France has been accused of discriminating against Gazan artists and researchers by barring entry to residents of the enclave who have won scholarships to study and work in the country.
One scholarship recipient has said his life is “on hold” while waiting for permission to travel to France.
The delays began when French authorities announced in August that they would review all evacuations from Gaza after a student was found to have posted anti-Semitic statements on her social media accounts.
Evacuations appear to have not yet restarted, including for 21 Gazan awardees of a prestigious scholarship programme named Pause.
The programme allows artists and researchers from conflict-affected regions, including Gaza, Ukraine and Iran, to move to France with their families for a year or two on a special talent visa.
Past recipients include poets, writers and film makers, including Arab Nasser, who won a prize with his brother Tarzan at the Cannes festival last year for his film Once upon a time in Gaza.
Evacuations on hold
Today, about 21 recipients remain stuck in the devastated enclave for reasons they struggle to comprehend. Another two were evacuated by Spain and Italy but remain unable to enter France.
“Our goal is to find a peaceful environment for a limited period in order to carry out our research and artistic project,” Ahed Helles, an architect and rector of the faculty of fine arts at Al Aqsa University in Gaza, told an online news conference.
Mr Helles was awarded a Pause scholarship in April and was scheduled to be evacuated in June or July. But he was informed later that evacuations had been put on hold because of the anti-Semitism scandal.
The student at the heart of the case was not part of the Pause programme. She had been brought to France under different circumstances and was later transferred to Qatar.
“We fully understand the right of France to protect its security and to decide who is allowed to enter its territory,” Mr Helles said.
“But what was really painful for us is why my colleague and I are punished for something we didn’t do and that we condemn and reject?”
French language professor at Al Aqsa University, Ziad Mekdoukh, said he had been waiting for nine months to join University Bourgogne Europe in Dijon, eastern France.
“It's very difficult, it's complicated for us, especially in these inhumane conditions,” Mr Mekdoukh said. “There is anguish, fear, worry, and then there is the wait – waiting is a terrible feeling.”
Humanitarian conditions in Gaza remain dire despite a US-brokered ceasefire in October. Hundreds of Gazans have been killed by the Israeli military since.
More that 71,000 Gazans have died in Israel's retaliatory military operation after Hamas-led attacks killed 1,200 people in October 2023.
'A blatant act of discrimination'
On January 13, French authorities informed those involved in the Pause programme that Gazan applications would be suspended. The reason they put forward was that France could not evacuate Gazans, said French anthropologist and Palestinian art expert, Marion Slitine.
“Why can other countries like Spain, the United Kingdom, or Italy do so, and on a much larger scale than France?” Ms Slitine asked.
In total, 665 Gazans have been evacuated to France since late 2023, including 29 medical cases. Italy has evacuated a total of 1,006 Gazans, 849 of whom required medical care.
“This decision constitutes a blatant act of discrimination, linked to a geographical origin blocking potential witnesses of the continuing massacres in Gaza from leaving the territory,” Ms Slitine said.
The National has contacted the French Interior Ministry and Foreign Ministry, two of the four ministries that oversee the Pause programme, for comment.
The case of Gazan writer and Pause awardee Mahmoud Al Shaer has raised further questions.
He says he was evacuated four months ago from Gaza by Spanish authorities and was scheduled to start working in October in Paris at the College de France, one of the country's most prestigious research venues.
“I am in Europe. I am safe, but I still have the impression that my life is on hold,” Mr Al Shaer said, speaking from Spain.
It remains unclear why Mr Al Shaer has been unable to move to France.
'Concern and anger'
So far, 26 artists and researchers and their families have been evacuated to France under the Pause programme. Host institutions pay 40 per cent of their salary during their stay. The rest is paid by the state.
Some have decided to stay and ask for asylum.
“We have done our part and we are waiting for the government to do its part,” said Marie Antonelle Joubert, the director of a cinema school in the southern city of Marseille who has hosted Mr Nasser. His film has been described as a western-style comedy.
“In Once Upon a Time in Gaza, we see not just a plea for Palestine, but a genre that we rarely see and that Palestinian cinema must also be able to defend,” Ms Joubert said. “We bring in people who are needed in our field that is cinema.”
Sophie Wauquier, a linguistics professor at Paris 8 University, said that “the situation is causing perplexity and increasing concern, even anger”.
Anthropologist Didier Fassin from the College de France accused his country of “discrimination,” because only Gazans within the Pause programme are affected.
“By failing to honour its commitments, the French government brings dishonour upon our country,” Mr Fassin said.
France is more restrictive than other European countries when it comes to hosting people in exile, he added. “In the specific case of the Gazans, it is a near-total blockade.”
