Current location:sport >>
Tribute to a terrorist... rector's tears for Palestine extremist at memorial
sport7128People have gathered around
IntroductionGlasgow University is under growing pressure to censure its new rector after a video emerged showing ...
Glasgow University is under growing pressure to censure its new rector after a video emerged showing him weeping over the death of a Palestinian terror group leader – whose organisation is accused of participating in the October 7 massacre in Israel.
Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah, a British-Palestinian surgeon, was installed in the role after receiving 80 per cent of the student vote.
During a speech delivered to mark his appointment on Thursday, he claimed the institution ‘actively colludes in the murder of innocent civilians’ in Gaza because it has shares in arms companies that supply Israel. He also quoted IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands, who said: ‘Our revenge will be the laughter of our children.’
Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah, left, joined mourners at a memorial service for Palestinian terror group leader, Maher Al-Yamani in Beirut in 2020
Jewish leaders condemned the 55-year-old’s instalment and said he ‘seeks to make the university a less safe place to be Jewish’.
Now, shocking footage shows the doctor speaking at an anniversary ceremony of the death of Maher Al-Yamani, a co-founder of the proscribed Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).
The Marxist-Leninist organisation, banned in the UK since 2014, has carried out a number of aircraft hijackings, including the capture of an Air France plane in 1976.
Israel has accused it of taking part in the deadly Hamas-led attacks on October 7. The video of Dr Abu-Sittah – obtained by the Jewish Chronicle newspaper – shows him deliver a tearful speech in Beirut in 2020 in remembrance of Al-Yamani, who he praised for his ‘campaign’ in the West Bank and for continuing to scare the enemy – Israel – from the grave.
Maher al-Yamani
Dr Abu-Sittah was installed on Thursday
Last night Conservative MSP for Glasgow Annie Wells said: ‘I am deeply concerned with the language used by the new Glasgow University rector. Many people will rightfully be outraged at his glorification of convicted terrorists and eulogy of an antisemitic terrorist leader.’
She added: ‘Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah should apologise for his deeply offensive comments.’
Al-Yamani was born in Lebanon in 1949 and had been a member of the PFLP since it was started in 1967. He is said to have helped plan the 1968 hijacking of an Israeli El Al plane, for which he was initially sentenced to 31 years in prison.
The film comes after Dr Abu-Sittah had already been pictured sitting next to plane hijacker and member of the PFLP, Leila Khaled, at a memorial service in 2019. Khaled blew up a passenger jet on the runway in 1969.
Hamas’s attack Israel on October 7 last year
The exposure of the doctor’s concerning links comes as he ran his campaign to become Glasgow University rector as an ‘opportunity for students to declare their opposition to Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza’ and to ‘stand in solidarity with Palestine’.
Dorothy Sheratt, co-president of Glasgow’s Jewish Society, has previously said: ‘Someone who eulogises proscribed terrorists – as defined in the US and EU – cannot lead the university or fulfil the rector’s obligation to provide pastoral care to all students, equally.’
Timothy Lovat, president of the Glasgow Jewish Representative Council, said: ‘Students have endorsed someone who claims to understand antisemitism better than the Jewish community and seeks to make the university a less safe place to be Jewish.’
Last night a university spokesman said Dr Abu-Sittah had been elected by students, adding: ‘The rector’s views clearly do not represent those of the university.’
Dr Abu-Sittah said: ‘While I may in the past have used emotive language at the funeral of a friend or following an extra-judicial killing, I vehemently oppose terrorism, and civilian casualties on all sides. As a surgeon my vocation is preserving life and I repeat my calls for a sustainable ceasefire and lasting peace.’
His lawyers said Dr Abu-Sittah knew Maher Al-Yamani as a patient and later a friend. He was asked to speak at the memorial on Al-Yamani’s widow’s request. He said he was not aware Al-Yamani was accused of involvement in terror. He had no political affiliation with Al-Yamani or the PFLP, they said.
Tags:
Reprint:Friends are welcome to share on the Internet, but please indicate the source of the article when reprinting it.“Stellar Sphere news portal”。http://chile.downmusic.org/article-12d599945.html
Related articles
Welcome to stench ground zero: The village where an unspeakable two
sportThe 200-odd residents of the teeny village of Stow Bedon in Breckland, Norfolk are used to living un ...
【sport】
Read moreViral video highlights targeting of Hmong women to marry Chinese men — Radio Free Asia
sportThe man behind the phone chuckles as he calls out in the Hmong language to villagers sitting around ...
【sport】
Read moreInfographic: What is Davos
sport(Ecns.cn) 10:40, January 18, 2024 ...
【sport】
Read more
Popular articles
- Finnish hacker imprisoned for accessing thousands of psychotherapy records and demanding ransoms
- MacKenzie Gore strikes out 11 as Nationals beat Athletics 3
- UK cuts national insurance contributions for workers in spring budget
- Belgrade celebrates Chinese New Year with fireworks, dragon dance
- Browns pick up 5
- Alaska judge finds correspondence school reimbursements unconstitutional
Latest articles
2 men are charged with cutting down famous 150
Uncertainty, anxiety loom over 2024 U.S. presidential election
2 killed in U.S. Colorado campus shooting
U.S. transportation authority report finds missing bolts in Boeing door plug blowout
US, Mexico drop bid to host 2027 World Cup
WHO warns of persistent threats from COVID
LINKS
- Once Upon a Springtime flower show held in Macy's in New York
- Hainan's visa
- Creations of Givenchy showed during Haute Couture 2018 in Paris
- Hainan's visa
- U.S. blaming China for its shipbuilding problems lacks factual basis: MOFCOM
- App stores remove 'loan shark' mobile app
- Foreign firms still bullish on China market
- U.S. blaming China for its shipbuilding problems lacks factual basis: MOFCOM
- Huawei Indonesia opens 5G center to boost digital transformation technologies
- China announces discovery of major oilfield in Bohai Sea