- Dr. Abu-Sitta denied entry to France, faces repatriation
- Previously barred by Germany, now faces French travel ban
- Outcry over EU’s handling of his exclusion from events
A physician who spent 43 days in Gaza aiding in the treatment of Israeli conflict casualties, Ghassan Abu-Sitta, reported being denied entry to France, where he was scheduled to deliver a Senate address.
“I am at the airport Charles De Gaulle. I am being prevented from entering France by them. “Today, I am scheduled to deliver a speech at the French Senate,” Abu-Sitta announced via the social media platform X.
Fortress Europe is silencing the witnesses to the genocide while Israel executes them in prison,” continued the eminent plastic surgeon of Palestinian descent and rector of the University of Glasgow.
Abu Sitta was detained at the airport and will be expelled, according to Green Party member and French Senator Raymonde Poncet Monge, who had extended an invitation to him to deliver a speech at the Senate.
Guillaume Gontard, president of the Greens’ Senate group, described as “scandalous” the decision to obstruct Abu-Sitta and stated that he was in talks with the foreign and interior ministries to reverse the decision. Nevertheless, he further stated that the physician would “likely” be repatriated to the United Kingdom.
Poncet Monge stated later on Saturday on X that the seminar successfully incorporated Abu-Sitta through videoconference, enabling him to deliver a speech. She stated, “We are outraged that he is unable to be present among us.”
Last month, Abu-Sitta disclosed on X that he was denied entry to France due to a prohibition imposed by Germany. “They claim the Germans prohibited my entry into Europe for one year,” he wrote.
A French police source verified to AFP that France was unable to admit the doctor due to the German-issued ban on his entry into the Schengen zone, which is a borderless region of Europe and of which both France and Germany are members.
The French Foreign Ministry, the Interior Ministry, and the Paris airport authority refrained from providing an explanation or comment on the incident.
Carthyite cancer that travelled from France to Germany
Abu-Sitta was scheduled to deliver a speech at the Palestine Congress event in Berlin in April, but his entry was denied by Germany. He reported that he was detained at the airport for hours before being denied entry into the country.
According to data from the Economy Ministry, Germany is one of the largest military suppliers to Israel, sending 326.5 million euros ($353.7m) in equipment and munitions in 2023.
Organizer Nadija Samour stated at the time that the Palestine Congress was subject to “pressure from the federal government” to be cancelled, and that Germany was “actively and illicitly” attempting to obstruct the gathering.
Protesters and critics condemned the EU’s treatment of Abu-Sitta on Saturday.
France under Macron disgraced us. In a post on X, Mathilde Pinot, a deputy of the French National Assembly, insisted that Ghassan Abu Sitta be permitted to travel to France and attest to the atrocities occurring in Gaza.”
Former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis, who was similarly denied the opportunity to speak alongside Abu-Sitta at the Berlin Palestine Congress, stated that “the McCarthyite cancer has spread from Germany to France.”
He stated on X, “It is time for the entire European Union to unite against this flagrant attempt to shield apartheid-Israel from rational, humanistic criticism.”
Additionally, he cautioned that he intends to sue German authorities for breach of their refusal to comply with his attorneys’ request for an explanation regarding the reason for his suspension from Germany.
Since October 7, over 34,600 Palestinians have been slain and 77,800 have been injured in the Israeli offensive in Gaza.
Abu-Sitta said that hospitals were reduced to rubble and “became sites of mass graves of Palestinians murdered in cold blood by Israeli forces with their hands tied behind their backs” during his tenure in Gaza.
The Senate press service reported that the left-leaning Ecologists group had extended an invitation to Abu-Sitta to France on Saturday for a colloquium concerning the situation in Gaza. Testimonies from journalists, medical professionals, and international legal authorities with experience in Gaza were presented at the gathering.
