Posted Nov. 7, 2025
The world renown British pro-Palestine journalist and political analyst, Sami Hamdi, was taken into custody, on October 26, by the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency. He was detained at San Francisco International Airport, while on his way to Florida, to speak at an event held by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), after which he had planned to return home to Britain.
Hamdi- a critic of Israeli occupation’s human rights abuses
Hamdi is a strong critic of Israeli occupation abuses in Palestine, and his detention by ICE has mobilized American Muslims, who are increasingly speaking out on the issue.
Marium Uddin, Legal Director of the Muslim Legal Fund of America, is one of the attorneys representing Sami. She says: “It’s a case that matters deeply to me and my community, and what is happening is very distressing. There’s not a day that we wake up without experiencing some sort of gut punch.”
Hamdi travelled to the US on a valid visa, to undertake a nationwide speaking tour as he has done many times before. But at the airport, his visa was revoked and he was taken into custody by ICE.
Alarming behaviour by ICE
Uddin argues: “It is really alarming that on your way in between domestic flights, after you get through security, nine different agents in plainclothes swarm you, and let you know your visitor visa has been revoked by the Department of State- after you come to this country on invitation to speak at various conferences and after you’ve been to this country lawfully multiple times in the past for the very same reason. It is outrageous that you are escorted to a government vehicle parked curbside outside of your terminal where you are handcuffed and patted down for weapons. To add insult to injury, your handcuffs are checked for tightness and double-locked for safety, after which you’re transported to an ICE office and handed over to detention hold room staff.”
The sole formal justification given for Hamdi’s detention is the revocation of his visa by the Department of State. But although no additional reason has been provided, there have been social media comments made, based on national security grounds, equating his desire for peace and justice and freedom for the people of Palestine as support for terrorism.
Sami has only talked about his opposition to the genocide in Gaza. This is not a threat to national security
Islamophobe, far right activist, and Zionist Jew Laura Loomer, along with Zionist anti-Muslim extremist, Amy Mek, have been reponsible for much of the disinformation online about Hamdi, and just before his arrest and detention, Loomer predicted he was going to be detained.
Uddin says: “Clearly, there was some sort of signal from up on high that was heeded and led to ICE and other agents working in concert. What Sami has said in his verbal speech does not fall under the umbrella of a national security ground or threat. It is simply his opposition to the war on Gaza. That is the essence of what he has been speaking about in the last two years. It’s purely a matter of free speech, bringing to bear a voice of conscience on a war that has been condemned globally and is the subject of U.N. sanctions as well as ICC and grave human rights investigations”.
Alongside the Muslim Legal Fund of America (MLFA), Hamdi is also being represented by the Council on American-Islamic Relations California (CAIR-CA), and immigration lawyer Hassan Ahmad.
Hamdi is confident justice will prevail
CAIR-CA CEO Hussam Ayloush visited Hamdi recently, 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, and he will soon regain his freedom and be reunited with his family.
Ayloush adds: “He’s a man of faith, a man of conviction, and he’s passionate about human rights, about human dignity.He knows his detention is purely vindictive and political, so he’s willing to deal with this harrassment for the things he believes in, and to bring attention to the suppression and persecution in America that’s happening against those who dare to criticise Israeli human rights abuses, including the genocide. Sami’s only ‘crime’ is being outspoken. In our country the supporters of Israel are going out of their way to restrict and sometimes criminalise any criticism of Israel, whether it’s at school, higher education, the workplace or at Government Agency”.
This is carried out under different pretexts, either through the weaponisation of antisemitism, or through social pressure- by accusing anybody who sympathises with the plight of Palestinians as being a terrorist, or someone who supports the killing of innocent people.
Ayloush: “Criticism of Israel is a red line”
“At CAIR, we see it as him being penalised for speaking up. But it’s also a message of intimidation for other foreigners planning to visit the US, that the criticism of Israel is a red line, ” Ayloush says.
In May, Secretary of State Marco Rubio implemented a new policy, whereby any visitor applying for a visa to the US would be scrutinised to check, not if they are critical of the US or Trump, but if they are critical of the Israeli regime. What is happening, says Ayloush, is all about the Israel First quashing the America First policies in the US, and Sami is in the middle of it.
“America has zero interest in mistreating a well known journalist like Sami. It’s bad for our reputation, bad for our credibility, and it goes against our constitution and values. It has only one purpose, and that is serving the State of ‘Israel’, a state that is engaged in war crimes and genocide, according to the UN and every human rights organisation in the world. It is ridiculous and mind boggling how we in the West have sold out. All the talk about free speech, human rights and democracy, we’ve thrown out all of that under the bus, for one purpose- shielding a foreign government from criticism for its human rights abuses, which are so well documented. Yet, we still want to punish anyone who dares to repeat what is already known, ” says Ayloush.
Last week, a US Federal Court temporarily blocked ICE from transferring Hamdi out of California. This important first step was brought about after his legal team argued that the US government had violated the First Amendment’s promise of free speech.
According to Uddin, the goal of Hamdi’s lawyers at this time, is to ensure he can get back home safely to his wife and young children, and that while he is being detained, he isn’t harmed in any way.
“We were recently disturbed by information that Sami’s ankles were unnecessarily shackled very tightly at one point overnight, leading him to have swollen feet for days. Later, he experienced medical concerns around severe abdominal pain and neither his family nor his legal team received any sort of satisfactory response about their request for expedited medical attention for several long hours, despite being told that there were many medical personnel available on site to evaluate him,”Uddin explains.
Shockat Adam MP: The UK government should be doing a lot more for Sami Hamdi
Shockat Adam is one of the five Independent MPs who has signed a letter urging the UK government to do all it can to ensure Hamdi’s safe and immediate return home to his family.
Adam says: “Although the government says it it is contact with Sami Hamdi’s family, they have not given us any details. The comments that have been coming out from his family, and wife, are that they have been “left in the dark”. We should be doing a lot more. We want full transparency, and there should be complete consular support. Sami should be released immediately if he’s not going to be pressed with any charges”.
Adam says what is happening to Hamdi is extremely alarming, but argues that, unfortunately, this is a pattern we have seen in America, in recent months under Donald Trump, even though we have, allegedly, a very special relationship with the United States of America.
“To be just taken like that, as a British citizen, is alarming for the US and its very alarming for British citizens, who will now feel that the British government will not have our back, if we go to a foreign country express our opinions in a democratic way,” he says.
But things are changing. For the first time, numerous polls now show the majority of Americans are calling for the cutting of military and economic aid to the Israeli regime. Americans are starting to question their country’s blind support for the pariah state. While they struggle to send their children to college, or go bankrupt trying to get medical support, their government has spent more than $30 billion, in the two years since October 7, 2025, on military aid to ‘Israel’, and military operations in the region on its behalf.
People now know the truth about ‘Israel’ and its war crimes against Palestinians
Ayloush concludes: “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, or at least slow it down. 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”.
Uddin adds: “In a sense, we’re David against Goliath, but it’s one of the greatest privileges of this legal team to represent someone of Sami’s great character. As we watch the abductions and arrests of our students, our academics, and our journalists unfold in real time, there is only one thing they all have in common and that 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 for far too long”.
Charlie Jaay is a freelance journalist, with a special interest in environmental issues and social justice.
