On 17 January, activists in Vancouver, British Columbia, staged an action to demand the release of more than 10,000 Palestinian political prisoners held in Israeli jails. Organisers particularly highlighted Ahmad Sa’adat, a well-known figure in the Palestinian territories, as part of an international week of action in solidarity with the imprisoned leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).
Banners displayed off the side of a major viaduct in downtown Vancouver were visible to drivers, pedestrians, and riders on the city’s SkyTrain network that carries more than 300,000 people per day. At street level, activists handed out flyers and communicated statements from loudspeakers informing pedestrians of the conditions fostered by Israeli prisons that are putting the lives of Ahmad Sa’adat and other Palestinian prisoners in mortal danger.
The North Star spoke to several participants who explained why they had dedicated several hours of their Saturday to participate in the action organized by the Basil Al-Araj Prisoner Committee of the Canada Palestine Association.
Stephanie, a retired child therapist and counsellor, said, “I’m here because we can’t take our eyes off Palestine with all the stuff that’s going on in the world right now. It’s all crystallized in what’s going on in Palestine.”
She emphasized that the Palestinian political prisoners play a critical role in the leadership of the Palestinian national resistance. She added that, as someone in Canada who is anti-imperialist and supportive of the Palestinian resistance, participating in the campaign to release them is crucial.
“We have to free them. We have to get them out”
Another participant, Oscar, said: “I’m here for Ahmad Sa’adat. He’s the highest ranking elected Palestinian official in Zionist jails, and it is the 24th anniversary [of his imprisonment].” Oscar explained that Sa’adat was abducted by the Palestinian Authority in 2002 under false pretenses and held until 2006 in a West Bank Prison supervised by Canadian, British, and American officials.
The Canadian oligarchy continues to maintain its support for the Palestinian Authority, which is repressing popular opposition forces in the West Bank that oppose the influence of the United States, Europe and their allies. The Palestinian Authority has a long history of collaboration with the West and Israel and has remained in power since the Oslo Accords in the mid-1990s. The indirect result of this, however, is the ethnic cleansing being perpetrated today by Israeli paramilitary groups due to the absence of a sufficiently strong resistance force.
Ahmad Sa’adat has been at the top of Hamas’ list of priority leaders to be freed in recent negotiated prisoner exchanges. When asked why he’s such an important figure, Oscar said that he and other top national leaders are feared by Israelis and Zionists for the same reason they are popular among Palestinians: “He represents his people,” and; like the communist revolutionary Sa’adat, Abdullah Barghouti and Marwan Barghouti (other revolutionary nationalist leaders) are up at the top for similar popular support.
The annual week of action, from January 15 to 25, is coordinated internationally by the Samidoun Political Prisoner Solidarity Network. The prisoner advocacy organization, which was designated as a “terrorist entity” in an unprecedented move by Canada and the US in Oct 2024, highlighted that the 2026 week of action is particularly urgent.
Since October 2023, the Israeli prison system has deliberately withheld medical treatment and food from Palestinians while allowing diseases such as scabies to spread among prisoners. As a result of these inhumane practices and the frequent beatings and torture they’re subjected to, at least 87 political prisoners have been killed. The families of these prisoners are frequently forced to mourn over empty graves, as the prison system tends to keep their bodies instead of releasing them to be buried.
What is the PFLP?
Founded in 1967, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) is one of the oldest and most influential left-wing Palestinian political parties. Active in the student movement, trade unions and the media, it promotes resistance to Israeli occupation and socialism, shaped from its inception by the writer and theorist Ghassan Kanafani. The PFLP rejects the Oslo Accords and strongly supports the right of return for Palestinian refugees, a position that has earned it strong support in refugee camps throughout the region. The PFLP maintains that the Palestinian struggle is part of a broader fight against imperialism and the regional ruling elites.
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