Brussels, Belgium – The recent arrest of a Palestinian activist in Belgium has sparked vigilance as the organization he works describes as “a form of national harassment.”
Mohamed Hatib, the 35-year-old European coordinator of Samidoon, a global Palestinian prisoner solidarity network, was arrested on April 21 after attending daily protests calling for an end to the Israeli massacre against the Palestinians in Gaza.
Every night, dozens of people, several sports kefiers gather on the stairs of the old stock exchange in Brussels, drape the Palestinian flags down the stairs, and chant solidarity slogans in English, Arabic and French.
The presence of police is normal, but Hateb felt uneasy when he noticed the officer filming him.
He left at 7:30pm (17:30 GMT) and was stopped nearby due to what was called a “voluntary” ID check by local police.
He was arrested and taken to the central station in a police van. About 30 supporters gathered outside and chanted, “Free our comrades!” Before they were dispersed into the riot police around 10pm (8:00 GMT).
Katib was then moved to a nearby station. He was questioned without a lawyer and was released around 5am (03:00 GMT).
Khatib said he had been waiting for hours in cells before being asked for a few minutes about the incident in April 2024 when he was attacked with a knife. There was also a short trip to the hospital due to non-emergency medication.
“They did whatever they could to protect me,” Katib told Al Jazeera.
The Brussels prosecutor’s office told Al Jazeera: “Mohammed Khatib was arrested as part of an investigation into the events that took place in April 2024. He was released after interrogation.”
Tensions with the Belgian pro-Palestinian movement
Born in 1990 at the Einel Hillwe camp in Lebanon, the Palestinian refugee fled to Belgium at the age of 19, claiming to be exile in 2011 and co-founded Samidoon.
Samidun’s stance on Israel and Palestine has been designated Katib as a “serious” security threat by the Coordination Unit for Threat Analysis (CUTA), an independent body reporting to the Belgian Justice and Home Ministry.
Khatib said the April 21 officials first justified the arrest with Cuta designation.
It was the second time he was arrested. In October 2023, he was arrested at a demonstration after refusing to stop waving the Palestinian flag.
The latest detention “was nothing about what we were facing,” he said.
Samidoon called the arrest “a form of national harassment targeting not only Samidoon but also the prominent leaders of the growing movement against ongoing genocide in occupied Palestine.”
“It’s hard not to see it from that perspective,” refugee and immigration lawyer Benoit Donto told Al Jazeera. “Many people live in schizophrenia because of the lack of what Gaza genocide looks like in Europe.”
Meanwhile, “the disproportionate policing of the pro-Palestinian movement makes it extremely difficult to understand what is actually happening,” he said.
Author and journalist David Cronin wrote in Electronic Intifada:
Last May, police used water cannons and tear gas to disperse peaceful protests outside the Israeli embassy in Brussels. An open letter signed by Amnesty International described the measure as “in violation of international law.”
Earlier that month, when demonstrations at the US embassy came out of hours, police arrested about 40 protesters.
In a report on the status of the right to protest, released in July, Amnesty said administrative arrests are “increasingly being used to prevent people from participating in the protest.”
Human rights and immigration lawyer Helen Crocart told Al Jazeera “it’s not an isolated incident” and “it sometimes amounts to a complete threat.”
Samidun, crosshair cutiv
On October 15, then-State Immigration and Asylum Secretary Nicole de Moore announced the process of calling Katib, a Christian Democrat and what she called a “hate preacher,” exile.
“Even if someone has already been recognized as a refugee, even if the person turns out to be extremist, the perception can be retracted,” she said.
On the same day, the US and Canada blacklisted Samidoon, deeming it “fake charity” and accusing him of raising funds for the popular front for the liberation of Palestine, a “terrorist” organization.
Samidoun denied the allegation.
Germany banned Samidoon in 2023 and claimed it celebrated Hamas-led attacks in southern Israel on October 7, 2023. “Some Palestinians were distributing baklavas on the streets, and we were there with the flag of Samidun,” Katib said.
According to a Swiss government spokesperson, Katib has been banned from entering Switzerland for 10 years. He was not allowed to enter the Netherlands for a university lecture in October.
During the attack in October 2023, 1,139 people were killed and more than 200 were taken prisoner in Gaza. Since then, Israel’s latest war in Gaza has killed more than 52,000 people in the besieged enclave, including more than 17,000 children. Israel justified the onslaught in an attempt to crush Hamas.
According to a Cuta spokesman, Samidoun is classified as an “extremist” organization and “is not a criminal offence.”
“We’re more interested in focusing on leadership, our members, what they’re doing, and how they disrupt the public order and what they’re targeting,” the spokesman said.
The Belgian right-wing government, appointed in February, is significantly more sympathetic to Israel than its predecessor.
New Flanders Alliance Prime Minister Bad de Weber said Belgium would not arrest Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu despite the International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant being arrested on suspicion of crimes against humanity. Four months ago, then-liberal prime minister Alexander de Crueux said his objection.
According to official documents, the coalition led by De Wever is intended to “prohibit dangerous, radical organizations such as Samidun and for anti-Semitism.”
However, the ban will take a long time to implement, as Belgium’s position relies on decisions from the European Union and the UN Security Council.
De Moor’s successor, Anneleen Van Bossuyt, supports the initiative to revoke Khatib’s refugee status. Such decisions must be made independently by the committee chair for refugees and stateless persons and rely on evidence of serious crime.
A decision to strip someone of their status may be appealed, but once completed, the immigration office may issue an order for a person to leave the country.
The case relies on materials the authorities said were not even sharing with Khatib.
Dhondt warned of the “cold effect” on freedom of expression.
He said the government is using the Khatib case as a “propaganda tool” to demonstrate strong policies regarding “extremism.” [Khatib poses any threat]”.
Khatib denies all allegations of hate speech.
“If there was something they could use against me, I wouldn’t be sitting here, I would be in prison.
“The goal of this intimidation is to silence the movement, set our example and say, ‘If you do the same, this is your future.’ We fight against this. ”
“Smear Campaign”
Khatib previously called for the “dismantling” of Israel, saying, “We do not call Hamas attacks in Israel a terrorist attack, we call them legitimate resistance.”
Some mainstream activists are seen as hard-line positions by some mainstream activists.
Human Rights League, a nonprofit that criticized Belgian authorities for allowing weapons to be transported to Israel, does not fully support Katib’s views, “repeated the need to protect freedom of expression “anger, shock, or disturbing,” according to the European Court of Human Rights.”
“The position defended by Mohammed Khatib and Samidun can be described as undeniably radical, but to our knowledge, they have never been charged with criminal offences (including anti-Semitic statements) or have caused public disability,” the Rights Group said in its 2024 report.
The group linked Khatib’s case to other measures, including a local ban on Keffiyehs and other pro-Palestinian symbols, as well as a temporary suspension of decisions regarding the Palestinian asylum application. The report concluded that the lack of decision to revoke Katib’s refugee status suggests that there is insufficient evidence against him.
Last year, the Belgian coalition of progressive Jews denounced the “smear campaign” against Katib.
“Whatever the political difference is, this threat cannot bear it and shakes the foundations of our democracy.”
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