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Controversial “Palestine Congress”: Entry bans issued against prominent speakers
Was allowed to star-Information not to enter Germany: Ghassan Abu Sitteh (archive image)
© Hussein Malla/AP / Picture Alliance
The “Palestine Congress” in Berlin is highly controversial because of suspicions of anti-Semitism. Now politics is reacting.
Before the controversial “Palestine Congress” in According to information from Berlin, the authorities have star Entry bans were issued against several of the planned speakers. Accordingly, the bans affect Salman Abu Sitta and Ghassan Abu Sitteh. For a third speaker, Ali Abunimah, an entry ban is currently being examined.
86-year-old Salman Abu Sitta was scheduled to give the opening lecture at the congress. The Palestinian author has in the past denied Hamas atrocities and called the terrorists “resistance fighters.” Had he been younger, Abu Sitta wrote, he could have been one of those who broke through the fence on October 7th. For him, the Gaza Strip is a “concentration camp” that “exceeds the camps in Auschwitz, Treblinka and Dachau in terms of duration and size.”
The federal government’s anti-Semitism commissioner, Felix Klein, only spoke out in favor of an entry ban against Abu Sitta on Wednesday evening.
The “Palestine Congress” had already attracted criticism
In the case of Ghassan Abu Sitteh, according to research by star The entry ban had already been implemented, which means he was stopped at the border. Ali Abunimah, a Palestinian-American journalist, is currently being considered for an entry ban. Abunimah is co-founder of the “Electronic Intifada”, a pro-Palestinian news site, and a supporter of the BDS (“Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions”) campaign.
The “Palestine Congress” has been causing discussions and criticism for weeks. A non-partisan “alliance against anti-Semitic terror” jointly opposed the event and called for opposition. The critics said in a statement that glorification of terror and calls for the destruction of Israel are to be expected. Behind the alliance are various organizations such as the Amadeu Antonio Foundation as well as politicians from the FDP, SPD, Greens, CDU/CSU and Left.
The Central Council of Jews described the event as “a showcase of anti-Zionism.” “Anyone who ignores the terror of Hamas and thus the organization’s murderous strategy against its own population is discrediting themselves,” wrote Central Council President Josef Schuster on Thursday on the X platform (formerly Twitter).