France expelled a 72-year-old Palestinian activist, Mariam Abu Daqqa, to Egypt on Friday following a prolonged legal battle over her stay in the country, according to police. Abu Daqqa, a prominent member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), labeled a “terrorist” organization by the European Union, was taken into custody after the State Council overturned a previous court decision that had temporarily halted her expulsion.
Despite having a 50-day visa for conferences on the Middle East conflict, the Interior Ministry deemed her presence a risk in the aftermath of the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel. Abu Daqqa participated in two banned conferences during her time in France.
While awaiting a flight to Cairo at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport, she criticized her expulsion as an assault on Palestine’s right to statehood, identity, and existence, describing the process as undemocratic.
Her lawyers, Elsa Marcel and Marie David, announced plans to appeal and potentially bring the case to the European Court of Human Rights. France, with sizable Jewish and Muslim communities, has experienced heightened tensions amid the Israel-Hamas conflict in the Gaza Strip.