Outstanding surgeon says he was denied entry to Germany for a pro-Palestinian convention

BERLIN (AP) — A distinguished British-Palestinian surgeon who volunteered in Gaza hospitals through the first weeks of the Israel-Hamas war mentioned he was denied entry to Germany Friday to participate in a pro-Palestinian convention — an occasion that police later ended early.

Dr. Ghassan Abu Sitta mentioned he arrived at Berlin airport on Friday morning earlier than being stopped at passport management, the place he was held for a number of hours after which instructed he needed to return to the U.Okay.

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Airport police mentioned he was refused entry because of “the safety of the people at the conference and public order,” Abu Sitta instructed The Related Press by telephone. There was no speedy remark from German federal police.

Physician Ghassan Abu Sitta, a Palestinian-British plastic surgeon specializing in battle medication, speaks throughout an interview with The Related Press on the Institute for Palestine Research in Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Dec. 9, 2023. A distinguished British-Palestinian surgeon who volunteered in Gaza hospitals through the first weeks of the Israel-Hamas conflict mentioned he was denied entry to Germany on Friday to participate in a pro-Palestinian convention — an occasion that police later ended early. Dr. Ghassan Abu Sitta mentioned he arrived at Berlin airport on Friday morning earlier than being stopped at passport management, the place he was held for a number of hours after which instructed he needed to return to the U.Okay.  (AP Picture/Hussein Malla)

Abu Sitta mentioned his ban was to final till Sunday, masking the deliberate length of the Berlin convention he was to attend, entitled the Palestine Congress. The gathering was to debate a spread of matters, together with German arms shipments to Israel and solidarity with what organizers known as the Palestinian wrestle.

Berlin police mentioned later Friday they pulled the plug on the occasion, attended by as much as 250 folks, on its first day after a livestream was proven of an individual who’s banned from political exercise in Germany. They would not determine the particular person, however mentioned they determined after a authorized evaluation to finish the congress and requested these attending to go away.

Organizers wrote on social community X that the convention was “banned by the police without reason.”

Germany stays one among Israel’s staunchest defenders, even at a time of rising worldwide outrage over the hovering Palestinian dying toll in Gaza, which has surpassed 33,000.

German officers have pressured Israel’s proper and responsibility to defend itself because the begin of the conflict — although their tone has step by step shifted, with Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Overseas Minister Annalena Baerbock more and more decrying the worsening humanitarian state of affairs in Gaza and calling on Israel to permit extra support to succeed in the territory.

Shortly after Hamas’ Oct. 7. assault on Israel, the German authorities applied a proper ban on exercise by or in help of Hamas.

For the reason that conflict erupted, Germany has clamped down on many pro-Palestinian actions and demonstrations, with officers citing fears of doable antisemitic or anti-Israel incitement.

The onerous line has broad political help at dwelling, however has drawn criticism.

“Germany’s deportation of Dr. Abu Sitta is a naked act of authoritarian censorship, more in line with the policies of dictatorships like Saudi Arabia and China than a rights-respecting democracy,” Sarah Leah Whitson, the manager director of Washington-based human rights watchdog Democracy for the Arab World Now, or DAWN, mentioned in a press release.

Abu Sitta, who not too long ago volunteered with Medical doctors With out Borders in Gaza, has labored throughout a number of conflicts within the Palestinian territories, starting within the late Nineteen Eighties through the first Palestinian rebellion. He has additionally labored in different battle zones, together with in Iraq, Syria and Yemen.

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Friday’s congress was seen with nice wariness by German officers earlier than it began and was closely policed.

Earlier on Friday, German Inside Ministry spokesperson Maximilian Kall instructed reporters in Berlin that federal safety authorities had been in contact with their native counterparts within the capital “about questions of, for instance, entry bans,” he mentioned. He added that he couldn’t give particulars.