In an exclusive interview, Doctor Ghassan Abu-Sittah speaks to The Glasgow Guardian on his plans for divestment and to make the University a better place
The University of Glasgow’s new rector Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah is a British-Palestinian national and Associate Professor of Surgery. After completing his medical degree at the University of Glasgow in 1993 went on to specialise in plastic and reconstructive surgery and has spent much of his career as a surgeon in war zones. Dr Abu-Sittah was elected as Rector in March, with the promise to give students “the opportunity to officially and unequivocally condemn Israel’s ongoing genocidal campaign in Gaza.”
In his manifesto, Dr Abu-Sittah outlined his four key pledges: pressuring the University to condemn Israel’s recent actions in Gaza, calling for the University to divest from the arms trade, reinforcing existing partnerships with Palestinian universities, and replacing the IHRA definition of antisemitism that was adopted by the University of Glasgow in 2021. Along with his four key pledges, he also aims to tackle student poverty and gender-based violence.
Speaking to The Glasgow Guardian ahead of the Rector campaign in February, Dr Abu-Sittah disputed the idea that his rectorship would be a single-issue role, or that he would be an absentee Rector due to living in London.
Since his landslide victory, Dr Abu-Sittah has had an eventful and turbulent summer. In April 2024, he was detained and denied entry into Germany where he was due to speak at a conference regarding the Israeli invasion in Gaza. In an attempt to enter France the following month, authorities informed Dr Abu-Sittah that Germany had enforced a Schengen-wide ban on his entry into Europe for one year.
In an exclusive interview, Dr Abu-Sittah told The Glasgow Guardian about his plans for the upcoming academic year. Regarding his work towards achieving the four main pledges stated in his manifesto, Dr Abu-Sittah spoke on how he “[…] has already started putting these plans into action with regards to the divestment.” Whilst he acknowledged that divestment campaigners at the University “haven’t got what [they] have been fighting for” he asserted that “we [campaigners] will continue to fight for full divestment.”
Dr Abu-Sittah also referenced the committee that has been set-up to “look at all aspects of ethical investment by the University” with the aim of “[trying] to move the University away from fossil fuels and the arms trade.” He concluded by saying how “we’re looking forward to the next Court meeting to see what the recommendations of that committee are.” Dr Abu-Sittah was absent from the first Court meeting of his Rectorship.
Regarding plans moving forward, Dr Abu-Sittah told The Glasgow Guardian that “we will hopefully be hosting several workshops with the different representative groups to see what concrete plans we can make towards moving forward. I’ve been working with some societies to see whether we can start running a programme of visiting speakers to increase the visibility of the University and intellectual life on campus. I’m open to working with the unions and societies to push the agenda and improve the quality of intellectual and cultural life of the University.”
Concerning his pledge to end gender-based violence on campus, Dr Abu-Sittah spoke of plans ”to look at improving safety [of students on campus] and how the Student Representative Council and the different unions can improve support. We are looking to the University to step up.”
The Glasgow Guardian has spoken to Student Representative Council (SRC) Vice President for Student Support Iris Duane in reference to Dr Abu-Sittah’s pledge. She said, “‘gender-based violence remains a scourge on campuses across the UK. While support has been rapidly improving over the last few years, the eradication of GBV both on and off of our campus must remain a high priority. It is imperative that all of the University’s policies are preventative and not reactive, that students are kept at the very core of the delivery, and that we look to a future where Gender Based Violence has been eradicated.
“As the brand new FemCollab forms, made up of 10 dedicated feminist societies, led entirely by student volunteers fighting for a better campus, I remain cautiously optimistic that together we will achieve this aim.”
Dr Abu-Sittah plans to host online surgeries between his visits to Glasgow beginning in September. The SRC will announce these dates on their website. However, Dr Abu-Sittah has already been in contact with “several students who have reached out, and [has] worked with University administration to deal with them.”
When asked about the possibility of strikes by the University and College Union in the upcoming year, Dr Abu-Sittah replied “So [they] should. I believe that the working conditions and the pay for university workers in the UK is unsustainable. If you are going to continue providing world-class education, it is critical.”
The Rector ended the interview on a positive note about today’s student body. “The new batch of students coming in has witnessed COVID and then this genocide [in Gaza], so I agree that we are looking at a much more active and politicised student body, not just in Glasgow but in the whole of the UK.”
