France denies entry to Glasgow University chancellor after accusations of supporting Palestinian militants

Ghassan Abu-Sitta took part in a demonstration in support of the Palestinian people at University College London on Friday. Photo: BENJAMIN KREMEL/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

The chancellor of the University of Glasgow has been banned from entering France after he said he had repeatedly supported Palestinian militants.

Ghassan Abu-Sitta, a British Palestinian plastic surgeon, said he was thwarted by French authorities, banned from entering the country and sent back to London from Charles de Gaulle Airport.

Mr Abu-Sitta, who lives in London and joined pro-Palestinian student protests at UCL on Friday, was due to address the French Senate on Saturday but is instead forced to return to the UK.

The move follows a decision by German authorities last month to ban him from entering the UK Republic, which does not allow him to obtain a visa for one year throughout the Schengen area.

Europe is an accomplice, says the surgeon

Mr Abou-Sitta criticized France's decision, writing on X (formerly Twitter): «Fortress Europe is silencing witnesses to genocide while Israel kills them in prison.»

«Colonial genocide is a formative component European identity. Hence their desire to become accomplices in attempts to silence witnesses and arm war criminals.”

The surgeon had previously been accused of tweeting praise for an attack by two Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine militants in 1987 that killed Israeli soldiers.

In a Twitter post in 2019, he wrote: “They landed on gliders in our occupied territories and killed 30 Zionist soldiers in an hour. Glory to the martyrs.”

In December 2022, he tweeted: “We congratulate Hamas brothers and Popular Front comrades on the anniversary of the launch. May you always be truthful, loyal and dedicated to your cause, may you always be proud and may your enemy be humiliated.»

«I am completely against terrorism.»

Mr. Abu-Sitta expressed regret over his choice of words in the past, telling the Jewish Chronicle: «While I may have used emotional language in the past at a friend's funeral or after an extrajudicial killing, I vehemently oppose terrorism and civilian casualties on all sides.»

“As a surgeon, my calling is to preserve life, and I repeat my calls for a lasting ceasefire and lasting peace.”

The organizer of the Europe Ecologie Les Verts symposium, which was attended by Mr Abou-Sitta, condemned the decision ban him from entering France.

Senator Raymond Ponce Monge told Le Monde she “totally disapproves politically” of the incident.

Mr Abou-Sitta should have been scheduled to speak on the impact of Israeli attacks on Gaza's health care system.

He spent seven weeks last October and November working at Gaza's Al-Shifa and Al-Ahly Baptist hospitals.