\n The United Kingdom\u2019s Home Office canceled travel permits belonging to Piker, 34, and Turkish-American broadcaster and attorney Cenk Uygur<\/a>. The pair were scheduled to speak this week at the South by Southwest technology and business festival (SXSW) in London and address the Oxford Union, a debating society at the prestigious British university.\n <\/p>\n \n In a statement to CNN, the Home Office said it revoked Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) for Piker and Uygur \u2014 which permits non-UK citizens to visit the country without a visa for up to six months \u2014 \u201con the grounds that their presence in the UK may not be conducive to the public good.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Such decisions \u201care based solely on an assessment of potential risk an individual may pose to UK society,\u201d the Home Office said, adding that \u201cindividuals may choose to apply for a visa if they still wish to travel to the UK.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n On Sunday, Piker posted on X<\/a> that the British government had \u201crevoked my visa.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n In a text message to CNN on Monday, Piker harshly criticized Israel and Britain, charging that free expression and due process in the UK \u201care falling by the wayside at the behest of a foreign apartheid state and its expansionist interests in the Middle East.\u201d He added, \u201cThis is a real crisis of democracy.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Uygur said he discovered he\u2019d been barred when he tried to board a flight to the British capital.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cI\u2019ve 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!\u201d he posted on X<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n \n Piker\u2019s hours-long live-streaming broadcasts, in which he discusses breaking news and policy, reach more than 30,000 people daily, according to his profile<\/a> on the SXSW website. It describes him as \u201can authoritative voice\u201d for millennials and Gen Z. He has about 6.4 million followers across the social media platforms X<\/a>, Instagram<\/a> and Twitch<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n \n Uygur founded the independent online talk show,<\/a> The Young Turks, which bills itself as a progressive online news and commentary program with a large following among young people. Uygur also campaigned for the Democratic nomination<\/a> in the 2024 US presidential election.\n <\/p>\n \n Uygur told CNN he was \u201cbanned from entering the country for doing a news show.\u201d He added in a statement: \u201cAre there any other countries you\u2019re not allowed to criticize, or just Israel? If their point was to show that Israel does not get any special privileges in Western countries, they have found a deeply ironic way to deliver that message.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n British media first reported that Home Secretary Shabhana Mahmood canceled Piker and Uygur\u2019s ETAs early Monday. The decision to bar Uygur from traveling to Britain is \u201cunderstood to have been based on several grounds,\u201d including that his presence in the UK would \u201crisk exacerbating antisemitism,\u201d London\u2019s Times newspaper reported.\n <\/p>\n \n In April, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer warned that a recent spate of antisemitic attacks left Jewish people \u201cscared to show who they are.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Some Jewish groups say criticism of Israel has fueled intimidation and antisemitism. But others say accusations of antisemitism have been used to suppress legitimate criticism of Israel\u2019s government.\n <\/p>\n \n One British lecturer \u2014 Lewis Turner, the co-vice president of the British Society for Middle Eastern Studies \u2014 cautioned that the government\u2019s decision sets a \u201cdangerous precedent\u201d for free expression in the country.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cThe UK government appears to be banning individuals from entering the UK because of their criticism of Israeli state policies,\u201d Turner told CNN on Monday.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cThis comes in the context of a much wider crackdown on freedom of expression relating to Palestine, especially since October 2023,\u201d he added, referring to Hamas\u2019 attack on Israel and the ensuing Israeli campaign in Gaza.\n <\/p>\n \n Piker has repeatedly insisted he is anti-Zionist, not antisemitic, and he has called for greater accountability over Israeli actions in the Gaza Strip. Both Piker and Uygur have described<\/a> the Israeli offensive in Gaza as a genocide.\n <\/p>\n \n In September, an independent UN inquiry concluded that Israel had committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, a finding the Israeli government rejected.\n <\/p>\n \n A self-professed socialist, Piker has been<\/a> one of the most potent advocates for the rights of Palestinians under Israeli bombing in Gaza following the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attack.\n <\/p>\n \n He has also made comments that have drawn criticism. In an April episode<\/a> of the podcast, \u201cPod Save America,\u201d he claimed, \u201cI\u2019m a lesser-evil voter, and therefore I would vote for Hamas over Israel every single time.\u201d Hamas has been designated a terrorist organization by a number of countries and entities, including the United States, Britain<\/a> and the European Union.\n <\/p>\n \n Several years earlier, the Twitch streamer apologized for \u201cinappropriate\u201d remarks he made in 2019 that \u201cAmerica deserved 9\/11.\u201d He said during an appearance<\/a> on The Young Turks, \u201cI should\u2019ve used more precise and better use of the language there.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Speaking at the Oxford Union last May, Piker described antisemitism as \u201cone of the oldest bigotries that has caused those of the Jewish faith a tremendous amount of pain.\u201d He also denounced the \u201cconflation of anti-Zionism and antisemitism\u201d as a \u201ccynical ploy to stop all manner of conversation.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Donie O\u2019Sullivan contributed to this report.\n <\/p>\n ![\"Cenk](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/gettyimages-2216988406.jpg\")
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