US detains pro-Palestine journalist Sami Hamdi under Israel lobby pressure
A pro-Palestine British journalist has been detained in the United States by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency, under pressure from the pro-Israel lobby.
Political commentator and journalist Sami Hamdi was detained by ICE officials at San Francisco Airport on Sunday.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) condemned the detention as “a blatant affront to free speech,” linking it to Hamdi’s outspoken criticism of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.
A vocal critic of both US and Israeli policies, Hamdi had addressed a CAIR gala in Sacramento on Saturday evening and was scheduled to speak at another CAIR event in Florida the following day before being stopped.
CAIR said Hamdi’s detention followed a coordinated “far-right, Israel First campaign,” declaring, “Our nation must stop abducting critics of [the Israeli regime] at the behest of unhinged Israel First bigots … This is an Israel First policy, not an America First policy, and it must end.”
Far-right activist Laura Loomer, a close ally of US President Donald Trump who calls herself a “proud Islamophobe” and “white advocate,” boasted online about her role in the incident.
“You are lucky his only fate is being arrested and deported,” Loomer wrote, labeling Hamdi “a supporter of Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood.”
Loomer and others credited the escalation against Hamdi to the RAIR (Rise Align Ignite Reclaim) Foundation, a pro-Israel pressure group that claims it fights “Islamic supremacy.”
The organization recently alleged, without evidence, that Hamdi sought to “expand a foreign political network hostile to American interests” and urged authorities to expel him.
Supporters and civil rights advocates say Hamdi’s detention represents yet another case of political retaliation against critics of Israel, punished at the border even before being given a platform to speak.
Since Zionist regime began its genocidal assault on Gaza on October 7, 2023, at least 68,000 Palestinians have been martyred and 170,000 others wounded, the majority being women and children.
Experts warn the true death toll could rise to hundreds of thousands once those missing or buried under the rubble are accounted for.