, esteemed colleagues. As we come today to the close of this event I would like a moment to express our thanks first to Nigel Goodrich and Patricia Teitelbaum from IMPAC for proposing the organisation of this event.


Also to extend our gratitude to host Bert-Jan Ruissen and the co-hosts Malik Azmani [Renew] and Hannes Heide [S&D] for their support also in organising this event. And also a sincere thank you for the speakers. I think that you will agree with me that they were good it was worth it, and most for you that you are here today and the ones that are connected online.


This event has highlighted a critical issue facing Europe: the growing threat posed by extremist networks, specifically those of Samidoun and Masar Badil. I remember the events that took place in 2022 when Samidoun which operates a network from Brussels held a rally in front of the European Parliament calling for violence against Europe the United States and Israel, the rhetoric calling for Kalashnikovs, rockets and bullets. Their open links to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and other terrorist organisations pose a direct threat to the Safety and Security of our citizens.


Similarly as was exposed Masar Badil openly supports armed resistance including groups like Hamas. But I’m not here to tell you this. You were asking what we do and that is the point – the thing we should be talking about. So I will be a little bit Dutch – to the point , if you allow me Bert-Jan. So last year you, Bert-Jan Ruissen, me, and colleagues like Javier Zarzalejos, Ilana Cicurel, Miriam Lexman, Anna-Michelle Asimakopoulou and David Lega raised the issue directly with the European Commission, asking whether the extremist organisation Samidoun would be listed as a terrorist organization by the EU.


In February of this year us, together with Malik Azmani and Hannes Heide drafted a letter to the highest authorities of the European Union including president Roberta Metsola, the president of the European Council Antonio Costa, president of the European commission Ursula von der Leyen and the high representative Kaja Kallas. In our letter we strongly urge the European Union to designate both Samidoun and Masar Badil as terrorist organisations and to ban them along with their leaders from the EU territories.


This action is critical not only to counter the immediate security threats posed by these networks but also to reaffirm the European Union’s unwavering commitment to peace security and human rights. This is the key to present a unified stance against those who threaten our safety. I’m also aware Bert-Jan that you are now calling some of us for Strasbourg to have a meeting to continue the process the follow-up, so okay so we are proceeding. Also the ones that you go back home to your countries please proceed also and tell your authorities about this. It would be also helpful.


I would also like to highlight that other International Partners including the United States, Canada, Germany have already taken action – I think the German case was already expressed – banning Samidoun and Masar Badil for their direct links to Hamas and their role in promoting violence and hate. Additionally the Dutch House of Representatives recently recommended that Samidoun be designated as a terrorist organisation. These actions demonstrate that this fight against extremism and terrorism is one that extends beyond our borders and requires international cooperation.


I know about that – I talked about that – I live the experience of the need of international cooperation. By taking the step to designate Samidoun and Masar Badil as terrorist organisations the European Union would be sending a clear unequivocal message: we will not tolerate organisations that promote hate violence and terrorism within our borders. We will stand united in defending the values that make Europe a beacon of peace, democracy and human rights.


Thank you all again for being here today. Bert-Jan and I as co-host together with Malik from Renew Hannes from S&D thank you all and we will continue with the with the follow-up. That’s what we are here for thank you very much . Thank you Antonio. I must say because we are at war – we know it now. The problem is with these kind of organisations is that we are always a step behind because they have like this enormous capacity to metamorphose.
We will ban Samidoun and Masar Badil hopefully, thanks to you, but don’t take it for granted that the game is over because they will come back in another form. These people are always the same people, always the same ideology.


So I express a hope that when you will ask for this ban that you will also put a list of names on it because these people are very dangerous, as we have seen. But I must say that I remain maybe less anxious thanks to you gentlemen, thanks to you for quality MEPs that we have here with us: Antonio, Bert-Jan, Malik and Hannes (who was not here today) because I’m sure that thanks to you something will come out of this Parliament: a letter like you have described it which is already a very good step, and the Resolution which is my inner hope. Thank you very much.

Hannes Heide MEP
Co-Host

Hannes Heide, born in Bad Ischl, Austria (european capital of culture in 2024) where he later became mayor. He has been an MEP since 2019 with the SPÖ (Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats), primarily focusing on culture and education as a member of the Culture Committee.

He also engages in security-related matters through his role in the 2022 Pegasus spyware inquiry, examining its implications for privacy and surveillance. He is a staunch advocate for regional development, culture and education and embodies the principles of solidarity, inclusion and active citizenship.

His career reflects a lifelong commitment to empowering communities and fostering a strong sense of European belonging.

This year we commemorate 80 years since the end of the Holocaust and remember the Liberation from the crimes of National Socialist rule.

Remembrance has to play an important role in our societies we have to take responsibility and action. All Europeans and in particular future generations must be fully aware of the despicable acts and crimes as well as the social political conditions that enabled them. Combating antisemitism is a core value of our democracy. As a member of the committee of culture and education in the European Parliament [CULT] I want to point out that education of our younger generation plays a key role in raising awareness of attacks on our Democratic and fundamental values.

Together with my former colleague Dominic I started an initiative which was supported by more than 100 MEPs to propose the development of a dedicated EU action to ensure that all European youth have the opportunity to visit one of these sites of National Socialist crimes to learn about history, but also to understand the current dangers of extremism.

It’s our responsibility to ensure that especially the Young generation is aware of the consequences of radicalisation as we have to witness worrying developments to students being harassed at universities, and extremist narratives creeping into public discourse.

I am shocked to see postings on social media that deny the Holocaust. It’s our task ensuring that our schools and universities are able to equip young people with a knowledge and resilience to reject extremist ideologies. This means stronger action against extremist networks Samidoun and Masar Badil, which represent an increasingly serious growing threat to the security in Europe countries and the stability of our democracies.

These groups engage in activities that undermine public safety, promoting radicalisation spreading diverse propaganda and challenging the core value of our democracies. This is not a danger to one Community alone but to the fabric of our entire Society.

This evidence is clear; some EU member states have already taken steps to ban or restrict these organisations due to their links to extremism, and in certain cases affiliations with groups proscribed under terrorism laws. Yet the influence continues to grow, recruiting vulnerable youth, disrupting democratic discourse and sowing divisions across Europe.

We cannot stand by and watch these threats escalate we have seen the consequences of inaction radical narratives are taking root Public Safety and communities across Europe are at risk. That is why we must unite as Democrats to protect our citizens and our way of life. This conference will table a letter calling on the European Council to proscribe Samidoun and Masar Badil, and the key operatives.

I call on my colleagues in the European Parliament to sign this letter let us send a clear message: Europe will not tolerate extremism.

Patricia Teitelbaum
Moderator

Patricia Teitelbaum is President of the International Movement for Peace and Coexistence (IMPAC). She has an MA in Politics & International Relations from the University of Brussels. A businesswoman, Patricia is also a trained coach in conflict resolution and negotiation.

I will hand over the micro to Patricia Teitelbaum, president of the International Movement for Peace and Coexistence [IMPAC]. As I said we organise it together with IMPAC so I really appreciate this cooperation and I will hand over the micro to you.

Thank you Bert-Jan, and thank you to the four MEPS who wanted and who are supporting this event, because I must say it’s a hard feeling to feel that it’s a cross-party event because extremism we will not be able to win unless we are all united.

Like two years ago we had organised this first event in order to raise awareness amongst MEPS in the European Parliament, and also amongst the public because not many people really knew who Samidoun was. I remember that I had participated, as an outsider of course, in their march here in Brussels in October 2022 where Muhammad Khatib (the Brussels-based leader for Europe) said these words these words: “we must arm the Palestinian diaspora” and now I cite him clearly “bring your bullets, your Kalashnikovs and your rockets to defeat this criminal European Union by any means possible”.

So this is a very very clear message, and experience has showed us that extremists say what they mean but also they mean what they say. But lately since seventh of October 2023 there has also been another shift in that they had installed in our youth – in our European youth – the idea that when you chant from ‘The River To The Sea Palestine will be free’ that means no more Israel, and very few persons are able to stand up against it because they are so well organised and I think it’s time now to go a step further.

And I’m so happy that I am counting on MEPs of this value next to us. So now I have the honour to introduce our speakers but in order to be more up to our actual media I will ask the people if they want to know more about our speakers to scan the QR code that you have on the program on the tables you will see their bios and also you will see our full report on Samidoun and Masar Badil.

 

Imam Hassan Chalghoumi
Keynote Speaker

Imam Hassen Chalghoumi is the imam of the municipal Drancy mosque in Seine-Saint-Denis, near Paris and has served as president of the Conference of Imams in France for almost 20 years.

Imam Chalghoumi has been an outspoken critic of radical Islam, a position that has earned him praise but also censure, hostility and even death threats – resulting in stringent security measures by the French state.

He is an advocate for peace, tolerance, and coexistence amongst people of different religious and ideological backgrounds, based on respect for universal human rights. He is a strong critic of extremists who use Islam as a means to radicalise the young.

Thank you, thank you, ladies and gentlemen. Good evening—or rather, good morning to those who are fasting, as it’s not evening yet, I meant to say.
 
Thank you to Patricia for your courage and your commitment. I also thank the IMPAC team, because we need men and women in Europe who are engaged and vigilant.
 
There’s an Arabic proverb—it’s a short story. It says there was a king whose kingdom was attacked by extremist rebels. The king wanted to change things, but he consulted so much that he just kept talking and talking with his advisors until the end. The rebels took over the kingdom and seized everything. It’s sad to say, but for two years we’ve been talking about Samidoun. For two years, perhaps some of the same faces were here, but in that time, how many young people have they won over? How many people have they radicalised? How many Jews have left Europe? How many cities, unfortunately, have been threatened, forcing people to move and change their homes?
 
That’s the reality.
 
I say it and I repeat: the situation is no longer like before October 7. Our world after October 7 is not the same. On October 7, I pay homage to all the victims of the barbarity of terrorist groups like Hamas. October 7 is the pogrom, the shame of humanity. I say this as an imam who has heard from hundreds of Holocaust survivors about the errors of history—the dark history of humanity and of Europe too. It’s our history.
 
On October 7, I relived seeing all those images, knowing that I know the Zdot Ascon area and that whole region very well. I went to see it; these are left-wing people, peaceful people who talk only of peace. And perhaps some of the people I saw are no longer in this world. That’s the reality of our world. October 7, 2023—for me, I repeat it because it’s all linked to Samidoun and others.
 
The war is not Israel’s alone.No, no, no—the war is the world’s. We must choose respect for human life. There is a world sinking into hatred and barbarity: that of Iran, Qatar, Turkey, political Islam, Hamas, the Cheikh Yassine collective, and so on. They confront us—that’s our reality. Since October 7, you know very well the situation of the Jewish community in Europe. The moderates—I say it and repeat: in 2025, today March 5, 2025, an imam who preaches peace and tolerance has to be protected 24/7.
 
They live with police; they move from one home to another; they’re forced to put their family in hiding. That’s Europe in 2025. And in Europe 2025, fanatical Islamists like those from Samidoun circulate freely.On March 7, there’s a hate march in Paris by Samidoun. Last Friday, February 28, I was at the office of the Interior Minister, Mr. Darmanin. I asked for it to be banned because, first, it’s an attack on freedom, on democracy, on security, and also on the sacred month of Ramadan.
 
They’re going to use this holy month for their political ends to recruit young people. And fortunately—I hope—I have news that the Police Prefect Laurent Nuñez, with the homage and the Interior Minister Mr. Darmanin, will ban the march.
 
But it’s not just about banning.
 
Let me give you a small example: the Cheikh Yassine collective is a dangerous group. Fortunately, the French state dissolved it. I suffered all the attacks from the Cheikh Yassine collective in 2009-2010. You know, Cheikh Yassine is the founder of Hamas; he’s the man who assassinated Palestinians before assassinating Israelis.
 
This collective targeted Imam Chalghoumi. From 2009-2010, I endured two months of harassment, propaganda, demonisation. In the end, I had to go under police protection. I’ve lost a lot: the life you know, I haven’t known it for 15 years—no markets, no outdoor cafés on terraces, no going to the cinema, no taking my children out.
 
And besides, that’s the collective—it’s the same. But the political failure: until 2020, we allowed the Cheikh Yassine collective to demonstrate in the name of freedom, in the name of criticising Netanyahu’s policy. The reality was antisemitism.In November 2020, they beheaded Professor Samuel Paty. It was Abdelhakim Sefrioui, the guru of the Cheikh Yassine collective. This man was behind the assassination of a teacher in the heart of Paris, the city of lights, in the heart of Paris, the home of human rights—they beheaded a teacher. That’s the Cheikh Yassine collective; that’s Samidoun.
 
Allow me—thank you, gentlemen, elected officials and parliamentarians, for being here; that’s your courage. But knowing the situation, we can no longer allow this. Samidoun or other groups like Urgence Palestine and others—normally, allow me to have the strength to ban them, to have the strength to denounce them on social media, by all means, and also their accomplices, because there are political parties that support them: the far left, that of Rima Hassan and others who have nothing to do with the Palestinian cause nor with the Muslim religion.
 
And I hope that in this way, we can preserve social peace; in this way, we can preserve this youth from radicalisation; in this way, we can also preserve social cohesion in peace and security in Europe. Thank you.[Applause]
 
Thank you very much, Mr. Chalghoumi. I know you have a train to catch, so whenever you decide it’s time to leave, we’ll accompany you in our thoughts—you remain with us—and we wish you a very, very good Iftar.
Miloš Bokšan
 Speaker

Miloš Bokšan is a Dutch student currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Public Administration at Radboud University in Nijmegen, Netherlands, following his Bachelor’s degree from Avans Hogeschool in ‘s-Hertogenbosch and a pre-master’s programme.

He is politically active as the lead candidate for the VVD party in Waalwijk, where he advocates for local issues, and describes himself as self-employed while supporting the RKC Waalwijk football club.
instagram.com

Bokšan has engaged in activism, including co-signing an open letter criticising Radboud University for hosting a controversial lecturer.

Thank you chair and thank you for the opportunity also to speak here today in front of these MEPS and experts, because as a student I can tell you the safety of our universities is being threatened due to the extremism of organisations like Samidoun. And I saw this myself at the Radboud University in the Dutch city of Nijmegen where I study public administration. In October of last year [2024] students and staff invited Muhammad Khatib, the European coordinator [of Samidoun] to speak at our University.

A man who glorifies the terror attacks of 7th of October and calls my Jewish and Israeli fellow students legitimate targets of violence. And when I delved into who this man is and explained this to my fellow students, I saw the righteous indignation on their faces, and that is why I wrote an open letter that same day, supported by dozens of students: students and staff calling upon our University’s board to do everything in their power to ban his visit.

Our action led to national media coverage in the Netherlands and ultimately to an entry ban for Muhammad Khatib to our country, imposed by the Dutch Minister of Justice and Security. But it didn’t stop there. Samidoun’s toxic ideology had already taken hold shortly before Khatib’s announced visit, an exposition on Gaza at our University displayed propaganda material from the PFLP. And this poison inspired students.

And not much later one of the organising students said to one of my fellow students and I quote “I would be capable to cut off an Israeli student’s head end” of quote. This is the danger of Samidoun. This is the result of tolerating extremism into our universities. And our action proved if we stand up we can enforce change. But this is not about one speaker or one University. This is about something much bigger. It’s about our safety.

The question is whether  we continue to allow extremists to spread their hate under the guise of freedom [of speech]. And the only correct answer is no. Samidoun is not a peace movement, not a human rights organisation. Samidoun celebrates terror, murder, rape, and hatred.

It is a direct threat to our safety and we must treat it that way. We cannot fight intolerance with with tolerance, because as Karl Popper once said “tolerance for the intolerant will inevitably lead to the demise of tolerance itself”. Its time to set clear boundaries, to stop being naive about defending our free values here, and now because if we don’t, we let intolerance win.

 And we cannot afford to do that. And that is why I ask you as a student of the next generation – stand up against extremism and ban organisations like Samidoun for our safety and the safety of my fellow students in the EU. I thank you for your time.

Angel Mas
Speaker

Angel Mas was born in Spain. He holds BA degrees in Business administration from ICADE in Madrid and from Middlesex University in London. He also holds a postgraduate degree from the Darden Business School at the University of Virginia.

He is president of ACOM (Action and Communication on the Middle East). Resulting from ACOM’s legal action, 76 court decisions have been obtained reversing local governments’ illegitimate actions.

In addition, ACOM has several additional criminal cases underway against public officials and activists that promote unconstitutional discrimination.

Thank you, and thank you, Patricia, and good afternoon. I stand before you today to expose a grave and growing threat to public security in Spain, and to the well-being of its Jewish minority, but also to the safety and democratic integrity of all European citizens.
 
This is not an abstract concern—it is an urgent reality.The organisation Samidoun, particularly its Spanish branch which is one of the most active internationally, has well-documented ties to terrorism. Their objective is clear: to import radical methods into Europe, in our case using Spain as a laboratory. So that’s how radicalisation spreads: it begins with words, then it escalates to institutional discrimination. It leads to intimidation and violence, and it culminates in the glorification of terrorism and a call to action.
 
What makes this situation even more alarming is that figures from the Spanish political left, including government-affiliated parties like Sumar and Podemos, are actively supporting these extremist networks in the context of Spain having become a safe haven for Islamist extremists. We have to say that since 2015 the Spanish government—the current Spanish government—has provided a protective umbrella for groups like Samidoun.
 
This has allowed BDS campaigns to be launched from public institutions—campaigns that discriminate against individual citizens simply for being associated with the state of Israel.The creation as a result of ‘spaces free of Israeli apartheid’—in effect, no-go zones for Jews in our own country—in municipalities and regions in Spain, and a systematic effort to normalise extremist rhetoric under the guise of activism.
 
Spanish courts, including the Supreme Court, have declared these BDS institutional discriminatory practices illegal in over 70 rulings. Remember, these discriminatory practices were driven, inspired, and mandated from local and regional governments in Spain. Yet the promoters continue with impunity and have become ever more violent.
 
What began as an economic and political boycott has now evolved into a radicalised network that openly advocates terrorism, all while receiving government protection and, in some cases, government subsidies. Who are the architects of this radicalised Palestinian activism in Spain?
 
Well, I can name names—I can expose individuals behind this network. People that are directly linked with terrorism. I will name a few.
 
Jaldía Abubakra, founder of Samidoun in Spain in 2020. She has ties to Ahora Madrid, which is part of the governing majority in Spain, part of Sánchez’s government. Liliana Córdoba, arrested in 1978 in Haifa for harbouring a PFLP terrorist.
 
Daniel Lobato, co-founder of Unadikum, a group that is openly antisemitic yet receives millions of euros in public subsidies despite promoting that violent ideology. He was also a correspondent for HispanTV. HispanTV is Iran’s propaganda channel in the Spanish-speaking world.
 
Who was also an employee of HispanTV? Pablo Iglesias Turrión, then vice president of the government of President Sánchez. And all the members of his party were also employees of HispanTV, and Podemos was as a result funded with the Islamic Republic of Iran’s money. And that was the way Iran meddled into Spanish politics, quite directly.
 
Manuel Pineda, well-known in this house as a former member of the European Parliament for Unidas Podemos, part of the governing legislative majority of President Sánchez, an activist in Gaza with direct ties to Hamas—direct ties to Hamas.
 
Judit Rodríguez, Samidoun’s representative in Lebanon, with links to the PFLP and Lion’s Den. Majed Dibsi—oh, this is a good one—European representative of the PFLP. Self-admitted. A terrorist organisation in Spain, yet not only does he move freely in Spain, he moves freely under the protection of the Spanish government, and he participates in events organised by parties that form the parliamentary majority of President Sánchez.Mussa’ab Bashir, arrested in Israel for attempted assassination as part of the PFLP.
 
Baha Al-Khateeb, who operated tunnels in Gaza. All these are the Samidoun and Masar Badil activists in Spain under the protection of the government and its extreme left-wing allies.
 
Samidoun and Masar Badil—we are talking the same: it’s a coordinated terror network. We can speak about Samidoun; we should speak about Masar Badil because it’s critical to understand that Samidoun is not an isolated entity—it is part of this alternative Palestinian revolutionary path movement linked with Masar Badil. Masar Badil does not just support violence; it explicitly calls for the destruction of Israel and the exportation of terrorism to Europe. Samidoun serves as Masar Badil’s operational arm in Europe, recruiting followers and spreading their ideology.
 
Their leaders like Jaldía Abubakra ensure that the Masar Badil radical agenda translates into real-world actions.This is Masar Badil in their own words: “We must commemorate the Glorious October 7 as a victory for our people and the resistance. Palestinians have the absolute right to resist by any means necessary, including armed struggle.”This open glorification of terrorism directly violates the Spanish Penal Code [Arts 578, 573.1, 4a and 577], yet it continues happening.
 
here’s a direct call to violence in Spain going on, and this is not just online rhetoric. It is being actively promoted in Spain’s streets and institutions, and it threatens not only Jewish communities but also the broader Spanish population.
 
On October 7th, something horrible happened. As it was happening, members of the Spanish government were glorifying online what was happening—they were glorifying the so-called ‘Palestinian resistance’ online in real time as the videos were coming up of the massacres. Masar Badil published a statement celebrating the massacre. Yes, on October 10th they justified the kidnapping of Israeli civilians, including babies, calling it ‘the detention of settlers’.
 
 
But also in the streets of Spain, on October 9th—two days after October 7th—a pro-terrorist rally in Madrid in Puerta del Sol was authorised by the minister of the Interior, with open glorification of the atrocities. On October 29th, another government-approved demonstration included statements such as “we unconditionally support armed resistance”, “if Palestinians want to kidnap Israeli settlers they must do it—it is their right”.On January 27th last year, Samidoun’s Judit Rodríguez publicly called October 7th “a historic milestone”, labelling Gaza “the largest concentration camp of our era”.
 
She also personally targeted my friend and colleague David Hatchwell. David is a leader of the Spanish Jewish Community. He has been so for a number of years. He’s also co-founder of ACOM. This leader of Samidoun called him a “mafia criminal” and explicitly said that he was “complicit in genocide” in Gaza.
 
You know what that means when a person with direct personal links to terrorist organisations that have acted on European soil does that—names you publicly like that? Do we need to wait for something to happen?It also happened at university in February 2023—Samidoun Spain leaders attempted to lynch—to lynch—the Israeli Ambassador at Complutense University in Madrid.
 
All these characters I have mentioned to you, they were there. The security detail of the Israeli Ambassador had to draw their regulatory weapons to protect the Ambassador from being lynched—in a public university in Spain.In June 3rd 2024, Jaldía Abubakra—after all this—was invited into the Spanish Parliament by members of the governing majority in Spain. And she said “Israel has no right to exist”. She defended Hamas as a “guerrilla movement” and rejected non-violent struggle.So what’s going on? What are the courts of justice doing?
 
Well, Spain’s judicial system is clearly failing to stop this growing threat. Judges currently lack the tools to proactively dismantle extremist networks before they turn violent or to sanction organisations that glorify terrorism without waiting for an attack. Apparently, they cannot hold politicians accountable for supporting designated terrorist groups. But I insist we cannot wait until words become bullets. The judiciary in Spain needs urgent reform, urgent tools to prevent incitement from turning into action.
 
So this is why I’m here. I’m calling on the European Parliament and the European institutions to support us on what the Spanish government, under Pedro Sánchez, is not only not supporting but actually promoting with political backing.
 
These extremists have infiltrated Spanish institutions. They exploit our democracy to normalise violence, undermining the rule of law and endangering all citizens—not just the Jews. All citizens. And they are laying the groundwork for terrorism on European soil that could strike indiscriminately, as we have seen in past attacks inspired by these ideologies all across Europe, not only in Spain.I repeat, unfortunately the Spanish government will not act because its own coalition members are complicit.
 
So we urge the European Parliament to ban Samidoun, to outlaw Masar Badil as terrorist-affiliated organisations. We ask you to help empower law enforcement and the judiciary to prosecute incitement before it leads to actual acts of violence. And we request your help to ensure that Europe does not become a safe haven for terror networks. This is a tragedy in the making. If we do not act now, I’m afraid we will soon ask ourselves why we did not prevent this next attack that could claim the lives of people across our communities. Thank you.[Applause]
 
Oh, I don’t know about you, ladies and gentlemen, but I found this speech of Angel Mas very frightening. Thank you, Angel, for all these details and your research about who’s who. What I take away from what you have said is, unfortunately—I had written down whilst you were speaking and I was thinking to myself—is law the answer? But obviously it’s not enough anymore because we know that our judges can take decisions that are not going in the right direction. We have the same in Belgium for other issues, but when you go to law, to court, you never know what’s going to be the outcome. So you said that Spain has a lack of tools, but at least if they could apply the law that exists, maybe the laxity would be less.
 
But I hope we will have a discussion afterwards and that somebody will have good ideas to answer this.
Dr Hans-Jakob Schindler
 Speaker

Dr Schindler is the Senior Director of the Counter Extremism Project in New York and Berlin and the Auschwitz Research Center on Hate, Extremism and Radicalization (ARCHER) at House 88 in Poland.

He is also the co-chair of the Advisory Board of the Global Diplomatic Forum (GDF) in London, a member of the international advisory board of the Global Counter Terrorism Council (GCTC) in India, chairs a UNDOC-GPML project for financial investigators focusing on the financing of extremism and is teaching fellow at the Academy for Security in the Economy (ASW Akademie AG) in Essen, Germany.

Between 2013 and 2018 he served as the Coordinator and Expert of the ISIL (Da’esh)/ Al -Qaida/Taliban Sanctions Monitoring Team as mandated by the United Nations Security Council.

From 2011 and 2013 he worked as Program Director of the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) in London (UK) and as Associate Partner for Political Risk at West Sands, London (UK). Prior to these engagements, Dr Schindler served as First Secretary for Political Affairs and Liaison Officer to the Security Forces at the Germany Embassy in Tehran (Iran) between 2005 and 2011 and held other positions with the Federal Government of Germany related to conflict analysis and counter-terrorism since 2001.

Thank you very much for the invitation; it is both a pleasure and an honour.
 
A few words about my organisation, the Counter Extremism Project (CEP):It is a transatlantic, fully privately financed think tank and advocacy organisation.
 
It works on all forms of ideological violence, ranging from violent Islamist extremism/terrorism all the way along the ideological spectrum to violent right-wing extremism/terrorism.

Our headquarters are in New York, with a European office in Berlin. Colleagues work for CEP in Washington, D.C., Madrid, London, Berlin, Munich, and Oświęcim (Poland).
 
On 27 January this year—the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp—we launched the Auschwitz Research Center on Hate, Extremism and Radicalization (ARCHER) at House 88, which is housed in the former home of the commandant of Auschwitz, Rudolf Höss.
 
In partnership with the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum and under the patronage of the Director General of UNESCO and the Polish Foreign Minister, ARCHER at House 88 will transform the commandant’s house into a global centre at the forefront of efforts to confront antisemitism, violent extremism, and terrorism by providing critical research, education, and advocacy.
 
Therefore, I will divide my short remarks into three issue areas – the ban of Samidoun in Germany at the end of 2023, including a brief description of what this ban entails and what function such administrative measures fulfil in Germany.
 
A) Samidoun in Germany
Its activities also involved organising both online and offline meetings, events, and demonstrations, as well as collecting donations.
 
Although, until the ban, German security authorities only identified around 100 active supporters of Samidoun in Germany, its ability to mobilise went far beyond this rather small number of hardcore Samidoun members and supporters.
 
In addition, until the official ban in November 2023, German authorities regularly took administrative and legal measures against members of the Samidoun network. For example, Khaled Barakat was banned from attending an event in Germany, and in 2020 he was both extradited and banned for four years from re-entry into Germany.
 
This cross-cutting nature and the activities of Samidoun reached a new level following the pogrom-like terror attack by Hamas against Israel on 7 October 2023. Samidoun mobilised immediately, both online and offline, and on the day of the attack, Samidoun supporters distributed sweets on a street in Berlin, documenting this on Samidoun-linked online profiles.
 
During these demonstrations, a significant number of criminal acts were committed, including regular and at times serious violence against the police, as well as open calls for the destruction of Israel.
 
This is also the case due to the nature of such administrative bans in Germany.
 
B) Administrative Bans in Germany
here are several reasons why administrative bans for organisations are a fairly effective protective tool in Germany.
 
This is based on a legal provision that allows these agencies to act if there are serious indications that the group or network operates in a systematic and sustained manner to undermine the basic tenets of the German constitution.
 
The group and network is officially informed that it is under observation and can challenge its classification as extremist in German courts.
 
Consequently, if sufficient evidence has been collected and once a ban is enacted—although it can be challenged in court—such challenges are usually not successful.
 
Administrative bans also extend to the online sphere: social media accounts are specifically listed in the banning order and subsequently have to be closed by the platforms, as they are now illegal to maintain in Germany.
 
In the case of Samidoun, one of its key slogans—“from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”—was also included in the banning order, as it denies the right of existence of Israel.
 
C) EU Terrorist List and Samidoun
This is quite a high bar, since the legal provisions that were developed over the past two decades in EU Member States relating to terrorism—although formulated agnostically—had very firmly a structure such as al-Qaida in mind.
 
This means that regularly violence-oriented extremism, such as actions by the Samidoun network, is not classified as terrorist during court proceedings in EU Member States.
 
As far as al-Qaida and ISIS and their global networks of affiliates are concerned, of course the United Nations Security Council sanctions regime closes this gap somewhat, as the EU transposes the sanctions decisions of the Council.
 
This challenge is similar for all extremist ideological phenomena, and therefore it is quite difficult to include new individuals, groups, or networks on the EU Terrorist List.
 
If Samidoun could be legally classified as a proxy for the PFLP in Europe, the chances would be higher that courts in EU Member States may be able to charge particular offences committed by members of Samidoun as terrorism-related and therefore enable the inclusion of Samidoun on the EU Terrorist List.

Thank you very much for your attention. I am very much looking forward to your questions.
Mzahen Alsaloum
Speaker

Mzahen Alsaloum former intelligence researcher and analyst, and HUMINT Programs Manager, as well as a former public figure in counterterrorism.

He has managed HUMINT programs, covering various topics, priorities, and jurisdictions for multiple agencies and intelligence contractors.

Now leading a company that globally provides human intelligence and business intelligence services, focusing on the standards of actionable intelligence.

Thank you very much. So I’m going to start from the point where, when you invited me here, you told me you wanted my contribution as a professional person in the human intelligence sector. Therefore, I will not talk from the perspective of lobbying, nor like PR, nor as an advocate for the Jews or for anyone else.
 
Let’s talk from a professional perspective, at the angle of the threats against European national security. Starting from the point that when I looked into these two organisations [Samidoun and Masar Badil] in the beginning, I saw that it is a very classic model—one we have seen with terrorist organisations that are listed inside Europe. They establish an NGO inside Europe, and the role of this NGO is only to promote and lobby for what appear to be human rights activities, attract funds, and collect money for humanitarian causes. But all of that is being used by the terrorist organisations that stand behind the NGOs.
 
We have seen this with several organisations. We have seen Wagner do that in Europe before; we have seen the IRGC, the Houthis, Hezbollah, and the Iraqi Shia militia groups—all of those groups have their own NGOs inside Europe. These NGOs act purely as human rights NGOs, human rights centres, or charity centres, and no one can touch them because what they do is simply weaponise the European legal system and the bureaucracy of the European legal system against Europe and against the West itself.
 
We are talking about several patterns that we have seen with the other NGOs of other terror groups, and that Samidoun and Masar Badil are doing as well.
 
The first one is money. Samidoun and Masar Badil are involved in collecting money right here in Europe—a lot—and in the West. Here we are talking about hundreds of thousands in contributions, where they weaponise human rights and the rights of victims in the Middle East to collect money from European people, and then use that money to fund the enemies of Europe.
 
Everyone these days, when we talk about the USAID investigations that are going on, is asking themselves: those who are investigating USAID are talking about cashing out corrupted people or cashing out terrorist organisations.
 
You know that most of the European funds that go to countries like Yemen, Gaza before the war, Syria, and a lot of conflict zones in Africa as well, end up in the hands of the de facto terrorist organisations that are ruling and governing these countries.
 
For example, in Yemen the Houthis have established a lot of local NGOs. With these local NGOs that they have established in these countries, they were taking the European funds that leave from Europe to middlemen who are trusted allies to Europe. And those trusted allies to Europe give the money to the local NGOs that they have links to. They just bring invoices from local traders to legalise the money or legalise the spending of the money.
 
Masar Badil and Samidoun are doing the same. And not only that, they are using the same route that some NGOs which have links to Hamas and Lebanese Hezbollah are using. They just send the money to local NGOs in neighbouring countries to the Palestinian territories, and then they cash out the money right there—such as in Lebanon and some other countries.The second point about threats against European national security is the strategic spying activities that these terrorist organisations are doing, or that they are recruiting their own people in organisations such as Masar Badil and Samidoun, and some other organisations that they have links to.
 
Groups such as the Houthis, the IRGC, the Syrian regime, Shia militia groups, and all of these—the axis of ‘resistance’ groups—all of them have their own recruits in the highest law-making institutes inside Europe.
 
I don’t know if any one of you knows this, but a poor country like Cuba made the worst and most dangerous spying operations against the most powerful country in the world, which is the US. In one case we have an ambassador who was spying for the Cuban regime for 40 years; and the second one, an intelligence officer who was a leader in the intelligence community, was spying for the Cuban regime for 20 years.
 
And none of these two people were recruited for money. For both of them, their motivation was their beliefs. They were believers in extremist left values, and Cuba just recruited them. And again, the only motivation wasn’t money—the only motivation was just beliefs.So what does it take for these people like Samidoun or Masar Badil to recruit people like that?
 
The second point is the smaller spying activities where we have smaller national security threats against Europe. In an event that happened recently in Europe, we already knew that some Palestinian-linked and axis of resistance-linked groups have their own recruits in some municipalities—we’re talking here about municipalities, something very simple, or train companies that operate trains.
 
They were able to extract information out of these recruits and used them to sabotage the infrastructure of that event, and it’s one of the biggest global events in the world that a very big European city has hosted. And again, none of these were recruited for money—all of these were recruited for their own beliefs.
 
The other point that I want to talk about: in the beginning of the war, in the beginning of the Russian terrorist aggression against Ukraine, we have seen it was exposed that in one of the European municipalities there was an extremist left recruit who was helping some criminal groups that have links to Russia and to the IRGC to smuggle weapons through some ports that are related to these municipalities.
 
And they wanted to use these weapons as sleeper cells when Russia wants to act inside Europe, or the IRGC, or any of their proxies want to act against Europe.
 
The third point about the threats that we have seen is that they are using the same pattern. We have seen recently a lot of actions taken in Germany against Shia religious centres—in the UK as well, but the UK is not a member of the European Parliament anymore. These actions were taken based on very small intel that came from the Middle East that these centres—all of these centres—are being used for the IRGC and their proxies to act as freely as they want inside Europe.
 
So they do whatever they want from inside Europe. They recruit sleeper cells inside the Middle East; they recruit people here. They help with illegitimate PR and lobbying activities. They are active in Europe for collecting money, laundering money, and smuggling money.I know a lot of you here are scared right now or freaked out, but that’s the reality we all have to see.
 
The point right now that I want to talk about is the solution. The problem is the whole European legal system. We can’t change the system. But the only solution is that we declare those two organisations (and just a small point that I will get back to later) declaring Samidoun without declaring Masar Badil will make it pointless.
 
But declaring those two terrorist organisations on the terror list will help a lot to avoid a lot of these activities.For example, if you don’t declare these two groups on the Terrorist List, these people can do lobbying, they can collect money, they can even recruit people into European government institutes, and no one will touch them. Why? Because when they go through the vetting system, or the recruits go through the vetting system, they will not appear in the system of the terror list.
 
So no one can take action on that, and no one will be aware of that.Just for your information, a group like the Houthis—it’s a group sitting in the Middle East which has committed crimes worse than ISIL—they are just completely behind in history (they don’t even know how to use phones)—they were able to send their own recruits to attend the most elite European events, just because they were not declared as terrorist organisations.
 
They took over and took control of the NGO file and were able to release visas for their own people inside Europe—just because this group is not designated. So when they push anyone as an independent activist, they will not appear in the system as a threat. They came here, did whatever they wanted, and some of these people were rewarded by being senior officials inside the Houthis themselves right now.
 
We have two solutions. The first one is we change the whole system—which we can’t do—or we designate them as terrorist organisations.
 
So from the operational and from the tactical point of view, the only solution is designating them.Again, why Europe cannot take action is because of the legal system. I will give two examples.The deputy CEO of Samidoun—who is originally European, I’m sorry to say that, with a full ‘white’ name [Charlotte Kates]—she is the Deputy CEO of Samidoun but at the same time she’s the focal point between Samidoun and Masar Badil.
 
And right now I will explain why declaring Masar Badil is as important as declaring Samidoun.But the deputy CEO of Samidoun, who is also a focal point between Samidoun and Masar Badil, was arrested before in the UK by the British authorities. They couldn’t do anything just because of the European legal system—it takes you into that loop: what comes first, the chicken or the egg? Should we get a warrant from the judge to investigate her?
 
But we can’t investigate her because we cannot take a warrant since we will be accused of spying against a European citizen, and all of these legal stories that we all know.Meanwhile, one of her colleagues—whose name was mentioned by one of my colleagues right here [Khaled Barakat]—one of her colleagues was arrested in a country that doesn’t have this distribution in their legal system, which is Israel. Within 72 hours of investigations, they exposed that he was involved in a lot of terror actions or terror-linked actions in Europe, in the West, and in the Middle East as well.
 
And he went to Israel as part of that arrangement. This lady that I’m talking about here [Charlotte Kates], last week she was at the funeral of Hassan Nasrallah, the biggest event for all the IRGC-linked terrorist organisations. She was there and she was there as one of the biggest leaders.
 
The same lady got a reward from the Iranian regime and from Haniyeh himself. And that reward was given to two individuals. She shared that reward with two individuals—the first one was Ziad al-Nakhalah, the head of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and the second one is Ismail Haniyeh, the former head of Hamas that we all know.
 
But Khomeini will not give her a reward just because she’s telling us that Israel is an apartheid regime. She’s supposed to be able to serve with her own organisation and her own teams; she’s supposed to be able to serve at the same level at what Hamas and PIJ themselves have served, for the benefit of the Iranian regime and its own interests.
 
Anyway, getting back to why it’s important to designate Masar Badil, as it has the same importance as designating Samidoun. All of these groups or all of these terrorist organisations throughout history have learned from their lessons.
 
So when they started in the ’90s or before the Arab Spring or even before the 7th of October terrorist attack, all of them were committing mistakes. And these mistakes that they were committing helped them later on to correct them.I will give an example. There is an organisation in the US which we worked with the law firm that was working on that case. It’s called AJP [Americans for Justice in Palestine], which is like the American copy of Samidoun and Masar Badil.
 
The head of it, one of its founders, we found out that he funded the group that conducted a terrorist attack in 1986 in Israel against American-Israeli citizens. And one of them was a child, just a kid, but they killed them because they are terrorists.
 
They learned—they just dissolved the organisation and established a new organisation that is known as AJP. And this new organisation has links to organisations sitting in the Middle East, and they do all the dirty work through Middle Eastern local NGOs and all the clean work goes through Western NGOs.
 
So right now Samidoun has committed a lot of mistakes, which now makes it dirty and makes it easier to be designated as a terrorist organisation. Then what they have done—the same as what they are doing always—they just established a new organisation called Masar Badil with a new board. None of the previous people are involved on paper, but we all know that they all collaborate and work together.And these people, just like if it was easy from a legal perspective to designate Samidoun, it will not be easier to designate Masar Badil since it did not commit on paper any bad activities.
 
They just learned their lesson from Samidoun.Right now I will get back to where I started from, to the ethical part. I’m done with the technical part, let’s say, or the professional part.
 
But I want to mention three points.The first point is that we have seen in Amsterdam where they have mass-attacked or used one small argument to mass-attack the Jewish communities and Jewish people. I have friends in the Balkans who helped Palestinians but they were attacked by extremist lefties by graffiti and by the dirtiest things you can ever see. They are under threat. I have friends all over Europe just because they are Jews they are under threat.
 
I don’t know if ethically that’s acceptable in 2025. I’m a child of a Muslim religious woman who wears a hijab, but my mum taught me: what I don’t accept on myself I would never accept on anyone else. So I don’t accept that anyone will come and commit any racist or any bad actions against her just because she’s religious and she’s wearing the hijab.
 
And this is the same value that I will apply to Jews or anyone else, if they became a victim of their own identity, whatever that identity is.
 
The second ethical point that I want to understand from everyone right here, or even those who are not here: these people are promoting and publicly promoting groups like the Syrian regime, Lebanese Hezbollah, IRGC, and Houthis. What is the difference between what these parties have committed against civilians in the Middle East, and even against Western citizens, and the crimes that ISIL has committed?
 
And I’m a victim of these groups: my brother was killed by a Jihad group, but the rest of the members of my family and the whole of my family was destroyed by the Iranian and Syrian regime alliance backed by Russia.
 
What’s the difference ethically? Just tell me what’s the difference between being beheaded by a knife carried by a Shia Islamist and being beheaded by a knife carried by a Sunni Islamist, or even a lefty or whatever the ideology is. The crime is a crime.
 
So what’s making you very comfortable about and accepting that these parties are—we are tolerant with promoting the crimes of these parties, and we are not tolerant with ISIL? What’s the difference?
 
The third ethical point that I want to conclude with—the worst thing we have seen in two wars. We have seen recently in the Syrian war, and it has been proven, that for this axis of resistance they did not mass-kill their own people not because they don’t want to, but because they just can’t.
 
And when they saw under Obama’s administrations for once that they could do that, they mass-killed the Syrian people. They mass-killed the Iranian people. They mass-killed the Iraqi people.
 
They mass-killed the Yemeni people. And they mass-killed the Palestinians themselves who just dared to say no to them.The second thing we have seen in the recent wars in the Middle East is that these terrorist organisations did not mass-kill the Jews and they did not repeat what Hitler has done, not because they cannot, because they don’t want to, or because they are ethical or their ethics will prevent them. It’s just because they can’t. Because when they could—for three hours—they have proven for all of us that they would do that.
 
In three hours they have done things that we would not—who would imagine that—like a teenage being beheaded after being killed and shot, and they just carry her phone and they film her on her live Facebook and they tag her mum and they just behead her and they just killed her.
 
And this article with its video is on CNN.So again, they did not do what Hitler has done to the Jews just because they can’t.And the duty of all of us right here is making sure that they can’t everywhere, they can’t mass-kill us—all of us who will be there to say no to them—just because we can deter them and we can ban them.The IRGC have used hitmen from some criminal mafias in Europe to kill three Iranian opposition figures in the West. One of them was in the middle of Amsterdam, and the other two nearby the ICC building inside The Hague.
 
What would guarantee that all of that would not happen? The only thing that guarantees it is designating such groups on the terrorist list.
 
And thank you.

Speaker Quotes

The time for inaction and looking the other way is over.
Bert-Jan Ruissen MEP
Bert-Jan Ruissen MEPEuropean Conservatives and Reformists Party, European Parliament
In this conference we are drawing the attention of course to two of such extremist organisations like Samidoun and its proxy Masar Badil. We have become too tolerant of intolerance.
Malik Azmani MEP
Malik Azmani MEPRenew Europe
By taking the step to designate Samidoun and Masar Badil as terrorist organisations the European Union would be sending a clear unequivocal message: we will not tolerate organisations that promote hate violence and terrorism within our borders.
Antonio López-Istúriz White MEP
Antonio López-Istúriz White MEPThe European People's Party
The activities of extremist groups like Samidoun and Masar Badil endanger not just one community but the stability and democratic fabric of all of Europe
Hannes Heide MEP
Hannes Heide MEPThe Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats
The now dissolved Cheikh Yassine collective - linked to Hamas and responsible for incitement leading to the murder of Samuel Paty - that's Samidoun.
Imam Hassan Chalghoumi
Imam Hassan Chalghoumi Founder and Chairman/President of the Conference of Imams of France
Samidoun is neither a peace movement, nor a human rights organisation. Samidoun celebrates terror, murder, rape, and hatred. It is a direct threat to our safety and we must treat it that way
Miloš Bokšan
Miloš BokšanPostgraduate student
We urge the European Parliament to ban Samidoun, to outlaw Masar Badil as terrorist-affiliated organisations. We ask you to help empower law enforcement and the judiciary to prosecute incitement before it leads to actual acts of violence
Angel Mas
Angel MasPresident of ACOM (Acción y Comunicación sobre Oriente Medio)
If Samidoun could be legally classified as a proxy for the PFLP in Europe, the chances would be higher that courts in EU Member States may be able to charge particular offences committed by members of Samidoun as terrorism-related and therefore enable the inclusion of Samidoun on the EU Terrorist List
Hans-Jakob Schindler
Hans-Jakob SchindlerSenior Director of the Counter Extremism Project
The only effective solution is to designate both organisations as terrorist entities. Simply adding Samidoun to the terror list without also including Masar Badil would render the effort pointless, as they are closely interconnected
Mzahem Alsaloum
Mzahem AlsaloumFormer intelligence researcher and analyst

Conference Documenation

IMPAC Report (2025) – The Urgent Need to Proscribe Samidoun and Masar Badil

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"Throw stones and shoot bullets. Bring your Kalashnikovs. Bring your rockets. From the river to the sea, Palestine is Arab. It is our resolute path to restore the Palestinian diaspora's voices and its guns. Defeating Israel means defeating the U.S. Defeating Israel means defeating Canada."

Mohammad Khatib, Brussels-based Samidoun European Coordinator (at a Samidoun rally in front of the European Parliament, September 2023)

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