Raphaël Arnault (; born Raphaël Archenault, ; 8 January 1995) is a French

anti-fascist Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were op ...

activist and politician, currently member of the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

for

Vaucluse's 1st constituency The 1st constituency of the Vaucluse (French language, French: ''Première circonscription de Vaucluse'') is a French legislative Constituency (France), constituency in the Vaucluse ''Departments of France, département''. Like the other 576 Fre ...

. A member of

La France Insoumise La France Insoumise (LFI or FI; , ) is a left-wing political party in France. It was launched in 2016 by Jean-Luc Mélenchon, then a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) and former co-president of the Left Party (PG). It aims to implement th ...

, he founded the

Jeune Garde Antifasciste The Jeune Garde is a French anti-fascist organisation. History The Jeune Garde was founded in January 2018 in Lyon. In 2019, a Strasbourg section was founded and in 2020, a section in Paris was founded. In 2021, local sections in Lille and Mon ...

in 2018, and serves as its spokesperson. He has been flagged with three fiches S by law enforcement.

Early life and career

Arnault was born at the Hôpital de la Croix-Rousse in

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

. He first became involved in politics because of the

2016 protests Sixteen or 16 may refer to: *16 (number) *one of the years 16 BC, AD 16, 1916, 2016 Films * '' Pathinaaru'' or ''Sixteen'', a 2010 Tamil film * ''Sixteen'' (1943 film), a 1943 Argentine film directed by Carlos Hugo Christensen * ''Sixteen'' ...

against the

El Khomri law The law no. 2016-1088 of August 8, 2016 relating to work, the modernization of social dialogue and the securing of professional careers is a piece of national legislation in France relating to employment. It is commonly known as the El Khomri law ...

. He joined the

New Anticapitalist Party The New Anticapitalist Party ( , NPA ) is a far-left political party in France founded in February 2009. The party launched with 9,200 members and was intended to unify the fractured movements of the French radical Left, and attract new activ ...

and was its candidate in

Rhône's 2nd constituency The 2nd constituency of the Rhône ( French: ''Deuxième circonscription du Rhône'') is a French legislative constituency in the Rhône ''département''. Like the other 576 French constituencies, it elects one MP using a two round electoral s ...

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

Controversies

Legal issues

In 2022 Arnault was convicted of "violence in a group" after an altercation with an alleged

far-right Far-right politics, often termed right-wing extremism, encompasses a range of ideologies that are marked by ultraconservatism, authoritarianism, ultranationalism, and nativism. This political spectrum situates itself on the far end of the ...

activist, although Arnault appealed the judgement.

Israel–Hamas war

On May 6, 2024, he was summoned by the police without being prosecuted, following a press release dated 7 October 2023, in which he described

Hamas The Islamic Resistance Movement, abbreviated Hamas (the Arabic acronym from ), is a Palestinian nationalist Sunni Islam, Sunni Islamism, Islamist political organisation with a military wing, the Qassam Brigades. It has Gaza Strip under Hama ...

as a

resistance movement A resistance movement is an organized group of people that tries to resist or try to overthrow a government or an occupying power, causing disruption and unrest in civil order and stability. Such a movement may seek to achieve its goals through ei ...

: "Today, the Palestinian resistance has launched an unprecedented offensive on the Israeli colonial state". The communiqué was withdrawn the same day, according to Raphaël Arnault, "in view of the horrors that were manifested" during the attack.

References

Living people Deputies of the 17th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic La France Insoumise politicians New Anticapitalist Party politicians French anti-fascists French politicians convicted of crimes Politicians from Lyon Members of Parliament for Vaucluse Candidates for the 2022 French legislative election 1995 births {{France-politician-stub