Did the US detain British journalist Sami Hamdi over Palestine?
The Take
Al Jazeera
4.7 • 748 Ratings
🗓️ 13 November 2025
⏱️ 24 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
After two weeks of being held in a US immigration detention center, British Muslim journalist and political commentator Sami Hamdi is set to be released. In this episode, we hear from his wife, Soumaya Hamdi, about Sami's pro-Palestine advocacy, her family's ordeal and what her husband's arrest says about free speech under Donald Trump.
In this episode:
- Soumaya Hamdi, wife of Sami Hamdi
- Hussam Ayloush, CEO of CAIR-CA
Episode credits:
This episode was produced by Tracie Hunte, Noor Wazwaz and Melanie Marich with Phillip Lanos, Spencer Cline, Diana Ferraro, Farhan Rafid and Fatime Shafiq and our host, Malika Bilal. It was edited by Kylene Kiang. Special thanks to Abubakr al Shamahi.
Our sound designer is Alex Roldan. Rick Rush mixed this episode. Our video editors are Hisham Abu Salah and Mohannad al-Melhem. Alexandra Locke is The Take’s executive producer. Ney Alvarez is Al Jazeera’s head of audio.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Al Jazeera Podcasts. |
| 0:07.0 | Today, detained British journalist Sammy Hamdi is set to return home. |
| 0:18.2 | Sammy's done nothing wrong. He's a journalist. What he's done is spoken out in support |
| 0:22.8 | of Palestinian rights and spoken up to criticize the state of Israel who continues to conduct |
| 0:27.8 | a genocide against the Palestinian people. We'll hear about Sammy's detention in the U.S. |
| 0:32.8 | and the fight to free him. I'm Malika Bilal and this is the take. |
| 0:42.9 | Hi, a note before we go on. As you're watching this episode, leave us a comment telling us what |
| 0:49.0 | you think about the conversation. It's a more personal glimpse into one family's life, and we want to hear how it resonates. |
| 0:55.9 | Or on your podcast app, leave us a review, telling us where you're listening from, and feel free to give us a five-star rating while you're there. |
| 1:03.6 | It helps other people discover the show. Thanks. |
| 1:18.2 | I got a call from him or a message actually on WhatsApp telling me, hey, there are government agents waiting for me before, you know, getting into my plane. |
| 1:22.2 | And they just informed me that they have revoked my visa to the US. |
| 1:26.3 | That's Hussam Eilush, CEO of the California chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations or Care. |
| 1:33.3 | The text was from Sammy Hamdi, the British Muslim journalist and political commentator who was in the U.S. on a speaking tour when he was detained at San Francisco International Airport. |
| 1:44.2 | Hussam says Sammy wanted to know what he should do next. |
| 1:48.4 | I said once you verify they are government agents, you should, you know, shouldn't resist. |
| 1:53.3 | The rest is, you know, we found out that he was abducted by ICE and taken into a detention center. |
| 1:59.5 | Sammy would be detained for more than two weeks. |
| 2:02.0 | He's now due to be released. |
| 2:03.8 | But why was he detained in the first place? |
| 2:06.7 | This is an attempt to intimidate people like Sammy Hamdi, to intimidate other journalists, |
| 2:11.8 | foreign journalists, to tell them, listen, in this country, in America, you don't get to |
... |
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