Activist jailed by Egypt sees wider struggle for rights

By JOSEPH KRAUSS
Associated Press

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — Ramy Shaath is an outspoken opponent of Arab dictatorships and Israeli rule over the Palestinians. He is part of a generation of activists who see them as two sides of the same coin. It’s not known why exactly Egyptian authorities confined Ramy to a packed and filthy cell for over two years before releasing him last month. But his brand of rights-based activism is clearly seen as a threat by both Israel and its growing roster of autocratic Arab allies. Shaath, 50, the son of a prominent Palestinian politician, is more focused on human rights than on the ideological and territorial disputes of their parents’ generation.