{"id":7498,"date":"2025-07-16T17:51:52","date_gmt":"2025-07-16T15:51:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/elsc.support\/?p=7498"},"modified":"2025-07-17T11:57:57","modified_gmt":"2025-07-17T09:57:57","slug":"political-ban-on-dr-ghassan-abu-sittahs-public-speaking-and-political-speaking-deemed-unlawful-by-german-court","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/elsc.support\/fr\/political-ban-on-dr-ghassan-abu-sittahs-public-speaking-and-political-speaking-deemed-unlawful-by-german-court\/","title":{"rendered":"Political Ban on Dr. Ghassan Abu Sittah\u2019s Public Speaking and Political Speaking Deemed Unlawful by German Court. \u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>ELSC and ICJP achieve second legal victory <\/strong>against German authorities\u2019 abuse of migration law to silence Dr. Ghassan Abu-Sittah\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Berlin, Germany, 16<sup>th<\/sup> July &#8211; the Administrative Court in Berlin has deemed the ban on Dr. Ghassan Abu-Sittah&#8217;s political activities and public speaking in Germany which was imposed in April 2024 by Berlin&#8217;s Migration office unlawful after the European Legal Support Center (ELSC) with support from the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) had <a href=\"https:\/\/elsc.support\/political-ban-on-dr-ghassan-abu-sittah-germanys-misuse-of-migration-law-for-authoritarian-purposes-must-stop\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">taken legal action<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Justifying the ban, German authorities argued it was necessary because Abu-Sittah had publicly stated that Israel is attacking hospitals and committing genocide against the Palestinian people and that these statements threaten the German \u201cfree democratic basic order\u201d and aren\u2019t compatible with the \u201cGerman reason of state (<em>Staatsr\u00e4son<\/em>) to protect Israel\u201d.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>We had argued before the court:&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Abu-Sittah\u2019s freedom of expression was violated;\u202f&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The statements he is accused of by the German authorities reflect his lived experience as a trauma surgeon at Palestinian hospitals in Gaza and are corroborated by United Nations reports.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>ELSC &amp; ICJP have previously succeeded in overturning the ban on Dr. Ghassan Abu-Sittah\u2019s entry to the Schengen-area which has prevented him from entering Germany, France and the Netherlands. Following <a href=\"https:\/\/elsc.support\/victory-for-ghassan-abu-sittah-elsc-and-icjp-overturn-schengen-wide-travel-ban\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">ELSC\u2019s urgent appeal<\/a>, the Administrative Court Potsdam ruled- in May 2024- that the Schengen ban has no legal basis and had to be revoked immediately. This effectively ended the Schengen-area travel ban imposed on Abu-Sittah by the German authorities.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The trials should be understood in the context of the crack-down on the <a href=\"https:\/\/palaestinakongress.de\/call-to-congress\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Pal\u00e4stina Kongress<\/a> in Berlin, where Abu-Sittah was supposed to speak. Pal\u00e4stina Kongress was planned as an assembly of Palestinian, Jewish, German and international voices calling for an end to Israel\u2019s genocide in Gaza and Germany\u2019s complicity in the genocide. It was ultimately prevented from taking place in an illegal attack by German authorities with heavy police presence. Germany\u2019s Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser (SPD) had <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/BMI_Bund\/status\/1778764694624358654\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">openly pressured<\/a> the Berlin police to \u201ccrack down hard\u201d on the Congress, and Berlin\u2019s Mayor Kai Wegener (CDU) declared: \u201cIt is intolerable that a so-called Palestine Congress will take place in Berlin\u201d.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>Dr. Ghassan Abu-Sittah comments: \u201cThe German government acted illegally in its efforts to silence anti-genocide voices. This ruling highlights how Western governments abuse the rule of law to protect Israel\u2019s genocidal project. This explains why the genocide has been able to continue unabated for over 21 months. It is due to the German government\u2019s actions\u2014not only as the second-largest arms supplier to Israel but also in its attempts to silence those speaking out against the genocide.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>An ICJP spokesperson said: \u201cThis sets an important precedent against the misuse of migration law in Germany to curtail freedom of speech. It is ridiculous that it even got to this stage, but it is a relief that the court has seen sense and found this infringement of Dr. Ghassan\u2019s civil liberties to\u202fbe\u202funlawful.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>ELSC spokesperson Karim Bohnhoff comments: \u201cThis ruling was to be expected, as the actions of the Berlin immigration authorities were clearly unlawful. What should alarm us is that the authorities deliberately acted unlawful to prevent the&nbsp;Pal\u00e4stina Kongress&nbsp;by any means necessary as a result of political pressure. This shows that anti-Palestinian repression by authorities in Germany does not adhere to the rule of law.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n<style>.wp-block-kadence-spacer.kt-block-spacer-7498_d7cf83-ae .kt-block-spacer{height:60px;}.wp-block-kadence-spacer.kt-block-spacer-7498_d7cf83-ae .kt-divider{border-top-width:1px;height:1px;border-top-color:#eee;width:80%;border-top-style:solid;}<\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-kadence-spacer aligncenter kt-block-spacer-7498_d7cf83-ae\"><div class=\"kt-block-spacer kt-block-spacer-halign-center\"><hr class=\"kt-divider\"\/><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>ICJP is a legal organisation based in London, working to uphold international law and defend the rights of Palestinians.\u202f&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>ELSC defends and empowers Palestine advocates across mainland Europe and Britain through legal means, monitoring, research and advocacy efforts.\u202f&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>For more information or for media inquiries, please contact the ICJP news desk at\u202f<a href=\"mailto:press@icjpalestine.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">press@icjpalestine.com<\/a>, or the ELSC news desk at <a href=\"mailto:press@elsc.support.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">press@elsc.support.\u202f<\/a>&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<style>.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading7498_cdf696-99, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading7498_cdf696-99[data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading7498_cdf696-99\"]{font-style:normal;}.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading7498_cdf696-99 mark.kt-highlight, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading7498_cdf696-99[data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading7498_cdf696-99\"] mark.kt-highlight{font-style:normal;color:#f76a0c;-webkit-box-decoration-break:clone;box-decoration-break:clone;padding-top:0px;padding-right:0px;padding-bottom:0px;padding-left:0px;}.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading7498_cdf696-99 img.kb-inline-image, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading7498_cdf696-99[data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading7498_cdf696-99\"] img.kb-inline-image{width:150px;vertical-align:baseline;}<\/style>\n<h2 class=\"kt-adv-heading7498_cdf696-99 wp-block-kadence-advancedheading\" data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading7498_cdf696-99\"><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Berlin court ruled Germany\u2019s political speaking ban on Dr. Ghassan Abu-Sittah unlawful. Backed by ELSC and ICJP, this marks a second legal win against misuse of migration law. The court affirmed Abu-Sittah\u2019s freedom of expression, rejecting the state&#8217;s claim that his Gaza genocide comments threatened Germany\u2019s democratic order. A key victory for civil liberties.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":7499,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3,55],"tags":[112,48,111],"test-2":[],"country":[25],"blog_categories":[],"class_list":["post-7498","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-case-update","category-press-release","tag-anti-palestinian-racism","tag-freedom-of-expression","tag-freedom-of-assembly","country-de"],"acf":[],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":3,"label":"Case Update"},{"value":55,"label":"Press Release"}],"post_tag":[{"value":112,"label":"Anti-Palestinian Racism"},{"value":48,"label":"Free Speech"},{"value":111,"label":"Freedom of Assembly"}],"country":[{"value":25,"label":"Germany"}]},"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/elsc.support\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Political-Ban-on-Dr.-Ghassan-Abu-Sittahs-Public-Speaking-and-Policital-Speaking-Deemed-Unlawful-by-German-Court.--1024x538.png",1024,538,true],"author_info":{"display_name":"Bashar","author_link":"https:\/\/elsc.support\/fr\/author\/bashar\/"},"comment_info":0,"category_info":[{"term_id":3,"name":"Case Update","slug":"case-update","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":3,"taxonomy":"category","description":"Updates on legal cases ELSC is working on.","parent":0,"count":33,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":3,"category_count":33,"category_description":"Updates on legal cases ELSC is working on.","cat_name":"Case Update","category_nicename":"case-update","category_parent":0},{"term_id":55,"name":"Press Release","slug":"press-release","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":55,"taxonomy":"category","description":"Official updates shared with media or public.","parent":0,"count":77,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":55,"category_count":77,"category_description":"Official updates shared with media or public.","cat_name":"Press Release","category_nicename":"press-release","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":[{"term_id":112,"name":"Anti-Palestinian Racism","slug":"anti-palestinian-racism","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":112,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"Discrimination against Palestinians","parent":0,"count":61,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":48,"name":"Free Speech","slug":"freedom-of-expression","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":48,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"Relates to censorship and academic freedom","parent":0,"count":89,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":111,"name":"Freedom of Assembly","slug":"freedom-of-assembly","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":111,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":45,"filter":"raw"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/elsc.support\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7498","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/elsc.support\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/elsc.support\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elsc.support\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elsc.support\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7498"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/elsc.support\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7498\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7503,"href":"https:\/\/elsc.support\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7498\/revisions\/7503"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elsc.support\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7499"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/elsc.support\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7498"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elsc.support\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7498"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elsc.support\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7498"},{"taxonomy":"test-2","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elsc.support\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/test-2?post=7498"},{"taxonomy":"country","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elsc.support\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/country?post=7498"},{"taxonomy":"blog_categories","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elsc.support\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/blog_categories?post=7498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}