A talk on Friday by two Palestinian terrorists released in ransom deals for the hostages of the October 7 massacre at the San Lorenzo headquarters of Argentina’s State Workers Association (ATE) was canceled following police action and legal action against the event.
ATE Rosario and Action for Palestine Rosario announced that the event hosting remote talks by Hamas terrorist Osman Bilal and Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine commander Nader Sadaqa had been canceled after Santa Fe Police deployed at the event.
The union branch said in a statement that the gathering of forces, including riot police, without a warrant or explanation for their actions, was intended to intimidate participants.
The deployment allegedly came at the behest of the provincial Security Ministry and the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office, the latter of which ostensibly stemmed from a Delegacion de Asociaciones Israelitas Argentinas (DAIA) complaint.
The Federal Prosecutor's Office told The Jerusalem Post on Monday that it did not order the provincial police to intervene with the event, and it did not know if the order came from the local security ministry or provincial prosecutors.
Anti-terrorism, or an act of censorship?
DAIA Rosario said in a Friday Instagram post that it filed a complaint with the federal prosecutors about the event over possible advocacy for crime, inciting hatred, and engaging in discriminatory acts.
“It is unacceptable that a union should promote spaces that could legitimize, disseminate, or vindicate individuals involved in acts of terrorist violence, thereby undermining the fundamental values of democratic coexistence, social peace, and respect for life,” DAIA said on social media.
“Therefore, the urgent intervention of the federal justice system has been requested in order to investigate the facts and adopt the preliminary measures and evidence securing measures that correspond according to law.”
Action for Palestine Rosario said on Sunday that it was organizing a protest for Wednesday against the act of “censorship.”
“Faced with this affront to freedom of expression by the government, and the attacks by pressure groups like the DAIA and affiliated media outlets, we reaffirm our position and call for continued organization and a stronger expression of solidarity with political prisoners,” the group said on Instagram.
Before the event’s cancellation, the pro-Palestinian organization had slammed “local Zionism” for launching a harassment campaign through the media against the event by labeling it as “supporting terrorism.”
In a Sunday Instagram post, the Sante Fe Socialist Workers’ Movement accused media outlets, including the Post, of persecuting the event organizers.
Bilal was serving 27 life sentences before he was released last February alongside hundreds of other terrorists in exchange for hostages Avera Mengistu, Eliya Cohen, Hisham al-Sayed, Omer Wenkert, Omer Shem Tov, and Tal Shoham.
According to the Palestinian Information Center, Bilal was involved in the planning of the July 1995 Ramat Gan and August 1995 bus suicide bombings, which collectively murdered 12 and wounded over 140.
Sadaqa, a Samaritan man, served 22 years of his six life terms before being released as part of the October ceasefire deal and exiled to Egypt, according to Ynet. He served as one of the commanders of the PFLP’s Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, and in 2004 was indicted for involvement in a series of attacks, including the December 2003 Geha Junction bombing, the February 2003 Mount Gerizim attack, and the April 2003 Beqaot base attack.
Those three attacks alone resulted in the death of four civilians and four soldiers, and 34 were wounded.