A panel at Panteion University with a senior Hamas terrorist, who was released in February in exchange for hostages, will not take place at the Athens institution, after the university forbade the unauthorized event following a Jerusalem Post report.
The university issued a statement declaring that the Wednesday event with former senior Hamas West Bank official Abdel Naser Issa would not take place on its campus and that it was unknown to the administration.
"Panteion University was surprised to learn that an event is being planned on its premises featuring Abdel Nasser Issa as a speaker, organized by groups unknown to the University. 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," the university said, according to Alfavita, Esos, and Foititikanea.
"We issue a firm warning to organizations not affiliated with the University to refrain from taking initiatives without the knowledge of the administration and the University’s governing bodies, and to respect the code of conduct that governs the operation of a public university."
Gather for Gaza, one of the organizers of the event, decried the university's cancellation of the panel as "suppression and censorship," accusing the university of submitting to pressure from the Israeli embassy. The group announced on Tuesday that the event would instead be held at the Lofos Art Project, an art exhibition.
"Our event will go forward, in a new location, and with even greater resolve. We call on all students, workers, and communities of resistance to join us - to reject censorship, oppose normalization, and link struggles from Palestine to Greece and beyond," the groups said on Instagram. "The movement for Palestinian liberation cannot be silenced with repression, intimidation, or collaboration."
The organizing groups said the cancellation of their event represented an example of a campaign of pressure by Greek and European groups collaborating with Israel. They attacked the Greek state as a collaborator with Israel on military, economic, and diplomatic issues.
Issa released in exchange for hostages
Issa, described by organizers as a “Palestinian national leader, veteran of the resistance movement, and former political prisoner," was scheduled to speak about the role of global activists in the Palestinian movement.
According to Ynet and the Real Price Project, Issa was involved in two suicide bombings in 1995, leading to the death of 11 people and the wounding of over a hundred more.
A leader in the West Bank branch of Hamas, he continued to serve as a leader for prisoners while incarcerated. Issa was given two life sentences, but was released from prison in February in a ransom for hostages abducted during the October 7 Massacre.
Gather for Gaza, in cooperation with Stand With Palestine and Popular Front for Turkey, had attempted to hold a vigil marking the anniversary of deceased Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar at Athens' Syntagma Square. Police banned the planned October 16 event as a threat to public safety. Gather for Gaza said on Instagram that they were forced to relocate the event to the Exarcheia neighborhood.
Other organizers of the Panteion University event included the Anti-Imperialist Front, Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, and Masar Badil Palestinian Alternative Revolutionary Path Movement. The latter two groups are alleged to be proxies of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine terrorist organization.