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During an April 24, 2025 webinar celebrating the 71st birthday of Mumia Abu-Jamal, who is serving a prison sentence for the 1981 killing of a police officer, Rishi Arun, President of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) in Temple University, Philadelphia said: “It is our job to destroy imperialism, to destroy the United States […] by organizing in a way that actively undermines and destabilizes the legitimacy and power of the state.” Arun was one of the leading organizers of the Pennsylvania State student encampment in 2024. The event was titled “Twisted Laws: Mumia, Universities & Palestine.”
Mohammed Khatib, the Europe coordinator of the Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, a U.S- and Canada-Designated terror organization, spoke about the connections between student activism, Palestinian prisoners, and armed struggle. He added: “If Palestine is liberated, this means this is a nail to dismantle the United States of America.”
The webinar was shared on Samidoun’s website, and opened with a live audio call from Mumia Abu-Jamal himself, who praised the pro-Palestine movement as the most important freedom movement in modern America. Abu-Jamal’s connection to the live call was disrupted during his opening remarks, and the webinar proceeded without him. Samidoun has been designated a terrorist entity by both the U.S. and Canada and was described by the U.S. Treasury as a “sham charity” used to raise international funds for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). Khaled Barakat, the founder of Samidoun, has been identified by the U.S. government as a senior member of the terrorist group PFLP.
Mohammed Khatib, Samidoun: “We see this existential connection between the Palestinian student’s movement and the political prisoners.
[…]
“The Palestinian students, the day after the Oslo [Accords], they changed their activism from the campus to armed struggle.
[…]
“If Palestine is liberated, this is a nail to dismantle the United States of America.”
[…]
Bina, student activist: “We know it is a victory when a red triangle goes above an Israeli soldier’s head, and a pig gets iced. We know that is a victory. We know it is a victory when prisoners break out, we know it is a victory when all these things happen. But a lot of people don’t necessarily know that. And it’s not their fault they don’t know that. It’s our fault.”
[…]
Rishi Arun, Students for Justice In Palestine (SJP), Temple University: “We will free Mumia [Abu-Jamal] because it is our job to destroy imperialism, to destroy the United States, and to destroy capitalism, and the system of extraction that it relies on to perpetuate itself. We will do it by organizing in a manner that actively undermines and destabilizes the legitimacy and the power of the state, the power and legitimacy of capitalism.”
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"If Palestine is liberated, this is a nail to dismantle the United States of America." – MEMRI
