PARIS: Palestinian activist Mariam Abudaqa, who came to France for a speaking tour in September, was taken into custody on Wednesday night in Paris after a court approved her deportation, her lawyer said.
Wednesday's ruling by the Conseil d'Etat, France's highest administrative court, said 72-year-old Abudaqa, a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), was "likely to seriously disturb public order."
Abudaqa, who had been put under house arrest for four days in October, had said she planned to leave Paris for Egypt on Saturday.
She is currently being held in a police station in Paris, her lawyer said. Police did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The French government has cracked down on expressions of solidarity with Palestine in the wake of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas militants who killed 1,400 people according to Israeli tallies. Some protests have been banned and events cancelled, and French authorities have accused some pro-Palestine groups of condoning terrorism.
More than 10,000 people have been killed in Hamas-controlled Gaza by Israel's retaliatory assault on the enclave, according to health officials there. Abudaqa said she had lost 30 members of her family since the beginning of the war.
"We are supposed to die without even saying ouch, without expressing pain," Abudaqa said at a news conference on Tuesday.
The anti-occupation and women's rights activist had been invited to speak at the French national assembly at an event on Thursday, but her participation was blocked in October by the Assembly president.
The Conseil d'Etat based its ruling on Abudaqa's membership of the PFLP, stating that she occupies a "leadership" position.
The PFLP is the second largest faction in the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO), which is recognised by the UN and Israel, but is blacklisted by the EU and has carried out attacks on Israelis.
Pierre Stambul, activist with the Union of French Jews for Peace which supported Abudaqa's challenge in court, said she hadn't held a senior position in the group for more than twenty years.
The decision is a "continuation of the criminalisation of the Palestinian population", he said.
The interior minister's office did not respond for comment.
Abudaqa said she has trouble sleeping as Israeli strikes on Gaza continue and has become scared of checking her phone, for fear of more bad news.
"Death is much easier than staying here, while my heart aches for them. Or having to receive news every day of one of them dying," she said.
Gaza activist on speaking tour in France detained, awaiting deportation
Gaza activist on speaking tour in France detained, awaiting deportation
- French government cracked down on expressions of solidarity with Palestine in the wake of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel
Washington presses Syria to shift from Chinese telecom systems
- Syria is exploring the possibility of procuring Chinese technology
- It was unclear whether the United States pledged financial or logistical support to Syria to do so
DAMASCUS: The United States has warned Syria against relying on Chinese technology in its telecommunications sector, arguing it conflicts with US interests and threatens US national security, according to three sources familiar with the matter.
The message was conveyed during an unreported meeting between a US State Department team and Syrian Communications Minister Abdulsalam Haykal in San Francisco on Tuesday. Washington has been coordinating closely with Damascus since 2024, when Syria’s now President Ahmed Al-Sharaa ousted longtime leader Bashar Assad, who had a strategic partnership with China.
Syria is exploring the possibility of procuring Chinese technology to support its telecommunications towers and the infrastructure of local Internet service providers, according to a Syrian businessman involved in the procurement talks.
“The US side asked for clarity on the ministry’s plans regarding Chinese telecom equipment,” said another source briefed on the talks.
But Syrian officials said infrastructure development projects were time-critical and that Damascus was seeking greater vendor diversity, the source added.
SYRIAN OFFICIALS CITE US EXPORT CONTROLS AS TELECOMS BARRIER
Syria is open to partnering with US firms but the matter was urgent and export controls and “over-compliance” remained an issue, according to person familiar with the meeting in San Francisco.
A US diplomat familiar with the discussions told Reuters that the US State Department “clearly urged Syrians to use American technology or technology from allied countries in the telecoms sector.”
It was unclear whether the United States pledged financial or logistical support to Syria to do so.
Responding to Reuters questions, a US State Department spokesperson said: “We urge countries to prioritize national security and privacy over lower-priced equipment and services in all critical infrastructure procurement. If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.”
The spokesperson added that Chinese intelligence and security services “can legally compel Chinese citizens and companies to share sensitive data or grant unauthorized access to their customers’ systems” and promises by Chinese companies to protect customers’ privacy were “entirely inconsistent with China’s own laws and well-established practices.”
China has repeatedly rejected allegations of it using technology for spying purposes.
The Syrian Ministry of telecommunications told Reuters any decisions related to equipment and infrastructure are made “in accordance with national technical and security standards, ensuring data protection and service continuity.”
The ministry said it is also prioritizing the diversification of partnerships and technology sources to serve the national interest.
Syria’s telecom infrastructure has relied heavily on Chinese technology due to US sanctions imposed on successive Assad governments over the civil war that grew from a crackdown on anti-government protests in 2011.
Huawei technology accounts for more than 50 percent of the infrastructure of Syriatel and MTN, the country’s only telecom operators, according to a senior source at one of the companies and documents reviewed by Reuters. Huawei did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Syria is seeking to develop its private telecommunications sector, devastated by 14 years of war, by attracting foreign investment.
In early February, Saudi Arabia’s largest telecom operator, STC, announced it would invest $800 million to “strengthen telecommunications infrastructure and connect Syria regionally and internationally through a fiber-optic network extending over 4,500 kilometers.”
The ministry of telecommunications says that US restrictions “hinder the availability of many American technologies and services in the Syrian market,” emphasizing that it welcomes expanding cooperation with US companies when these restrictions are lifted.
Syria has inadequate telecommunications infrastructure, with network coverage weak outside city centers and connection speeds in many areas barely exceeding a few kilobits per second.
