Since the terror attack on Israel on October 7 last year and the subsequent conflict in Gaza, International Forum has managed to gather many Danes in support of Palestine through demonstrations and engagement on social media. However, the organization has been involved in more controversial activities, which are now being revealed.
It turns out that International Forum has arranged lectures with leading figures from the Palestinian terror organization PFLP (Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine). This revelation comes shortly after it was known that the organization also sells merchandise in support of PFLP, which both the EU and the USA have classified as a terrorist organization. According to legal experts, this sale and other activities related to PFLP may be in violation of anti-terrorism laws and therefore illegal.
International Forum has repeatedly invited Khaled Barakat, who according to foreign media and Israeli intelligence services is a leading figure in PFLP and a member of their central committee, to give lectures. Barakat has been denied entry into Germany due to his connections to PFLP, and there has been debate in the Canadian Senate about his deportation from the country. Nevertheless, he has been welcomed to speak at International Forum events both in Helsingør and Copenhagen.
In 2018, for example, Barakat spoke at International Forum’s headquarters in Nørrebro in front of a PFLP banner. His lecture was mentioned in a report by the Israeli government on connections between pro-Palestinian associations and terrorist organizations. Previously, in 2015, Barakat also discussed topics such as a potential new intifada and PFLP’s visibility in the media in the same venues. Here, he also floated the idea of ​​collaboration between PFLP and other Palestinian terrorist organizations such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
But Khaled Barakat is not the only PFLP leader who has spoken at International Forum. In September 2021, a lecture was held with Salah Salah and Samira Salah, who both according to International Forum have had central roles in PFLP since the organization’s inception. The topics of their lectures included Palestinian prisoner escapes and the conditions for Palestinian refugees in Lebanon.
International Forum has refused to comment on these revelations, but their activities now bring up the question of how a Danish organization can justify supporting a terrorist organization. The organization, which describes itself as a solidarity organization, has been very successful in mobilizing people for Palestine demonstrations and has gained tens of thousands of followers on social media.
This revelation raises several questions that International Forum has not yet answered: Why have they repeatedly held lectures with PFLP leaders? What was discussed during these lectures? Have they had further contact with PFLP leaders? And how can they defend supporting an organization that is on the EU’s list of terrorist organizations?