Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah (left)

The legal action has been brought by the European Legal Support Center (ELSC), which provides legal support to advocates for Palestine, with support from the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP).

Dr Abu-Sittah is an accomplished British-Palestinian plastic and reconstructive surgeon who has worked in hospitals in the Gaza Strip on numerous occasions, including in late 2023 during the current conflict.

He was due to travel to Germany in April 2024 after being invited to speak about his experience working at the al-Ahli, al-Shifa and al-Awda hospitals at a three-day conference called the Palästina Kongress (Palestine Congress).

However, the conference was banned by local authorities in Berlin and forcibly broken up by police, leading to criticism from leading human rights organisations, who have warned that repression of the Palestine solidarity movement is particularly acute in Germany.

On the day the conference was set to begin, Berlin’s immigration office banned Dr Abu-Sittah from participating in the event, whether in-person or online, and from participating or publicly speaking at any other events in relation to Palestine.

The ban was justified on the basis that Dr Abu-Sittah had publicly stated that Israel had attacked hospitals in Gaza and was committing genocide against the Palestinian people.

German federal police also added information to a Schengen area system which led to Dr Abu-Sittah being unable to enter Germany, France and the Netherlands.

Previous legal action taken by the ELSC with support from the ICJP led to the travel ban being overturned by the administrative court in Potsdam in May 2024.

The same organisations are now taking action in the administrative court in Berlin against the ban on public speaking, which will be heard by a chamber of three judges.

Alexander Gorski, lawyer with the ELSC, said: “Abu-Sittah’s participation as well as the Palästina Kongress itself were already banned by the German authorities.

“However, what we aim to achieve in court is a precedential ruling which prevents the German authorities from misusing sections of German migration law for authoritarian political purposes.

“We were successful in overturning the Schengen ban on Ghassan Abu-Sittah and I am optimistic that we can overturn the ban on political activities too.”

A spokesperson for the ICJP said: “Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah continues to face harassment across the UK and Europe. The ICJP will continue to defend him wherever this happens, so he can carry on doing his life-saving work in Gaza and Lebanon.

“It is draconian that this case even needs to be heard before a court, but we will fight to ensure that his free speech is upheld.

“It is cowardice from any state to ban someone from engaging in political activity simply because they highlight states’ complicity in Israeli war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.”