Prominent British-Palestinian surgeon Ghassan Abu Sittah said authorities in Germany have detained him and are refusing him entry into the country.
Abu Sittah was due to speak at a Palestinian conference in Berlin on Friday. The surgeon said he had been invited to the conference to speak “about my work in Gaza hospitals”. “The German government has forcibly prevented me from entering the country,” he posted on X.
Since leaving Gaza in late November, the doctor has been raising awareness about the impact of Israel’s war, which has killed more than 33,000 Palestinians.
In the initial weeks after Israel began its assault, Abu Sittah was the unofficial English-language representative of Palestinian doctors and surgeons treating Palestinians wounded by Israeli attacks.
He accused the Israeli military of using white phosphorus, which is illegal in built-up and populated areas like Gaza, and deliberately targeting children. In an interview with MEE after he left Gaza, Abu Sittah said medics were using household items to treat patients because of an Israeli-imposed blockade on medical equipment entering the enclave.
Berlin has been a key supplier of armaments to Israel in its war on Gaza and has also been one of its main advocates.
Germany is currently subject to an International Court of Justic (ICJ) case filed by Nicaragua, which accuses it of “facilitating” Israeli genocide in Gaza. The ICJ is also considering a case filed by South Africa accusing Israel of genocide.
There is no details in this article about why he was refused entry. Without that information it is impossible to assess the situation. The article in general feels like it is part of the propaganda war which is maybe more suited for communities such as !worldnews@lemmy.ml
What propaganda war? Germany’s propaganda war on Palestinians by blocking and arresting people that are telling the truth about israel’s Genocide in Gaza? Seems pretty relevant here.
Yeah, I tried to understand what’s going on, but it’s not easy to wade through all the propaganda. And at this point I don’t really care anymore. It looks like the congress was shut down because of a video by a guy named Salman Abu Sitta, who is considered an extremist by German authorities. Now they prevented this (other?) guy, Abu Sittah from entering. Could this be a mix-up? Who knows.