Silenced by the German authorities from speaking out on Palestine

We reproduce an edited version of a speech made by Doctor Josie Shakur at a Glasgow Healthcare Workers vigil for Palestine on April 13th.

Labour Hub – http://www.threads.net/@labour_hub

Thank you for joining us today and a warm welcome to our healthcare vigil for Gaza.

My name is Dr Josie Shakur. My colleagues and I are the Glasgow Healthcare Workers for Palestine. 

On Thursday 11th April, Dr Ghassan Abu Sitta was sworn in as Rector of Glasgow University. 

Dr Ghassan, a Palestinian-British Glasgow University graduate and renowned reconstructive surgeon, won a staggering 80% of the vote. 

His inauguration speech contained words of hope, strength and sincerity.

On Friday 12th April, in Germany his voice was silenced by the German authorities.

Dr Ghassan was due to share evidence at a Palestinian conference in Berlin on the atrocities he witnessed during his 43-day surgical mission to Gaza in October 2023 but his passport was seized at the German airport.

He was questioned for three and a half hours by German police, then ordered to return to the UK – otherwise he would face a fine or imprisonment if he tried byany medium to share his words at the conference.

The German police also raided the conference venue and abruptly stopped the event. 

All this while a Nicaraguan legal team have presented evidence at the International Court of Justice on Germany’s complicity in the massacre in Gaza. 

Dr Ghassan made a statement yesterday and it reads as follows:

“Europe is shedding its liberal hypocrisy. They are accomplices in the crime and that is what accomplices do.

“They bury the evidence and silence the witnesses. I was invited to address a conference in Berlin about my work in Gaza hospitals during the present conflict.

The German government has forcibly prevented me from entering the country. Silencing a witness to genocide before the ICJ adds to Germany’s complicity in the ongoing massacre.”

Dr. Ghassan Abu Sitta.”

For merely talking about medical events witnessed in Gaza, Germany is prepared to use criminal punishment. 

This conference was attended by Jews, Palestinians and people from all faiths and non-faiths. It was a peaceful respectful gathering. 

Yanis Varoufakis , the former Finance Minister of Greece, was also due to speak at the conference. 

When he was asked why, he quoted Hanan Ashrawi (former Minister of Education in Palestine): “We cannot rely on the silenced to tell us about their suffering.”

Mr Varoufakis posted his full speech on line later on Friday 12th April for everyone to read.

Those who legitimately and peacefully speak up for peace in Palestine and declare their outrage at the six-month massacre in Gaza should never be silenced.

It is Day 190 of the horror rained down on Gaza by Israel. 

For over six months now we have been saying STOP to the massacre of innocent civilians, destruction of all infrastructure, annihilation of health care, terror on hospitals,  murder of UNRWA Staff and all humanitarian aid workers. STOP to the torrent of endless disease, starvation and trauma. 

The aggression on hospitals in Gaza has been unrelenting. 

We have seen the horrific tragedy that unfolded in Al Shifa hospital recently: executions, mass graves, murder of critically ill patients, healthcare staff, torture, displacement and destruction of the entire hospital complex. Those inside were ordered to evacuate the hospital by Israeli drones demanding: “Come out, you animals.”

Al Shifa hospital (“the house of healing”) is now reduced to burnt embers.

Gaza’s dust and rubble holds the entombed bodies of many innocents but also the secret horrors that have taken place.

All medical facilities have been struck – a move to actively prevent any adequate healthcare provision now and in the future. 

100% of Gazans are starving. Malnutrition is soaring. Aid workers continue to be killed.

Only a few days ago, a UNICEF aid truck cleared to travel by the Israeli army to the North of Gaza was shot at by that same army. 

We call upon you all to use your voices. Do not be silenced. Protest peacefully.

We must shed light on the apartheid regime which a UN official called so much worse than the South African apartheid.

Boycott, divest, protest to your MPs, to the government. 

Dr Ahmed Almaqadma’s (plastic surgeon) last words on his Instagram feed, spoken softly and calmly before he was executed alongside his mother, Dr Yusra, in the grounds of Al Shifa hospital were: “This genocide must stop now. Enough is enough.”

Collective peace, strength and solidarity bind us.  Please stay resolute. Shout louder than ever before. 

Free, free Palestine. Thank you.