Palestinian activist Ramy Shaath said in a May 14 video statement that French authorities are seeking to deport him, accusing the government of retaliating against him for his pro-Palestinian advocacy. The Associated Press reported that Shaath, 54, called the move part of “a broader campaign to silence Palestinians and supporters of the Palestinian cause in France.”
Shaath, who helped found the advocacy group Urgence Palestine after the start of the Israel-Hamas war, said the deportation proceedings followed difficulties renewing his French residency papers. He also alleged that his bank account had been closed without warning and his health insurance card suspended, measures he said have affected his capacity to work, travel, and receive medical care.
France’s Interior Ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment, the wire service reported.
Shaath, an Egyptian-Palestinian by birth who is married to a French citizen and has a French-Palestinian daughter, said he and his family would challenge the proceedings before French and European courts.
The activist has a long history linking his Palestinian advocacy with opposition to authoritarian rule. In a 2022 interview with the AP after his release from an Egyptian jail, he described his activism — from Egypt’s 2011 pro-democracy uprising to his role with the BDS movement — as “civil, nonviolent action against injustice, against inhumane treatment and against occupation as well as dictatorship.”
Shaath was arrested in Egypt in 2019 and held for more than 2½ years. He said authorities never formally charged him and that he was kept in a packed, bug-infested cell before being isolated in a windowless room. French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed Shaath’s release in 2022.
The deportation threat adds to a series of measures Shaath says are aimed at discrediting his activism. He remains in France while the legal process unfolds.