Arab Digest contributor arrested by ICE
Summary: the arrest of our contributor Sami Hamdi by ICE is another signal that America is declining into fascism but the signs are that here too in the UK freedom of _expression_ is under unprecedented assault.
On Sunday 26 October Sami Hamdi a contributor to the Arab Digest newsletter and podcasts was arrested by ICE agents in San Francisco.
The Assistant Secretary, Department of Homeland Security, Tricia McLaughlin posted on X that his visa had been revoked and he was being detained adding “Under President Trump, those who support terrorism and undermine American national security will not be allowed to work or visit this country.”
Sami Hamdi was on a speaking tour sponsored by CAIR the Council on American-Islamic Relations. He had spoken at an event on Saturday evening and was due to fly to Florida for another speaking engagement when he was arrested.
The far right agitator Laura Loomer was quick to take to X to claim credit alleging that our contributor was a “jihadist” threatening America’s national security. Another social media extremist Amy Mekelburg, a noted Islamophobe, claimed Sami Hamdi was on a mission to spread terrorist ideology across America. Both women have a Rasputin-like influence on the president of the United States.
Needless to say these allegations are unutterably and maliciously false. What is noteworthy is how under this president who governs through social media diktat America is so easily cast adrift from its constitution and the five freedoms - freedom of religion, speech, the press, assembly and the right to petition the government - embodied in the First Amendment.
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Sami Hamdi with his wife Soumaya [photo credit: Soumaya Hamdi]It is a point admirably hammered home by Sami Hamdi’s wife Soumaya. Writing in an opinion piece for USA Today she argues succinctly and to the point: her husband’s detention is directly linked to his support for Palestine and his incisive and telling criticism of Israel. She notes:
This isn’t just about Sami. When a journalist is detained for speaking truth to power and advocating for what is right in a democratic country, we should all be concerned. Everyone should be able to express themselves without the fear of being arbitrarily detained for criticizing a foreign government.
My message to the U.S. government is simple: Release Sami immediately – and reaffirm that America’s strength lies in defending freedom of speech, not silencing it, and in upholding its own national interest and values, not that of another country.
And lest we forget here in the UK the chilling of criticism of Israel continues apace.
The pro-Palestinian activist Sarah Wilkinson has been charged under anti-terrorism legislation for a second time. Previous charges in 2024 were dropped. But when she was returned to Britain after being detained by the Israelis in international waters on board one of a flotilla of small boats attempting to bring humanitarian aid to Gaza she was once again arrested.
The investigative journalist Asa Winstanley an associate editor of the Electronic Intifada whose home was raided by anti-terrorism police saw the case against him thrown out of court. However other journalists and activists, amongst them Richard Medhurst, and Richard Barnard continue to face charges under anti-terrorism legislation. Barnard is a co-founder of Palestine Action which then Home Secretary Yvette Cooper proscribed under the anti-terrorism legislation. To date at least 144 people have been charged with supporting Palestine Action.
In an interview with Sky News last week Soumaya Hamdi said this about her husband:
He truly believes in human rights, he truly believes there should not be any hatred towards Muslims or Jews or Christians or people of any faith. He really believes that with everything he does.
Knowing him as we do we can affirm emphatically that - contrary to the hate-laced racist diatribes from the likes of Laura Loomer and Amy Mekelburg - this is the man that Sami Hamdi is. We call on our government to do everything in its power to express outrage at his detention and to demand his release.
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