Cenk Uygur — a Turkish-American political activist who runs the Young Turks YouTube channel — and his nephew Hasan Piker, a well-known Twitch streamer, were scheduled to speak at the SXSW London conference this week and then at the University of Oxford.
The UK Home Office said it had blocked their electronic travel authorizations on the basis that their presence “may not be in the public interest”. Both can still apply for visas to travel to the UK.
Uygur claimed on social media that he was “banned for criticizing Israel.”
He linked this decision to his suggestion that Israel “controlled” the US government.
“They claim that my allegation that Israel controls the American government through donations to 94 percent of Congress, although based on facts, is still anti-Semitic,” he added.
“He would choose Hamas over Israel”
A British official who knows the background of this decision told POLITICO that the entry ban was introduced due to statements deemed anti-Semitic.
Piker said in April on the Pod Save America podcast that he would “always choose Hamas over Israel,” and in January he described Hamas as “a thousand times better” than the Jewish state — said the Anti-Defamation League.
The British government has previously refused entry to other foreigners who have made controversial statements.
