Rector of Glasgow University cleared of antisemitism and terror support

Dr Ghassan Abu-Sitta, a plastic surgeon and prominent Palestinian activist, appeared via videolink on Friday before a fitness to practise panel of the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) in Manchester.

After a three-day hearing a three-person panel rejected the case of misconduct against him brought by the General Medical Council, which regulates doctors. The case related to a newspaper article by Dr Abu-Sitta and two social media posts on X.

Ian Comfort, chairman of the panel, said the objective test they had used was how these would be understood by an ordinary, reasonable reader of Arabic, aware of the political and cultural issues of Palestine.

In the article, written for a Lebanese newspaper, Al Akhbar in March 2018, the medic wrote about the “martyrdom” of Ahmad Nasr Jarrar, a “hero” of the Nablus operation, saying: “The people have no weapon left but revolutionary violence.”

Jarrar was believed to be a member of Hamas and suspected of orchestrating an operation where a rabbi was killed in a drive-by shooting in the West Bank city of Nablus. Mr Comfort said the tribunal did not “cherry pick” quotes but considered the whole of the article, which expressed views critical of political elites in Palestine, and they could not identify anything which was antisemitic or supportive of terrorism or violence.

The doctor had also re-posted a tweet, saying: “We congratulate our brothers in Hamas and our comrades in the Popular Front on the anniversary of their inception.”

The tribunal said Hamas’ political wing became proscribed under the Terrorism Act in 2021, but they had no evidence before them as to when the tweets were posted, other than sometime before 2023. So the tribunal could not conclude that Dr Abu-Sitta had intended to support an outlawed terror group, as they did not know if the post was made before or after Hamas’ political wing was proscribed.

And the tribunal found the “ordinary reader” would see the tweet as a celebration of an anniversary of the founding of those organisations, and not to be “material or moral aid” to terrorism. A second tweet by Dr Abu-Sitta referred to “Martyrs in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine”, referring to a man who carried out the first operation using a suicide belt, in 1974, and a second man, Shams al-Din al-Qazimi, who died during fighting in 1973.

The medic said anyone with an understanding of the political context of the 1970s would see this post as only demonstrating “solidarity” with the Palestinian cause. Mr Comfort said the tweet, again read through the “lens” of an ordinary, reasonable Arabic reader, could not bee seen as inciting or supporting violence or terrorism.

Earlier, the Kuwaiti-born medic, who did medical training at the University of Glasgow and lives in London with his wife and three sons, claimed he had been racially profiled as “inherently violent” because he is a Palestinian and Arab.

He accused the organisation UK Lawyers for Israel, which brought the matter to the attention of the GMC of “trying to destroy my life”. He also appeared to suggest his appearance on misconduct charges was politically motivated.

Ros Emsley Smith, representing the General Medical Council (GMC) said the medic had “overstepped the boundary of legitimate political speech and into the realms of misconduct”.

Dr Abu-Sitta suggested anyone who knew the “nuance” of Arabic language and culture would understand he was not being antisemitic or advocating for violence or terrorism.

The rector of Glasgow University is elected by students only and the position is to represent the student body to the university governance. He is not a member of university staff and does not speak for the university itself.