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Senior Palestinian negotiator denies his son is a terrorist

Nabli Sha’ath’s son Ramy is the BDS movement’s coordinator in Egypt and reportedly was arrested for alleged terror involvement.

By World Israel News Staff 

Nabil Sha’ath, a longtime senior Palestinian figure who was considered a key negotiator in the 1993 Oslo Accords with Israel, argues that his son has been arrested by Egyptian authorities for supporting the anti-Israel BDS (Boycott, Divest, Sanctions) movement and criticizing Egyptian cooperation with U.S. Middle East policy.

The father denies the reported Egyptian allegation that his son was involved in aiding a “terrorist group” in connection with a case involving  Muslim Brotherhood members in Turkey who are suspected of plotting violence.

Ramy Sha’ath, 48, was taken from his Cairo home after midnight on July 5, according to a family statement issued on Wednesday, says Al Jazeera, a Qatar-based news outlet.

“At least a dozen heavily armed security agents stormed and searched his residence without presenting any legal document,” said the statement as reported by Al Jazeera.

“According to the lawyers for the Egyptian security, Ramy’s criticism of Egypt due to its participation in the Bahrain workshop, and his activity in the boycott movement against Israel serves those who are against Egyptian security,” Nabil Shaath said, in an interview with The New Arab, a pan-Arab media outlet based in London, as cited by Al Jazeera.

The Bahrain event, in late June, was aimed at advancing the economic standing of Palestinians. The Trump administration unveiled a $50 billion initiative which calls for a combination of public and private financing toward creating at least a million new jobs for Palestinians.

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However, Palestinian Authority (PA) head Mahmoud Abbas dismissed the workshop as an event which only promoted the interests of  President Donald Trump’s senior adviser Jared Kushner.

After disappearing for 36 hours, Ramy appeared before prosecutors and was charged with “assisting a terrorist group,” the family said in its statement, according to Al Jazeera.

“I have remained silent over the past period in the hope that the Palestinian diplomatic efforts will result in his release,” said Nabil Sha’ath in the The New Arab interview, “pointing out that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas personally contributed to those efforts, and the head of the Palestinian intelligence service Majid Faraj went to Egypt about six weeks ago” to work for Ramy’s release, said the pan-Arab news outlet.

“When Faraj met with Egyptian officials to discuss Ramy they told him: ‘He’s making us trouble, BDS is making us trouble, it’ll just be a few days and we’ll let him go,'” Nabil Sha’ath told The New Arab.

“That happened two weeks after the arrest. Now that it’s been over two weeks I can no longer remain silent,” he added.