A Gaza war surgeon from Scotland who praised the terrorist behind the murder of an Israeli rabbi as a ‘hero’ has been denied entry to France.
Dr Ghassan Abu Sittah was due to speak at the French parliament hearing on the Israel-Hamas conflict.
The medic was placed in a holding zone in the Charles de Gaulle airport and is waiting to be expelled, according to French senator Raymonde Poncet Monge, who had invited him to speak at the senate.
France’s refusal to allow the British-Palestinian surgeon to enter the country comes just weeks after he was also banned from entering Germany.
The French authorities did not give a reason for their decision to bar the doctor from entering.
Dr Ghassan Abu Sittah (pictured) has been banned from entering France where he was due to speak at the senate hearing on the Israel-Hamas conflict
The British-Palestinian medic took to X to document his ordeal, claiming that Germany (where he was blocked from entering last month) have put a one-year ban on him entering Europe
The high profile medic had been invited by French senator Raymonde Poncet Monge (pictured). She called the incident a ‘disgrace’ on X
The well-known critic of Israel posted on X, formerly Twitter, claiming to have been banned from entering France where he was due to speak at the senate.
The French foreign ministry, interior ministry, local police and the Paris airport authority would not comment on what happened or give an explanation as to their decision to bar Dr Abu Sitta.
He had been invited by France’s left-wing Ecologists group in the senate to speak at about the situation in Gaza, according to the senate press service.
Ms Monge called the incident a ‘disgrace’ on social media.
Last month he was ‘forcibly prevented’ from entering Germany to speak at a conference about his work in hospitals in Gaza.
The gathering was set to include testimony from medics, journalists and international legal experts with Gaza-related experience.
But he said he was stopped at passport control upon his arrival, held for several hours and then told he had to return to the UK.
He said airport police told him he was refused entry due to ‘the safety of the people at the conference and public order’.
Dr Abu Sittah has previously been banned from Germany where he was due to speak at a conference in Berlin. Police broke up the gathering and threatened pro-Palestinian protestors with prosecution
The critic of Israel claimed that he was being forced to take the last flight back to London and also accused Europe of being complicit in a genocide in Palestine in a series of posts
The medic has been seen sitting next to plane hijacker and member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Leila Khaled at a memorial service in 2019 (pictured far right)
He had been on his way to ‘The Palestine Conference. We will put you on trial’, an event calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, targeted by German pro-Israel organisations in recent weeks, inspiring calls for it to be banned.
As the medic was being held at the border, the event was shut down with Berlin police cutting off power to the hall where the conference was being held, warning pro-Palestine attendees and speakers ‘we will prosecute you’.
Dr Abu Sittah took to X to express his frustrations.
He wrote: ‘I am at Charles De Gaule airport. They are preventing me from entering France. I am supposed to speak at the French Senate today. They say the Germans put a 1 year ban on my entry to Europe.’
He followed this with several other posts including one which read: ‘In an act of utter vindictiveness the french authorities are denying me access to an earlier flight and insisting on sending me on the last flight back late night to London.’
While waiting he also posted another message where he accused Europe of being complicit in a genocide in Palestine.
He said: ‘Colonial genocide is a formative component of European identity. Hence their eagerness to become complicit in silencing the witnesses and arming the war criminals.’
Dr Abu Sittah was treating patients in Gaza after the onset of the conflict and has collaborated with Scotland Yard to help the International Criminal Court investigate alleged war crimes
Dr Abu Sittah has become a leading spokesperson on the situation in Gaza and has featured on national media outlets such as Sky News and the BBC since war broke out on October 7
Dr Abu Sittah became, one of the most prominent voices in the beleaguered Palestinian enclave after travelling to Gaza on October 9, two days after the conflict erupted, to attend to the wounded and report on the challenges facing the civilian population.
But the medic has since been put under investigation by the University of Glasgow, where he was recently appointed rector, after UK Lawyers for Israel referred the institution to ‘offensive social media tweets’ shared by Abu Sittah, commenting on the longstanding conflict.
Since being appointed as rector, Dr Abu Sittah has sought to change the University of Glasgow’s definition of anti-Semitism to remove linking any criticism of Israel with the term, distinguishing between criticism of Zionism and anti-Semitism.
He stated in his campaign manifesto: ‘While I am absolutely committed to tackling all forms of anti-Semitism, it is my belief that, by linking criticism of Israel to antisemitism, this definition threatens academic criticism of Israel and Palestinian solidarity events.
Dr Abu Sittah faced allegations he had shared offensive posts on social media. The Jewish Chronicle also revealed he had hailed Ahmad Jarrar, who organised the murder of father-of-six Rabbi Raziel Shevach near Nablus in 2018, calling him one of Palestine’s ‘dearest and best sons’ and a ‘hero’.
‘The martyrdom of the resistance member Ahmed Nasr Jarrar, the hero of the Nablus operation, at the hands of the Zionist occupation army… like the hundreds of resistance fighters who were martyred at the hands of this satanic alliance, represents a pivotal moment,’ he wrote in Lebanese newspaper Al Akhbar.
Professor Ghassan Abu-Sittah (pictured) returned to the UK after travelling to Gaza in October and has spoken at high-profile events calling for an immediate ceasefire
Palestinian Dr. Abu Sittah addressing students after becoming the Rector of Glasgow University. He has been put under investigation by the university after UK Lawyers for Israel referred the institution to ‘offensive social media tweets’
Dr Abu Sittah at a protest against the breaking up of a conference by police in Berlin in April
A year later, he was pictured sitting next to Leila Khaled, a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) who is noted for her role in the hijacking of TWA Flight 840 in 1969.
The PFLP took control of the plane travelling from Rome to Tel Aviv, carrying an American diplomat, and forced its landing in Syria, where they blew up the nose section of the aircraft.
There were no fatalities, but at least two passengers suffered light injuries.
Criticism of Abu Sittah’s associations and social media conduct provoked a probe by the university, confirmed by Principal and Vice Chancellor Sir Anton Muscatelli.
Sir Anton Muscatelli wrote to the UKLFI advocacy group saying: ‘The Rector is a wholly independent role (separate from University senior management) with no executive authority in the University, and whilst the Rector is free to express their thoughts and represent those of students- indeed this has been the case throughout history- we are clear these views are independent and do not represent those of the University.’
In video shared online, the doctor was seen finishing his address after becoming rector, quoting MP and Provisional IRA member Bobby Sands in saying ‘our revenge will be the laughter of our children’.
He also took the time to pay tribute to colleagues and ‘our land’ in Palestine in a teary address, receiving applause from the crowd.
‘My fear, shared by the University and Colleges Union, is that such a definition risks undermining freedom of speech and intellectual thought on campus.’
Abu Sittah returned from Gaza to east London after 44 days in Gaza treating patients and collaborated with Scotland Yard to help the International Criminal Court investigate alleged war crimes in the Israel-Hamas war.
He said earlier this year he hopes that by providing evidence of his time working in the strip, international bodies will ‘re-establish the norms of war that emerged after the Second World War’, which he argues have been broken since the ‘watershed’ conflict began in October.
The doctor, who is an honoury professor at King’s College London and Imperial College London, previously worked throughout other bloody wars in Iraq, Syria and Yemen.
He went on to become a founding member of the conflict medicine programme at the American University of Beirut.
MailOnline has contacted Dr Ghassan Abu Sittah for comment.
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