An employee of Samidun, recognized as a terrorist, is prohibited from entering Holland

Mohammed Khatib, a Palestinian activist from Brussels and the European coordinator of an organization designated as a terrorist organization Samidunwho was scheduled to give a speech at Radbaud University in Nijmegen in the Netherlands this week, was denied entry by Dutch authorities.

A joint statement issued by Justice and Security Minister David van Weel and Asylum Minister Marjolein Faber declared Khatib’s presence in the Netherlands “highly undesirable”, with both officials adding that Khatib “legitimises, justifies and glorifies violence… including violence from the side of organizations”. on the European Union’s terrorist list… (and) also actively expresses his support for terrorist organizations,” warning of the radical consequences of his rhetoric.

The ban comes just a couple of weeks after the US and Canada designated his organization Samidoun as a terrorist group, and it follows a submission passed by The Dutch Parliament ban and the group, which must go through the government to enter into force.

In their designation, the US and Canada described Samidoun as a fundraiser on behalf of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a designated terrorist organization that was involved in killings and hostage-taking during the October 7 massacre and was behind the 2019 assassination of Rina Shnerb and an Israeli minister Rehavama Zeevi in 2001, among others.

Khatib is the European coordinator of Samidoun, a group designated by the US, Canada and Israel as a shell charity group that raised funds for the PFLP and was banned in Germany for promoting violence and threatening public safety. He was also mentioned as a member of the PFLP in several Palestinian and Arabic-language media.

This is not the first time Khatiba has been denied entry into the country. In 2017, he was denied a visa to the US for similar reasons. In this context, it was reported last year that Khatib was at risk of having his asylum status revoked in Belgium because of his activities.

Khatib is also known for his ties to terrorist leaders: in 2024 he held and organized two webinars with Hamas leaders Basem Naim and Hussam Badran as a leading figure in Masar Badil, another PFLP affiliate, and Samidun, which endorses violence and terror and operates throughout Europe and beyond, showing a broad relationship with these figures.

Exposing violent rhetoric

Khatib’s violent rhetoric has been exposed on several occasions, most notably during a 2022 rally where he stood alongside operatives dressed as militants from the terrorist organization Lions’ Den outside the European Parliament in his sanctuary city of Brussels, calling for the collapse of the European Union and the defeat of ” it is a colonial entity” along with Israel, Canada and the United States.

In another case, in 2023, also in Brussels, he led a protest called “Long live the rifle!” Long live the Lion’s Den!” and praising the “Gaza resistance” as “the sole representative of the Palestinian people” and rejecting what he saw as the “f***ing, racist, two-state solution”.

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On his website, Samidun condemned the decision to ban Khatib from entering the Netherlands:

“These repressions are another form of support for genocide and an attempt to silence every voice of opposition to Dutch complicity in the occupation. Furthermore, the ban is a racist and colonial tool used to restrict the freedom of movement of Palestinian refugees who are no longer able to enter their homeland. It is also intended as an attack on the Palestinian liberation movement in general and in particular on the thousands of Palestinian prisoners who are fighting and organizing under torture and ill-treatment by the Zionist regime in their colonial prisons.”

According to a report released this month by the European Leaders’ Network (ELNET), the Netherlands is a hotbed of fundraising activities linked to Hamas, led by one of the main operators on the continent, Lebanese-Dutchman Amin Abu Rashed, who was arrested last June year on suspicion of transferring millions of dollars to Hamas through fictitious charities.