On October 27th the BBC News website’s ‘US & Canada’ page published a report by a new BBC News North America journalist called Grace Eliza Goodwin under the headline “British journalist Sami Hamdi detained by US authorities”.
The report opens by telling BBC audiences that: [emphasis added]
British journalist and media commentator Sami Hamdi, an outspoken critic of Israel, has been arrested by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
While on a speaking tour of the US over the weekend, Hamdi was detained by ICE officers and his visa was revoked, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Tricia McLaughlin, announced on X on Sunday.
Hamdi is in ICE custody pending his removal from the country, she added.
The State Department and DHS allege that Hamdi supports terrorism and poses a threat to national security, while a Muslim advocacy group argues he is being politically targeted in violation of his free speech rights.”
Goodwin later tells readers that:
“DHS, ICE, and the State Department did not answer the BBC’s request for evidence of Hamdi’s alleged support of terrorism.”
Had she researched that topic herself – or even checked DHS social media – Goodwin would have found a relevant video dating from October 2023.
“British political commentator and consultant Sami Hamdi spoke about the war in Gaza at the Al-Muzzammil Masjid and community Centre (Gatton Road Mosque) in London. He said that the Palestinians should not be pitied, but rather their victory should be celebrated. Referring to the October 7 attacks, Hamdi asked: “When you go the news that it happened, how many of you felt the euphoria?” […]
“We are pitying a people who brought a huge victory since 1948. Don’t pity them – they don’t want your pity – celebrate the victory. Allah has shown the world that no normalization can erase the Palestinian cause. When everybody thought it was finished, it is roaring. How many of you felt it in your hearts when you got the news that it happened? How many of you felt the euphoria? Allah Akbar!””
Hamdi also celebrated Hamas’ “huge victory” on a podcast aired just 5 days after the October 7th massacre, while claiming that its “magnanimous” perpetrators showed “humanity” towards their “settler” victims. On another podcast aired on October 13th 2023, Hamdi also spoke of “euphoria” sparked by “this Palestinian resistance” which he claimed some were “trying to paint as terrorism”.
Had she looked, Goodwin may also have found additional videos of some of Hamdi’s previous 2024 speaking engagements in the US during in which he promoted the ‘Israel lobby’ trope and the ‘genocide’ libel – a falsehood which he also promoted to Australian students in the same year.
In other words, Goodwin’s claim that Hamdi was merely “an outspoken critic of Israel” comes nowhere near to telling BBC audiences the whole story. Nevertheless, she goes on to promote parts of a statement made by the US organisation hosting Hamdi.
“Hamdi, who frequently appears on British TV networks to comment on the Middle East, was detained at San Francisco International Airport on Sunday “apparently because of his criticism of Israel’s genocide in Gaza”, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a Muslim civil rights and advocacy organisation, said in a statement.
Hamdi spoke at CAIR Sacramento’s annual gala on Saturday, and was scheduled to speak at CAIR Florida’s gala on Sunday before he was detained.
“Our nation must stop abducting critics of the Israeli government at the behest of unhinged Israel First bigots. This is an Israel First policy, not an America First policy, and it must end,” CAIR wrote in its statement.”
As we see, not only does Goodwin have nothing to tell BBC audiences about the antisemitic record and problematic post-October 7th statements of CAIR executives but she even promotes and mainstreams the organisation’s use of that version of the antisemitic ‘dual loyalty’ trope.
Moreover, Goodwin ends her report with promotion of two past BBC articles, one of which was previously discussed here due to its whitewashing of the terror-supporting student group to which Mahmoud Khalil belonged.
“This isn’t the first time the Trump administration has revoked the visas of people who have openly criticised Israel’s war in Gaza.
In March, Columbia University graduate and pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil was arrested and threatened with deportation in a case that is still ongoing. His case was the most prominent in a series of arrests of student activists.”
Goodwin’s reporting of this story clearly does not provide readers with the full range of information needed to understand it properly. Instead, all BBC audiences got was a churnalism-style rehash – perhaps appropriately tagged “activism” – of a press release put out by a highly partisan organisation.
Related Articles:
BBC WHITEWASHES STUDENT GROUP’S SUPPORT OF OCT. 7TH MASSACRE
GUARDIAN, SKY, ITV ERASE PRO-HAMAS VIEWS OF BRITISH MAN FACING US DEPORTATION
‘CELEBRATE THE VICTORY’: AP COVERS UP SAMI HAMDI’S REMARKS EXPRESSING EUPHORIA OVER OCT. 7 TERROR
