Gaza activists on a speaking tour in France were detained, awaiting deportation. After a judge authorized her deportation, Palestinian activist Mariam Abudaqa—who had traveled to France on a speaking tour in September—was taken into jail in Paris on Wednesday night, according to her attorney.
Abudaqa, 72, is a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), and the Conseil d’Etat, France’s highest administrative court, ruled on Wednesday that he is “likely to seriously disturb public order.”
After being placed under house arrest for four days in October, Abudaqa stated that she would be departing Paris for Egypt on Saturday.
Her attorney stated that she is presently detained at a Paris police station. The police did not immediately respond to a request for comments. Following the Oct. 7 onslaught on Israel by Hamas terrorists, which, according to Israeli figures, claimed 1,400 lives, the French government has clamped down on shows of support for Palestine. Authorities in France have banned or canceled events and protests and accused pro-Palestine organizations of supporting terrorism.
Health officials in Gaza, which is under Hamas control, estimate that Israel’s retaliatory attack on the territory has killed over 10,000 Palestinians. According to Abudaqa, since the start of the conflict, her family has lost thirty people.
“We are meant to pass away without even groaning or showing our agony,” Abudaqa declared during a press conference on Tuesday.
The French National Assembly president had prevented the anti-occupation and women’s rights campaigner from attending an event on Thursday, even though she had been asked to speak there. Abudaqa’s membership in the PFLP served as the foundation for the Conseil d’Etat’s decision, which declared that she has a “leadership” role.
The PFLP is the second-largest component of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), which has attacked Israelis and has UN and Israeli government recognition. The EU has placed the PLO on a blacklist.
Pierre Stambul, an activist with the Union of French Jews for Peace, supported Abudaqa’s legal challenge by claiming she had not held a leadership position in the group for over 20 years.
According to him, the ruling represents a “continuation of the criminalization of the Palestinian population.”
The office of the interior minister did not return requests for comment. According to Abudaqa, she is having problems falling asleep as a result of the ongoing Israeli raids on Gaza and is afraid to check her phone for fear of receiving worse news.
“My heart hurts for them, but dying is far easier than being here. Or having to hear about one of them passing away daily,” she remarked.
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