Copyright yahoo
A British commentator who allegedly praised the Oct 7 massacre has been detained by US authorities and faces deportation back to the UK. Sami Hamdi, who describes himself as a journalist, was arrested by immigration agents at San Francisco airport on Sunday morning. Ten days after Hamas’s attack on Israel on Oct 7 2023, during which some 1,200 civilians were killed, Mr Hamdi told a mosque in London to “celebrate the victory”. “We are pitying a people who brought a huge victory since 1948,” he said. “Don’t pity them, they don’t want your pity. Celebrate the victory.” He added: “How many of you felt it in your hearts when you got the news that it happened? How many of you felt the euphoria? Allahu Akbari!” Mr Hamdi also claimed widespread accounts of sexual violence committed by Hamas, a proscribed terror organisation in Britain and the US, had been fabricated by Israel. Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, “had to make a lie about rape”, he said at the same event, according to the National Post. Mr Hamdi spoke at the annual gala of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) Sacramento branch in California on Saturday, and had been scheduled to deliver another speech in Florida on Sunday. Two Canadian universities last year cancelled scheduled speeches by Mr Hamdi as he embarked on a tour of campuses, according to the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs. A spokesman for Concordia, which banned the commentator, said at the time his remarks celebrated violence and that allowing him to talk would result in a “culture of intimidation”. Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesman with the department of homeland security (DHS), said on Sunday that Mr Hamdi had been detained ahead of his deportation. “This individual’s visa was revoked and he is in ICE [immigration and customs enforcement] custody pending removal,” she said. “Under president Trump, those who support terrorism and undermine American national security will not be allowed to work or visit this country. It’s common sense.” Laura Loomer, the Right-wing activist with close ties to Donald Trump, said Mr Hamdi, after receiving a visa in 2018, had allegedly radicalised Muslims into becoming Hamas supporters at mosques throughout the US. She went on to ask what Shabana Mahmood, the British Home Secretary, would do once the commentator was deported. “Will she arrest him? Or will she allow this jihadi to roam the streets of the UK?” Ms Loomer said. CAIR claimed Mr Hamdi had been detained by US authorities at Ms Loomer’s instigation because he had criticised Israel’s war in Gaza. “Abducting a prominent British Muslim journalist and political commentator on a speaking tour in the United States because he dared to criticize the Israeli government’s genocide is a blatant affront to free speech,” it said in a statement on Sunday evening. “Our nation must stop abducting critics of the Israeli government at the behest of unhinged Israel First bigots.” The US state department has revoked thousands of visas of those it claims are supporters of terrorist groups such as Hamas. Embassies have been directed to screen applicants and scour their social media profiles for “hostile attitudes towards our citizens, culture, government, institutions, or founding principles”. Mr Hamdi has denied celebrating the Oct 7 massacre, claiming he was instead “illustrating the international recognition that efforts to normalize relations in the Middle East must include Palestinian voices”. “The October 7th events underscore the failure of any approach that seeks normalisation at the expense of the Palestinian people,” he told the National Post last year. The Foreign Office and DHS have been approached for comment.
