Call for a rally, Infomail 1275, February 10, 2025

Solidarity Rally in Berlin on February 13th at 4pm, at the Argentine Embassy, Von-der-Heydt-Straße 2.

At the end of February, Alejandro Bodart will be on trial again for his solidarity and support of the Palestinian people and their resistance to genocide. Bodart is a well-known leader of the MST (Movimiento Socialista de los Trabajadores) in the FIT-U (Frente de Izquierda-Unidad) and the International Socialist League.

In May 2024, he posted a tweet in solidarity with the murdered Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh with the comment “Zionists = Nazis“. On May 15, on the anniversary of the Nakba, he posted a critique of the “Zionist and genocidal state of Israel” and in defense of the right of the Palestinian people to resist.

In response, the Zionist organization DAIA (Delegation of Argentine Israeli Associations) accused Bodart of being guilty of “discrimination” (of the State of Israel) and “anti-Semitism” in three posts on social media and of violating the IHRA definition of anti-Semitism (IHRA: International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance).

These posts and many other statements of the comrade have nothing to do with anti-Semitism. Rather, this was and is about criminalizing criticism of Zionism and the State of Israel under the right-wing government of Javier Milei, a close supporter of Netanyahu. We have seen such procedures quite often here in Germany in recent months. In order to achieve this, the entire accusation is based on the reactionary equating of anti-Semitism with anti-Zionism.

However, the first trial ended with a crushing defeat for the prosecution! Bodart was acquitted of all charges. But the pressure was too great, as expected. At the end of December, the verdict changed. On December 30, 2024, the last business day before the January judicial recess, the Third Chamber of the Court of Cassation of Buenos Aires overturned the acquittal by a two-to-one vote, and the majority of the Chamber sentenced Alejandro to six months of probation and payment of the trial costs. However, the verdict is not yet final, and the result of the appeal will be heard by the end of February.

For the week of February 10-14, the MST has called for a week of international solidarity. Therefore, a rally will be held in Berlin on Thursday, February 13th at 4 pm in front of the Argentine Embassy, Von-der-Heydt-Straße 2.

Alejandro Bodart’s case is not a trial directed only against him, by any means. It is actually about the criminalization of any expression of solidarity with Palestine, while the State of Israel has committed more than 50,000 murders in Palestine and Lebanon in the last 15 months – mostly of women and children –, while Trump and Netanyahu openly plan to expel the inhabitants of Gaza. Instead of condemning them, it is people like Bodart and many others in such “democratic” states who are accused for reporting these crimes.

We say: Freedom for all activists of Palestinian solidarity! Freedom for Alejandro Bodart! Solidarity with Palestine: Committing genocide is a crime, fighting against it is not!