Samidoun’s European coordinator Mohammed Khatib is set to be deported from Greece less than a year after Belgium revoked his citizenship, the group announced on Saturday.
The Greek government arrested and detained Khatib at Heraklion Airport as he was en route to a speaking engagement in Crete. Khatib was told he was inadmissible to Greece due to reasons of “national security.”
The order to arrest him was, according to Samidoun (the Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network), issued on December 24, 2025.
“Contrary to the strong sentiments and solidarity of the Greek people with Palestine, the Greek government is once again carrying out the will of the Zionist entity, the United States, and EU imperialist powers like Germany,” Samidoun said in a statement.
“This is only the latest repressive incident targeting the movement for Palestine, especially in Europe and North America, including the ongoing attacks on the Samidoun Network, denials of entry for Mohammed Khatib in the Netherlands, Switzerland, and now Greece, attempts to revoke his asylum status in Belgium, the ban on Samidoun in Germany, and its designation on ‘anti-terror lists’ in the United States and Canada.”
Supporters of Khatib gathered outside the central police station in Heraklion on Saturday to protest his detention.
Despite his absence, the Assembly of Solidarity with the Palestinian People event took place as planned.
As well as controversial Anti-Imperialist Front speaker Konstantina Kartsióti, the event featured a live phone conversation with the “Palestinian national leader, veteran of the resistance, and former political prisoner currently living in exile,” Abdel Nasser Issa.
Issa is a senior Hamas terrorist who was released in February 2025 from an Israeli prison in exchange for Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza. Issa was controversially slated to take part in a panel discussion at Panteion University in Athens last year. However, this was later cancelled following coverage by The Jerusalem Post.
Panteion University said at the time that it was “surprised” to learn that an event was being planned on its premises featuring Abdel Nasser Issa as a speaker, “organized by groups unknown to the University.”
The university added, “We categorically state that no related request has ever been submitted, nor has any authorization been granted for this particular event, and it is evident that Panteion University has not invited the said speaker. Therefore, the event will not take place.”
Issa was involved in two suicide bombings in 1995, leading to the death of 11 people and the wounding of over 100 more.
At Saturday’s event, Issa called for the continued fight against Zionism, as well as “Nazism and fascism,” and expressed support for Khatib.
“The arrest of Comrade Mohammed should motivate us all to continue our struggle and fight for just causes, and specifically for Palestine,” he said, according to the recorded video.
In August 2025, Belgium revoked Khatib’s refugee status, which he had held since 2015.
He is registered as a “hate preacher” with the Belgian Coordination Unit for Threat Analysis (CUTA) due to his overt support for Palestinian armed resistance, and his “respect” for Hamas and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), which are both on the list of terrorist organizations in the EU.
Heraklion Police did not respond to a request to comment by press time.