France: Two months of Campaign in Defense of the pro-Palestine militant Alex
We share an unofficial translation of an article found in La Cause du Peuple.
Since the beginning of 2025, repression has only intensified against the pro-Palestinian movement. The case of Alex, a pro-Palestinian activist, is not an isolated one. In the face of State repression, activists have mobilized across France to defend him through a large counter-encirclement campaign.
On February 8, at the end of a demonstration for Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, organized by the Ligue de la Jeunesse Révolutionnaire (LJR), Alex gave a speech supporting the Palestinian Resistance. In this speech, he paid tribute to the Palestinian people and their Resistance, without which Gaza and the West Bank would no longer exist. For simply recalling a reality inscribed in international bourgeois law, Alex was arrested a month later, upon disembarking from a plane, on the tarmac, by anti-terrorist police.
Alex’s arrest is part of this process of repression against the pro-Palestinian movement. We also note the second dismissal of Timothée Esprit on the day of his reinstatement, a union leader known for his combativity and support for Palestine. We note the dissolution of Urgence Palestine, the searches against CAP Bordeaux, the imprisonment of Mahdieh Esfandiari1, the trials and police custody of Anasse Kazib and Rima Hassan, as well as the prosecutions and investigations against hundreds of anonymous activists.
This process of attack against democratic, progressive, and revolutionary activists, which has intensified in 2025 but began on the day after October 7, 2023, can and must be understood by all their supporters. Clausewitz and Chairman Mao developed this understanding, which applies to all phases and stages of class struggle. The enemy constantly tries to break the recognized leaders, i.e., those who have prestige among the masses; this is the case in Palestine and Lebanon with targeted assassinations, and this is the case in France with the arrest and repression of known and recognized activists. The enemy also tries to isolate the combative sectors from the rest of society. This is what is called “encirclement.” This is what the bourgeois state has already done in universities and unions to break the struggle.
In the face of encirclement, it is necessary to develop a “counter-encirclement.” In France, this means gaining strength where the state counts on a decline in the revolutionary movement. Through Alex’s case, activists from the LJR and the Unitary Campaign for the Liberation of Georges Ibrahim Abdallah have implemented numerous actions.
First, to avoid isolation. From the moment of his arrest, more than 70 organizations signed a communiqué, and nearly fifteen gatherings were organized in almost all major cities in the country, while police custody was not yet over. According to information from La Cause du Peuple, this weighed on the magistrates’ decision. Activists and pro-Palestinian militants then spoke out at numerous gatherings, demonstrations, resident events, anti-repression evenings, screenings, and everywhere possible. Finally, Alex himself was interviewed by La Cause du Peuple and affirmed having a “Dalton mentality”2: combativity, unity, refusal of opportunism.
A poster was quickly created. Hundreds, if not thousands, of people posed with it: in a video posted by the LJR, there are over a thousand people between photos and videos of slogans. Many intellectuals, politicians, and union leaders also showed their support for Alex, including Said Bouamama, Timothée Esprit, Ramzy Baroud, Philippe Poutou, Cem Yoldas (spokesperson for the Jeune Garde), Eric Coquerel (LFI deputy), and Ritchy Thibault… Revolutionary activists also highlighted the case of Mahdieh Esfandiari; they also linked it to the dissolution of Urgence Palestine.
But this also mobilized local union leaders, revolutionary, democratic, and anti-imperialist organizations. All of this represents the tip of the iceberg, the visible part of the national campaign. The most important part took place in the neighborhood where Alex lives and works. Thanks to the work in the neighborhood, a march was organized, especially with young people. Merchants displayed the poster of support for Alex in their store windows, and graffiti appeared on the walls, as well as many banners, which were only removed by the city services. Many residents accepted to testify to their indignation regarding Alex’s case. The residents committee was present at the different markets to spread the question to the residents, which was actually known to the majority, through word of mouth.
Finally, several events took place, such as soccer tournaments and barbecues, where solidarity with Alex was expressed. These different events allowed colleagues and residents to reestablish contact with the activist, which allowed them to break, once again, the isolation imposed by the State through the prohibition of demonstrations and work. Alex has indeed been suspended from his job since his arrest.
On May 13, Alex went to trial: it was postponed to January 2026. The organizations that support him have already announced that they will be present to support his struggle until that date. What is being judged, with the famous offense of “apology of terrorism”, is an offense of opinion, a “crime” that has no other victim than the French bourgeois state and imperialism, particularly French. The rights of the people are threatened as long as these manifestations of the arbitrariness of the bourgeois state are not denounced and exposed for what they are: an attempt to decapitate and isolate the movements. We will continue to report on the developments of this case in the columns of our newspaper until then.
1Mahdieh is a 35-year-old Lyonnais who has been imprisoned since February 28, 2025, at Fresnes prison for having been a translator in a Telegram channel.
2 A group of rappers from the 8th arrondissement of Lyon who were protesting politically against the fate reserved for young people from the neighborhoods, systematically imprisoned.
