A SHOW at the Edinburgh Fringe has been cancelled amid “heightening tensions” in the Middle East.
Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah (below), British-Palestinian rector of Glasgow University, was due to take part in an interview with a live audience as part of a series of shows at The Stand.
However, with tensions increasing in the Middle East over Israel’s war on Gaza and the conflict spreading to other countries such as Iran and Lebanon, Abu-Sittah now needs to leave the UK “while he still can”, according to event organisers.
This means that the In Conversation With... Ghassan Abu-Sittah event on Friday will no longer go ahead.
It comes as Hamas’s political chief was killed in an air strike in the Iranian capital Tehran on Wednesday morning, with Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowing revenge on Israel over the attack.
Abu-Sittah is an associate professor of surgery who worked at the Beirut Medical Center from 2011, until he returned to the UK in 2020.
As a war surgeon, Abu-Sittah has operated in Yemen, Iraq, Syria, South Lebanon and Gaza, where he worked in Shifa Hospital and Al-Ahli-Baptist Hospital for 43 days during the conflict.
His evidence contributed to the South African submission to the International Court of Justice, which alleged Israel had committed genocide against Palestinians.
Abu-Sittah is also a trustee of charity Medical Aid for Palestinians and was elected rector of Glasgow University in March.
