A Palestinian advocate claims French officials are working to remove him from the country, alleging he represents a security risk and targeting him because of his pro-Palestinian organizing efforts.
Ramy Shaath, age 54, released an online video statement on May 14 claiming the deportation attempt represents part of what he called a wider effort to suppress Palestinians and those supporting Palestinian causes within France.
Following the beginning of the Israel-Hamas conflict, Shaath co-founded the pro-Palestinian group Urgence Palestine. He claims French officials are pursuing him after previous legal actions were unsuccessful.
The French Interior Ministry has not yet provided a response to requests seeking comment.
In his video statement, Shaath indicated the deportation effort came after previous challenges in renewing his French residency documentation, despite having family connections in France. He further claimed his banking account was terminated without notice and his health insurance coverage was canceled, stating these actions impacted his capacity to work, travel and obtain medical treatment.
Shaath indicated he and his family plan to fight the legal proceedings in both French and European judicial systems.
Born in Egypt and Palestine, Shaath previously led the Egyptian division of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign against Israel. He has consistently connected his Palestinian advocacy with resistance to authoritarian governments throughout the Arab region.
During a 2022 Associated Press interview following his freedom from Egyptian imprisonment, he characterized his advocacy work — spanning Egypt’s 2011 democracy movement to his involvement with the Palestinian-led boycott campaign against Israel — as “civil, nonviolent action against injustice, against inhumane treatment and against occupation as well as dictatorship.”
In 2014, Shaath established the Egyptian division of the BDS movement. Egyptian authorities detained him in 2019 and freed him in January 2022, following more than two and a half years in custody.
He stated at that time that Egyptian officials never officially filed charges against him and that he had been confined in an overcrowded, insect-infested cell before subsequently being placed alone in a room without windows.
French President Emmanuel Macron celebrated Shaath’s freedom from Egyptian imprisonment in 2022.
Shaath’s wife holds French citizenship and he has a daughter who is both French and Palestinian.
