Samidoun Proxy Hosts Hamas Bomber and Mother of Teen Killer in International Webinar
Tariq El-Tahrir, proxy of U.S.-designated terror group Samidoun, held a webinar featuring a Hamas commander with 27 life sentences and a mother who praised her son for murdering an Israeli teen
An apparent proxy organization for U.S.-designated terror group Samidoun convened a webinar on December 7 titled “Intifada of Stones – Popular Resistance, Collective Memory and Grassroots Organization,” featuring speakers with direct connections to deadly terrorist attacks against Israelis.
The event, organized by the youth movement of Masar Badil, Tariq El-Tahrir, which operates in the United States and Canada despite government designations against its parent organization. A second webinar is scheduled for December 12 to discuss how student activists worldwide have “integrated the values and concepts of the Intifada” into campus movements.
Convicted Terrorists Featured as Guest Speakers
The webinar’s speaker lineup included Osman Bilal, a Hamas commander from Nablus who had been serving 27 life sentences before his release in a recent prisoner exchange. Bilal was reportedly involved in planning bombings that killed 12 Israelis and spent 30 years in Israeli custody as a key figure in Hamas’s Al-Qassam Brigades.
Also featured was Widad Barghouti, a lecturer at Birzeit University and mother of Qassam Shibli (Barghouti), one of the terrorists responsible for the 2019 murder of 17-year-old Rina Shnerb. Barghouti publicly stated that her greatest achievement was “giving birth to a hero”—referring to her son who participated in the August 23, 2019 bombing attack that killed the Israeli teenager and injured her father and brother.
The third panelist was Khaled Barakat, founder of Samidoun, a leader of the U.S.-designated terror group the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), and a Specially Designated National (SDN) under U.S. Treasury sanctions imposed in October 2024.
Operating Through Proxy Organizations
Masar Badil (Palestinian Alternative Revolutionary Path Movement) and its youth arm Tariq El-Tahrir Youth and Student Network appear to function as offshoots of Samidoun, which was designated as a terrorist entity by both the United States and Canada in October 2024 for its connections to the PFLP.
According to research by NGO Monitor, Masar Badil maintains clear organizational and leadership ties with Samidoun and the PFLP. The groups have continued operating in North America through these proxy organizations despite the official designations.
Canadian Jewish Leaders Demand Action
The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) responded sharply to news of the webinar, issuing a statement demanding government enforcement. “The government must ensure that the promotion of these illegal and dangerous entities has real consequences,” CIJA stated. “Canadians deserve to be protected from terrorist threats.”
CIJA had previously welcomed Canada’s October 2024 decision to list Samidoun as a terrorist entity, calling it “a significant step toward ensuring the safety and security of Canada’s Jews.”