A British journalist has claimed US immigration officials are conducting a “war against freedom of speech” as he arrived home in the UK after spending more than a fortnight in detention.
Sami Hamdi, 34, was held by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at San Francisco International airport on 26 October after travelling to America for a speaking tour.
During his detention in a crowded space with between 80 and 90 inmates, he said he was left in “sheer agony”, with family and supporters pushing for his release after his health deteriorated.
Mr Hamdi, who lives in London, was released by ICE and returned to the UK on Thursday.
He told The Independent that his detention marks a “war against freedom of speech” for both Americans and the British.
“I don’t think this was an attack on me,” he said in his first full interview upon his release. “It was an attack on Americans, generally.”
The founder of The International Interest, a global risk and intelligence company, has been a vocal critic of Israel’s military action in Gaza. The UN recently concluded that the state was committing a genocide against the Palestinians after a two-year investigation and over 69,000 dead. Israel has called the report “false and distorted”.
But Mr Hamdi said his words are considered a threat by establishment figures unhappy with increasingly hostile public opinion against Israel.
“The concern that they had was not that I was speaking, the concern was that American public opinion is genuinely changing,” he said. “I spent a good deal of time over the past 3 years in America. I went to every state except New Hampshire. Americans are listening.”
He commended the American people for their courage and dedication to freedom, and said he was “treated very well” when travelling the US.
“This is a war on the freedoms of British and American citizens because in freedom they are learning the truth, and when they learn the truth they’re turning away from Israel,” he said.
“It is a land of the brave. They are defiantly standing against those restrictions.”
During his detention, Mr Hamdi said he witnessed several people who had been detained by ICE for almost a year, including a 70-year-old man and former professor fleeing persecution.
He also detailed the deterioration in his health as he was left in “sheer agony” within a day or so of being in detention.
Mr Hamdi said relations between ICE officials and inmates is fraught, as he witnessed difficult conditions with 80 to 90 people in the one room he was forced to stay in.
“It’s a battle of wills. You feel like ICE are merciless in this,” he said. “There’s a cruelty to it.”
However, he said he was conscious of his “privilege” and the high-profile that enabled him to be released.
“Nothing that happened to me nothing that happened to me compares to the genocide,” he added. “I wouldn’t dare complain about my conditions when I remember the pictures of Sidra’s legs being blown up or Hind Rajab with the 320 bullets at her car or Reem, ‘the soul of my soul’.”
US Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said:“Sami Hamdi, an illegal alien and terrorist sympathiser who cheered on Hamas following its October 7 terrorist attack, requested voluntary departure and ICE is happily arranging his removal from this country.
“Under President Trump, those who support terrorism and undermine American national security will not be allowed to work or visit this country. That’s just common sense.”
