Left-wing political streamer Hasan Piker, a vocal critic of Israel, announced that he has been barred from entering the United Kingdom. The popular online commentator stated that his UK visa was revoked “at the behest of Israel” after pressure from British MPs and Jewish organizations.
Piker, who commands an audience of three million followers on Twitch and two million on YouTube, was scheduled to speak at the SXSW London festival on Thursday. He made the announcement in a post on the social media platform X on Sunday.
“The West is betraying ‘liberal values’ for a genocidal fascist foreign government,” Piker wrote in his statement regarding the decision.
Cenk Uygur, the co-founder of The Young Turks and Piker’s uncle, reported a similar experience. He stated that he was also barred from entering the UK, where he was due to speak at the same event.
“I’ve been banned for criticizing Israel. Are we free anymore?” Uygur wrote on X. He later said in a livestream that the British government had deemed him “a serious risk to public order.”
Jewish advocacy groups, including the Anti-Defamation League and the UK’s Jewish Leadership Council, have accused Piker of anti-Semitism and of justifying terrorism. These accusations include his comments regarding Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
“I would vote for Hamas over Israel every single time,” Piker said during an appearance on the Pod Save America podcast in April. UK Labour MP David Taylor argued that such statements mean Piker’s presence would be “not conducive to the public good.”
The UK has experienced a rise in anti-Semitic incidents amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza. This context follows a precedent set in April when US rapper Kanye West was banned from entering Britain over anti-Semitic remarks.
Both Piker and Uygur have been consistent critics of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, which they have described as genocide. Separately, Fox News Digital reported in May that the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control had subpoenaed Piker regarding his participation in a media tour in Cuba. Piker told Fox on Sunday that he had not been served with any papers.
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