British commentator and Israel critic held in US

UK political commentator and analyst Sami Hamdi has been detained by U.S. federal authorities after being stopped by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) at San Francisco International Airport on October 26th, as reported by Al Jazeera via Reuters.

Hamdi was stopped hours after speaking at a gala held in Sacramento by the American civil rights organisation, Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR),  whilst en route to Florida, where he was scheduled to speak at another event. CAIR broke the news in a statement describing that Hamdi had been “abducted” allegedly due to his outspoken criticism of Israel’s government, further condemning the incident as a “far-right, Israel First campaign”. 

The arrest comes amid broader U.S. immigration crackdowns, particularly against those who vocally oppose American support of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. Hamdi, who is known for being outspoken on western complicity with regards to Israel, was taken into U.S. custody with DHS officials claiming, without evidence, that he poses a national security threat. Friends of Hamdi released a statement calling his arrest “a deeply troubling precedent for freedom of expression and the safety of British citizens abroad”. The statement called for the United Kingdom Foreign Office to “demand urgent clarification from the US authorities regarding the grounds for Mr Hamdi’s detention”.

U.S. political discourse has been known to be overwhelmingly aligned with Israeli ambitions in Palestine. Far-right activist and ally of US president Donald Trump, Laura Loomer, who has self-identified as a “proud Islamophobe”, celebrated Hamdi’s arrest online, falsely labelling him “ a supporter of HAMAS”. Loomer credited the campaign against Hamdi to the RAIR-foundation, a pro-Israel network whose stated mission is to oppose “Islamic supremacy”. The organisation recently accused Hamdi of trying to “expand a foreign political network hostile to American interests”, and urged authorities to expel him from the country. 

CAIR vowed to challenge the deportation order, claiming that the U.S. government is sending a chilling message to Muslim and Palestinian speakers. 

Al Jazeera via Reuters, Maghrebi.org