A French court has approved the deportation of Palestinian activist Mariam Abu Daqah, who arrived in France in September for a speaking engagement and was placed under house arrest following the "Hamas" attack. The ruling, which overturns a decision made by a court last month and appealed by the Minister of Interior, states that Mariam Abu Daqah (72), a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, is "likely to disturb public order severely."
Mariam spoke about her detention and being prevented from speaking on Tuesday before the court's decision, stating, "We are supposed to die without pain, without expressing our grief." The anti-occupation activist and women's rights advocate was invited to speak at the French National Assembly (the lower house of the French Parliament) on Thursday, but the Assembly's president barred her from participating.
The Council of State, France's highest administrative court, based its ruling on the activist's membership in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and her "leadership" role within the group. The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine is the second-largest faction in the Palestine Liberation Organization, recognized by the United Nations and Israel, but is listed as a terrorist organization by the European Union and has carried out attacks against Israelis.
Pierre Stamboul, an activist with the French Jewish Union for Peace who supported the Palestinian activist's appeal, noted that she has not held a senior position in the group for more than twenty years. Stamboul described the decision as "a continuation of criminalizing the Palestinian population."
The Minister of Interior's office did not respond to a request for comment. The court ruling did not specify a date by which she must leave the country or the location to which she must go. Mariam stated that she intends to travel to Egypt on Saturday and hopes the border crossing will open so she can return to Gaza.
She mentioned that ongoing Israeli airstrikes on Gaza have deprived her of sleep at night, and she feared checking her phone for more bad news. She added, "Death is much easier than staying here with my heart aching for them, or receiving news of someone's death every day."
