Far-Left, Pro-Hamas Streamer Hasan Piker Banned From UK, Forced to Miss Appearance at SXSW London Festival
by Shiryn Ghermezian
Hasan Piker. Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Pro-Hamas Twitch streamer Hasan Piker and his uncle, fellow far-left political commentator Cenk Uygur, have been denied entry to the United Kingdom by the government’s Home Office and will be unable to make their scheduled appearances at the SXSW London festival this month.
Piker and Uygur said on social media their visas were revoked and claimed they were “banned for criticizing Israel.”
“I’ve been banned from the UK,” Uygur said Sunday in a post on X. “I tried to get on a flight to London to attend SXSW London and give a speech at Oxford. I’ve been banned for criticizing Israel. Are we free anymore? This is oppression of Western citizens by our own governments on behalf of a different country.”
Piker replied to the post and wrote: “The UK has revoked my visa as well. All at the behest of Israel. The West is betraying ‘liberal values’ for a genocidal fascist foreign government. Soon we will all become Israel.”
The British Home Office said in a statement that travel authorization for Piker and Uygur has been canceled because “their presence in the UK may not be conducive to the public good,” as cited by Reuters. The statement also noted that the decision to “refuse or cancel” a person’s electronic travel authorization “on these grounds are based solely on an assessment of the potential risk an individual may pose to UK society.”
SXSW London is a six-day festival that focuses on music, film, technology, and culture. Piker was scheduled to take part in a panel discussion on June 4 at SXSW London titled “How the American Left Learned to Speak the Internet.” The discussion would largely focus on the political campaign of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. “The conversation will look back at how the Mamdani campaign navigated questions around democratic socialism, economic populism, Islamophobia, Palestine, and generational frustration while building resonance across communities many believed could not coexist politically,” according to a description of the event on the festival’s website.
While in London, Piker was also scheduled to record a live podcast interview with the news outlet UnHerd on June 5.
Uygur, who co-founded and hosts the left-wing show “The Young Turks” on YouTube, was scheduled to participate in a panel discussion at SXSW London on June 3 titled, “Techno-Feudalism Is Here. Who Are The Lords?” Both men were also reportedly scheduled to appear at the University of Oxford over the weekend.
Labour MP David Taylor thanked the British government for banning entry to Piker and Uygur. “There’s no reason to open our doors to those who seek to spread hate and division, especially to those who’ve supported a proscribed terror group,” Taylor wrote on X. “SXSW London must review it’s vetting policies so it doesn’t happen again.”
Piker has repeatedly expressed support for Hamas, saying the terrorist organization was “1,000 times better” than Israel and he “would vote for Hamas over Israel every single time.” He also previously said “it doesn’t matter” if sexual assault took place during the Hamas-led deadly terrorist attack in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. He has called Zionism a “mental illness” and also expressed support for the Hezbollah terrorist organization, saying during a Twitch stream last year, “I do not have a single issue with Hezbollah as a form of militancy trying to incur penalties on the genocidal state of Israel.”
In an interview with Variety in 2025, Piker claimed he is not antisemitic but is “anti-Israel.”
