The world-renowned British pro-Palestine journalist and political analyst Sami Hamdi was taken into custody on 26 October by the Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

He was detained at San Francisco International Airport while en route to speaking at an event for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), before returning home to Britain.

Sami Hamdi — a critic of Israeli occupation’s human rights abuses

Marium Uddin, legal director of the Muslim Legal Fund of America, said:

It’s a case that matters deeply to me and my community. There’s not a day we wake up without some sort of gut punch.

Hamdi travelled on a valid visa for a nationwide speaking tour, as he has many times before. At the airport his visa was suddenly revoked and he was taken in by ICE.

Alarming behaviour by ICE

Uddin described how nine plain-clothes agents surrounded Hamdi after he’d cleared security, told him his visa was revoked, then handcuffed and transported him to an ICE office.

It’s outrageous, that someone invited here to speak on human rights is treated like a criminal.

The Department of State’s visa revocation is the only formal justification for his detention, but online smears have falsely equated Hamdi’s advocacy for Palestinian freedom with “support for terrorism”.

Sami has only talked about his opposition to the genocide in Gaza. This is not a threat to national security

Far-right, Islamophobe, Zionist figures Laura Loomer and Amy Mek spread disinformation about Hamdi before his arrest — and Loomer even predicted it.

Uddin said the arrest “clearly came from up on high” and that Hamdi’s speeches “fall nowhere near national-security threats. He’s simply opposing the war on Gaza.”

Hamdi is being represented by the Muslim Legal Fund of America, CAIR-California (CAIR-CA) and immigration lawyer Hassan Ahmad.

Sami Hamdi is confident justice will prevail

CAIR-CA CEO Hussam Ayloush visited Hamdi this week, on November 3, along with a doctor. Although there have been recent health scares, he says Hamdi’s health is good, and his morale is high. Despite the baseless and unjust nature of his detention by ICE, Hamdi is confident justice will prevail. That he will soon regain his freedom and be reunited with his family.

CAIR-CA CEO Hussam Ayloush, who visited Hamdi on 3 November, said his health is stable and morale high:

He’s a man of faith and conviction. His detention is vindictive and political — punishment for speaking out against Israeli human-rights abuses and genocide. Sami’s only ‘crime’ is being outspoken.

He added that criticism of Israel has become “a red line”, used to intimidate foreign visitors.

The US is weaponising antisemitism and social pressure to silence anyone who sympathises with Palestinians.

Ayloush said a new policy introduced in May by Senator Marco Rubio allows visa applicants to be screened for criticism of Israel. This is of course “part of the Israel First agenda overriding America First.”

Mistreating a well-known journalist like Sami serves only one purpose — protecting the State of ‘Israel’, a state engaged in war crimes and genocide. We’ve thrown free speech and democracy under the bus to shield a foreign government from criticism.

Last week a US federal court temporarily blocked ICE from transferring Hamdi out of California after lawyers argued his detention violated the First Amendment.

Uddin said the legal team’s immediate goal is Hamdi’s safe return home:

We were disturbed to learn his ankles were shackled so tightly that his feet swelled for days, and that he suffered abdominal pain without timely medical attention.

UK MPs demand action

Independent MP Shockat Adam and four others have urged the UK government to intervene:

Although ministers say they’re in contact with Hamdi’s family, they’ve provided no details. The family say they’ve been left in the dark. Sami should be released immediately if he faces no charges. It’s alarming that a British citizen can be taken like this under Donald Trump’s America.

Public opinion in the US is shifting. Polls now show most Americans want to cut military and economic aid to Israel. While families struggle with healthcare and tuition, Washington has spent over $30 billion since October 2023 on military aid to ‘Israel’.

People now know the truth

Ayloush concluded that:

The supporters of Israel in our government are acting so viciously now against those speaking out, like Sami, because they want to stop this change. They see the writing on the wall, that the American public today know the truth, and they are expecting politicians to stop being accomplices in these war crimes

While Uddin added:

We’re David against Goliath. It’s one of the greatest privileges to represent someone of Sami’s great character. As we watch the abductions of our students, our academics, and our journalists — there is only one thing they all have in common: It is simply having a heart for the people of Palestine and being courageous enough to speak for a people who have suffered occupation and oppression.

Featured image via CAIR

By Charlie Jaay

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