Edit: Imane Maarifi was released late this Thursday afternoon.
On the morning of Thursday, September 5, nurse Imane Maarifi was arrested and searched at her home, before being taken into custody. A repression that is apparently directly linked to her activist work in solidarity with Palestine. At the beginning of the year, Imane was the first French nurse to enter Gaza, where she worked for two weeks at the European hospital in Khan-Younès. Since her return to France in February, she has given her testimony on the horrors of the Israeli offensive to the National Assembly as well as to numerous media outlets, and has given a chilling account that goes against the grain of the sometimes invisibilizing, sometimes dehumanizing treatment of the fate of the Palestinians.
This new arrest, which is completely scandalous, is part of the repression of all support for Palestine at a time when the genocide continues, and several months after a resurgence of the solidarity movement, particularly in universities, following the bombing of Rafah. Today, the government and institutions continue their intimidation of any pro-Palestinian speech.
Over the past few months, Imane, a member of the French branch of the NGO PalMed, has continued to denounce the horrors she has seen there. In videos she filmed on her phone, she shows overcrowded corridors, minimal equipment for delicate operations, the cries of children treated on the floor and without anesthesia due to lack of space… It’s inhumane, we wouldn’t even treat animals like that. “, she denounced to France24.
Before this arrest, Imane had already suffered widespread censorship in France. In April, a security guard confiscated a Palestinian flag from her during a football match attended by Emmanuel Macron. She wanted to give him a collective testimony written by several doctors on the horrors of Gaza, and to communicate to him the urgency of a ceasefire.
Faced with this new arrest, it is urgent to denounce the French government’s campaign of intimidation against anyone calling for an end to the massacre in Gaza. We must build a broad front to prevent this type of attack from happening, which aims to silence any speech and any organization against the genocide. We demand the immediate release of Imane Maarifi and an end to this campaign of repression!
