University of Glasgow rector cleared by medical watchdog over alleged antisemitism | UK news

The chancellor of the University of Glasgow has been cleared of misconduct by the medical watchdog over allegations of antisemitism and support for Hamas.

Plastic surgeon and prominent Palestinian activist Dr. Ghassan Abu-Sittah appeared via video link before a fitness to practice panel at the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service in Manchester on Friday, where a misconduct case against him was dismissed.

This proposal was brought by the General Medical Council (GMC), which oversees doctors, and was rejected by a three-person panel after a three-day hearing.

The case concerns a newspaper article Abu-Sittah wrote for a Lebanese newspaper and two posts by X.

In the article, he wrote the following about the “martyrdom” of Ahmed Nasr Jarrar, who is thought to be a Hamas member: “The people have no weapon left other than revolutionary violence.”

Panel chairman Ian Comfort said the court did not select quotes “trivially” but considered the article in its entirety, which expressed views critical of political elites in Palestine. Comfort said they were unable to detect anything anti-Semitic or supporting terrorism or violence.

Abu-Sittah, who studied at the University of Glasgow and lives in London with his wife and three sons, also reposted the following tweet: “Congratulations to our brothers in Hamas and our comrades in the Popular Front on their anniversary.”

The political wing of Hamas was banned under the Terrorism Act in 2021. The court said it had no evidence of when the tweets were posted other than some time before 2023.

The court also found that the “ordinary reader” would view the tweet as an anniversary celebration and not as “material or moral aid” to terrorism.

The doctor’s second tweet referred to “martyrs of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine,” referring to a man who performed the first operation using a suicide belt in 1974 and a second man who died during the conflict in 1973.

Abu-Sittah said those who understand the political context of the 1970s will see this post as merely “solidarity” with the Palestinian cause.

Comfort said the tweet, read through the eyes of an ordinary, reasonable Arab reader, could not be seen as encouraging or supporting violence or terrorism.

The Kuwaiti-born doctor said he was racially identified as “naturally violent” because he was Palestinian and Arab, and accused Israel Lawyers UK, the organization that brought the issue to the GMC’s attention, of “trying to ruin my life”.

After the hearing, he said: “My immediate thoughts are about my patients in Beirut, from whom I had to leave to attend these hearings. I have spent my entire medical career treating victims of war and political violence. That is why I am deeply shocked to be accused of advocating violence. I do not support violence against civilians and have never supported it.”

“This complaint forms part of a wider legal strategy that aims to instrumentalize regulatory processes to intimidate, silence and exhaust those who speak out against injustice in Palestine. This was the second complaint against the GMC made by Israel Lawyers in the UK against me, and the 10th complaint made by them overall. The court’s decision is now in the public eye.”

A spokesman for UK Solicitors for Israel said: “It is shocking that the court finds it acceptable for doctors to commemorate acts of violence and venerate terrorists. He has brought the profession into disrepute and Jewish patients are likely to fear being treated by him.”

Ros Emsley-Smith, representing the GMC, said Abu-Sittah had “overstepped the boundaries of legitimate political expression and entered the realm of abuse”.

The rector of the University of Glasgow is elected by the students. Abu-Sittah is not a member of the university staff and does not speak on behalf of the university.