France Begins Deportation Proceedings Against Palestinian Activist Ramy Shaath

Palestinian activist Ramy Shaath is facing deportation proceedings from France after authorities deemed his presence a "serious threat to public order," his lawyer said on Friday.

“Palestinian political activist Rami Shaath's lawyer said that French authorities have begun deportation proceedings after labeling him a 'serious threat to public order'”

Al-Jazeera Net

France 24 reported that Shaath, 54, is a co-founder of the Urgence Palestine organisation and a prominent figure of the 2011 uprising in Egypt, and that he spent 900 days in detention in Egypt between 2019 and 2022 before being released and allowed to join his wife in France.

Al-Jazeera Net

The Nanterre prefecture has notified Shaath’s lawyer that it intends to initiate deportation proceedings, and the notice seen by AFP cites his links to "figures of the Palestinian cause in France" and organisations including Urgence Palestine.

Shaath is scheduled to appear before a deportation committee on May 21, after which the prefecture "may immediately issue a deportation order that can be enforced at any time," according to his lawyer.

Damia Tahraoui told AFP that the Nanterre prefecture wants to begin deportation proceedings and that Shaath will be heard on May 21 by the Deportation Committee.

Tahraoui said the prefecture’s notice reviewed by AFP cites Palestinian issue statistics in France and Shaath’s ties to organisations including Origins Palestine, which he helped found after the Gaza war following Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

France 24

The notice also mentions repeated controversial acts and remarks during public appearances, including a November 2023 protest in Paris where Shaath denounced the criminal Israeli occupation of Gaza and referred to Israeli terrorists who bombed homes and hospitals.

In an interview with AFP, Shaath said, "My position has not changed since France worked to secure my release from Egyptian prisons where I was a political prisoner ... but today it seems they want to silence me."

Shaath’s lawyer said the deportation order cannot send him to Egypt because he no longer holds Egyptian nationality, and cannot send him to Palestine because the country is at war.

“Palestinian activist Ramy Shaath faces deportation from France after authorities deemed his presence a serious threat to public order, according to his lawyer, who told AFP on Friday”

www.al-bayader

The France 24 report said an investigation into the offence of "defending terrorism" opened over the remarks was closed in October 2024.

Arab48 described that Shaath’s side said he participated in demonstrations calling for an immediate ceasefire, an end to genocide, sanctions, an arms embargo, and international measures against Israel.

Arab48 also quoted Shaath’s position that "today it seems they want to silence him," framing the deportation proceedings as an attempt to stop his activism after France helped get him out of Egyptian prisons where he was a political prisoner.