Renowned British-Palestinian surgeon denied entry into France
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A systematic effort appears underway to silence Dr. Abu Sitta for his vocal condemnation of Israeli atrocities with Berlin authorities forcefully barring his entry into the country in April to attend a conference.
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Palestinian doctor Ghassan Abu Sitta during an interview for AP in Beirut, Lebanon, on Saturday, December 9, 2023. (AP)
Renowned British-Palestinian doctor and humanitarian, Ghassan Abu Sitta, who volunteered in Gaza hospitals during the first weeks of the Israeli genocide, was reportedly barred from entering France while at Charles De Gaulle Airport.
Abu Sitta, scheduled to speak before the French Senate, expressed frustration as authorities cited a purported one-year ban imposed by Germany on his entry to Europe.
In a social media post, he said, "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."
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.
— Ghassan Abu Sitta (@GhassanAbuSitt1) May 4, 2024
In another post, Abu Sitta lamented what he described as "Fortress Europe" silencing witnesses to the ongoing genocide, while "Israel" continues to target and kill them even within prison walls.
Fortress Europe silencing the witnesses to the genocide while Israel kills them in prison.
— Ghassan Abu Sitta (@GhassanAbuSitt1) May 4, 2024
Simultaneously, human rights activist Salah Hamouri affirmed to Al Mayadeen that Dr. Ghassan Abu Sitta was informed at Charles De Gaulle Airport of a German decision to prohibit his entry. Hamouri further stated that Dr. Abu Sitta has been notified of a comprehensive ban on his entry to European countries. In further detail, he informed Al Mayadeen that Abu Sitta's phone had been seized.
The detention of Dr. Abu Sitta, as reported by Hamouri, comes in the wake of Germany's recent decision to bar him from entering the Schengen area for one year.
In April, authorities in Berlin raided a conference titled the Palestine Congress, where Dr. Abu Sitta was scheduled to participate, abruptly cutting off electricity and terminating the weekend-long event.
The conference was aimed at addressing various issues, such as German arms exports to "Israel" and expressions of solidarity with the Palestinian cause.
Dr. Abu Sitta reported that after prolonged questioning, the German government forcefully barred his entry into the country.
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Germany's expulsion of Dr. Abu Sitta instigated widespread condemnation from activists and human rights groups.
Slow death, no anesthesia; Abu Sitta recalls horrors he saw in Gaza
Palestinian doctor Ghassan Abu Sitta spent 43 days under fire in Gaza. What he witnessed during his voluntary work in the besieged Strip's hospitals left him with a lot to tell about the Israeli atrocities committed against civilians.
When he left Gaza because he could no longer perform surgeries due to a shortage of medical equipment, he decided to advocate for the Strip through other means.
Speaking to AFP last January, Abu Sitta detailed the testimony he provided to the British police regarding attacks against civilians and the types of weapons used, hoping it would lead to trials for war crimes.
Having worked for weeks in hospitals in #Gaza during the Israeli aggression on the Strip, renowned British-Palestinian plastic surgeon, Dr. Ghassan Abu Sitta bore witness to the horrific crimes that were committed there.#PalestineGenocide#GazaUnderAttack pic.twitter.com/aOVCQuh0lF
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) December 11, 2023
The results of the Israeli aggression on Gaza, where Abu Sitta arrived on October 9 as part of the Doctors Without Borders team, surpassed the horrors of all the wars he had worked in before, including Gaza, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, and southern Lebanon.
"It's like the difference between a flood and a tsunami; the scale is entirely different," he expressed, emphasizing the large number of casualties, martyred children, the magnitude of the disaster, and the intensive bombings, causing the Gaza healthcare system to be overwhelmed within days of the war's start.
The Palestinian doctor pointed out that from the beginning, the capacity was lower than the number of patients that had to be treated, adding that doctors had to make difficult decisions about whom to treat.
He recounted the case of a 40-year-old man with a head shrapnel injury who needed X-rays and examination by a neurosurgeon, but those were not available as told to the patient's family who stayed around the stretcher he was placed on that night until his martyrdom in the morning.
Anesthesia and painkillers quickly ran out in hospitals, forcing Abu Sitta to perform painful cleaning procedures for wounds on injured individuals without the possibility of relieving their pain. He made it clear that this was the only available option, or else see the wounded succumb to widespread inflammation in the blood.
Abu Sitta also confirmed that he treated people with burns caused by white phosphorus, which is prohibited by international law, explaining that it is an injury that can be distinguished from other injuries and that phosphorus continues to burn into the deeper parts of the body until it reaches the bones.
Since leaving Gaza, the Palestinian doctor has spent most of his time alerting political leaders and humanitarian organizations to the genocide in the Gaza Strip. In this regard, he said that he is trying to help the patients in Gaza as much as he can by conveying their voices abroad.
He also noted that he informed the London police about the injuries he witnessed, the types of weapons used, and the use of white phosphorus, as well as the attacks against civilians.
Elsewhere, Abu Sitta, who narrated how he survived the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital massacre on October 17, concluded by stressing that "ultimately, justice will reach these individuals, after five or ten years, or when they are in their eighties when the balance of power in the world allows justice for the Palestinians."
