“What to Do When You Too Become a Terrorist”: Pro-Palestinian Network Publishes Counter-Designation Guide
Executive Summary
A guide distributed via Samidoun’s Telegram channel offers tactical and ideological advice to activists and organizations designated as “terrorist” entities, particularly in the context of pro-Palestinian resistance. It denounces Western and Israeli security frameworks, encourages non-compliance, and outlines digital security and counter-repression strategies.
Analysis
This document — titled “What to Do When You Too, Become a Terrorist” — is a practical and political handbook aimed at activists and organizations facing designation as “terrorist” entities by Western or allied governments, particularly those supporting the Palestinian resistance. It is attributed to the Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network and distributed via Telegram and aligned platforms.
The text frames state repression and designation as badges of honor, calling on supporters to reject distancing themselves from labeled organizations. It views “terrorist lists” not as neutral legal tools but as instruments of imperialism, racism, and genocide, particularly in their application against Palestinian and allied movements. Specific condemnation is directed at recent U.S. Treasury Department sanctions and designations targeting Palestinian charities and solidarity organizations. These are described as part of a U.S.-Zionist policy aimed at starving Gaza and erasing Palestinian organizing in exile.
Operationally, the document offers detailed guidance for maintaining activism under surveillance or threat of prosecution. Recommendations include forming defense plans ahead of arrests, collective risk management, encrypted communications, anonymous digital operations, and preemptive migration of digital infrastructure outside jurisdictions likely to comply with U.S. or Israeli enforcement. The guide stresses that political clarity and group cohesion are more important than secrecy alone in defending against infiltration or disruption.
It also critiques the “innocence” narrative often adopted by defense lawyers, urging instead an unapologetic stance that aligns with and celebrates the armed Palestinian resistance. The broader message is one of defiance and persistence: activists are encouraged to escalate their organizing, rather than retreat, following criminalization or designation.
The guide closes with a reaffirmation of internationalist solidarity, asserting that designations are inevitable in serious anti-imperialist work. By refusing to moderate their demands or isolate targeted organizations, the authors advocate for normalization of resistance to state repression.
