The release of Lebanese revolutionary Georges Abdallah has been met with widespread celebration among Palestinian and Arab Resistance groups, who described his freedom as a symbolic victory over decades of Western and Zionist pressure.
Abdallah, now freed after 41 years in French prisons, was lauded for his unwavering support of the Palestinian cause, his principled stance in the face of pressure to renounce his beliefs, and his commitment to the Resistance.
The Popular Resistance Committees in Palestine extended congratulations to Abdallah, his family, and the Lebanese people, emphasizing that his steadfastness behind bars had served as an enduring symbol of Resistance. “Even from his cell, he defended the cause of Palestine and undertook hunger strikes in solidarity with Palestinian detainees,” the group stated.
“Georges Abdallah’s 41-year imprisonment is a stark and undeniable message: the collective powers of colonialism and Western arrogance are enemies of our people and our nation. His release must serve as both an inspiration and a call to action for all segments of our Ummah to unite, to reject submission and dependency on the global forces of hegemony, chief among them the Zionist entity, the head of terrorism and criminality, America, and the oppressive Western regimes,” the group added.
Abdallah’s release: Symbol of enduring resistance
The release of Lebanese revolutionary Georges Ibrahim Abdallah has drawn praise from Palestinian Resistance factions, with Hamas and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) framing the moment as a triumph of steadfast resistance and a renewed call for liberation across the region.
Hamas hails Abdallah’s return ‘crowned with dignity and honor’
Senior Hamas official Ali Barakeh extended congratulations to the “brotherly Lebanese people” on the occasion of the release of revolutionary activist Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, who arrived in Beirut today “crowned with dignity and honor” after spending 41 years in French prisons “injustice and aggression”, a price he paid for his unwavering support for the Palestinian Resistance.
Barakeh affirmed that Georges Abdallah, through his unwavering steadfastness over four decades in prison, embodied a living model of committed resistance and loyalty to Palestine. He described Abdallah’s struggle as a “true expression of the unity of liberation movements” among the free people of the Arab world and beyond, emphasizing that his stance reflects the centrality of the Palestinian cause in the conscience of all free peoples.
The Hamas official added that Abdallah’s release represents a historic achievement and serves to refocus attention on the complicity of Western administrations with “Israel” and their blatant bias against all those who resist oppression and hegemony. “This case,” Barakeh said, “will remain alive, a testament to the hypocrisy of those regimes.”
Abdallah a ‘symbol of revolutionary steadfastness and national dignity’: PFLP
Meanwhile, the PFLP issued a powerful open letter addressed directly to Abdallah, delivered in the name of the movement, its Secretary-General Ahmad Saadat, and its entire membership. Written by Deputy Secretary-General Jamil Mizher, the letter praised Abdallah as a “symbol of revolutionary steadfastness and national dignity.”
“You were not merely a Lebanese detainee, but a Palestinian detainee in the fullest political sense,” the letter read. “You were not imprisoned because you fought in Lebanon alone, but because you declared from the moment of your arrest: ‘Gaza runs in my blood, and resistance is the inalienable right of peoples.’”
The PFLP described Abdallah’s commitment to Palestine, the dignity of Arab peoples, and global liberation as unwavering despite four decades of imprisonment. The letter celebrated his principled stance, stating, “Though you are now free, you were never absent from the conscience of the world’s free people.”
“Today you are free, and tomorrow, surely, the sun of freedom will shine upon all those heroes whose voices you carried from behind bars,” the letter concluded, pledging eternal loyalty to Abdallah’s path and reaffirming the resistance’s commitment to the cause of Palestine.
Abdallah’s release rekindles hope for Palestinian detainees held in ‘Nazi-like’ conditions: PIJ
In a similar vein, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad Movement echoed the sentiment, hailing Abdallah as “a symbol of Palestinian and global resistance against Zionist and American tyranny.” The group said his release rekindles hope among thousands of Palestinian detainees held in “Nazi-like” conditions by the Israeli occupation.
Franjieh congratulates Abdallah
Sleiman Frangieh, leader of the Lebanese Marada Movement, marked the occasion in a brief post on X, writing, “Congratulations on your freedom after such a long journey of imprisonment and struggle.”
Abdallah ‘a mountain of dignity’: Al-Nasr Amal movement
The al-Nasr Amal movement described Abdallah as “a mountain of dignity” whose return reaffirms the path of resistance. “He never compromised, never faltered, and remained a free man,” their statement read.
“The banner of Resistance and Palestine shall not fall,” the movement stressed.
‘Palestine was always Abdallah’s unwavering compass’: DFLP
Ali Faisal, Deputy Secretary-General of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, underscored the political weight of Abdallah’s release. “He defied the will of the United States and Israel. Today is Georges Abdallah’s day. Tomorrow, freedom will come to Gaza and all Arab detainees.”
“Gaza stood by the struggle for the freedom of the great fighter Georges Ibrahim Abdallah. Palestine was always his unwavering compass,” Faisal emphasized.
Lebanese Popular Conference calls Abdallah’s continued imprisonment ‘scandal, shame’
The Lebanese Popular Conference noted that Abdallah’s continued imprisonment, despite completing his sentence in 1999, was a “scandal and a shame” orchestrated under American and Israeli pressure. It emphasized that Abdallah’s return marks a day of joy for all those resisting normalization and occupation, from Lebanon to Yemen.
As Georges Ibrahim Abdallah returns home, his release is being hailed by Resistance movements across the Arab world not merely as a personal homecoming, but as a landmark moment in the ongoing struggle for Palestine, one that underscores the enduring power and moral weight of principled resistance in the face of colonial oppression.
Who is Georges Abdallah?
Born in 1951 in Qoubaiyat, a town in northern Lebanon, Georges Abdallah came from a Maronite Christian family. He pursued higher education in France, where he studied philosophy at the University of Toulouse. It was during this period that he was first exposed to leftist and revolutionary thought, which would come to define his political identity.
Abdallah returned to Lebanon at the outbreak of the Lebanese Civil War in the mid-1970s and joined the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command (PFLP-GC). Motivated by anti-colonial conviction and belief in the Palestinian cause, he embraced the path of armed struggle, which would later draw the attention of Western intelligence services.
Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Abdallah was an active figure within leftist revolutionary circles in Lebanon and the wider Arab world. He was aligned with Arab nationalist and anti-imperialist movements and maintained close ties with several European leftist groups that shared his views on resistance and decolonization.
During this period, operations carried out by groups allegedly linked to Abdallah targeted Israeli and American diplomats in Paris. Although no direct evidence connected Abdallah to these actions, they placed him squarely in the crosshairs of Western and French security agencies.
Arrest and trial in France
Abdallah was arrested in Lyon, France, in 1984 on charges of carrying forged documents. Within a short time, the case escalated as French authorities accused him of participating in acts of terrorism, largely due to his political associations and prior membership in the PFLP-GC.
Despite the lack of solid evidence, his case became highly politicized, fueled by media campaigns in France and the US. From the beginning, human rights organizations and legal observers regarded him not as a criminal but as a political prisoner, which became the more prevalent view worldwide.
In 1987, Abdallah was sentenced to life imprisonment, which was said to have been the product of a political trial, not one grounded in law. As years passed, questions surrounding the fairness of his trial and the independence of the French judiciary intensified, especially after the release of declassified documents suggesting that US pressure had directly influenced France’s refusal to grant parole.
According to Jacques Attali, a senior advisor to then-President François Mitterrand, there was “no legal evidence” against Abdallah apart from his possession of a forged passport.
Blocked release despite legal eligibility
Abdallah became eligible for parole in 1999, having fulfilled all legal conditions for early release. However, successive French governments repeatedly refused to execute court decisions authorizing his release, citing “diplomatic pressure”, primarily from Washington.
At one point, the French government demanded guarantees from Beirut that Abdallah would be repatriated to Lebanon immediately upon release. But even these assurances failed to overcome the political blockade imposed on his case.
For over four decades, Georges Ibrahim Abdallah remained confined in a French prison cell, unrepentant and unwavering. Never once did he express regret for his beliefs, nor did he agree to any compromise in exchange for early release. Instead, he held firm to his revolutionary and political convictions, authoring letters and essays from behind bars that reflected a sharp political consciousness and steadfast commitment to the Palestinian cause and regional liberation struggles.
Abdallah consistently rejected conditional release offers that required him to renounce his ideological positions. This unyielding stance earned him widespread respect across Arab and international progressive movements.