AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org. I’m Amy Goodman, with Juan González.

Earlier this week, the British government banned the progressive political commentators Hasan Piker and Cenk Uygur from entering the U.K. They were scheduled to speak at the SXSW London festival and the Oxford Union Society. The U.K.’s Home Office said it was canceling their travel permits, quote, “on the grounds that their presence in the U.K. may not be conducive to the public good,” unquote. Both Piker and Uygur are outspoken in their criticism of Israel. Recent comments from — that have drawn scrutiny include Piker saying that as a, quote, “lesser-evil voter,” he “would vote for Hamas over Israel every single time,” unquote.

The week prior to their ban, British Labour MP David Taylor called for Piker to be barred, saying, quote, “It’s shocking that SXSW would invite someone who has openly supported a proscribed terrorist organisation and spouted these kinds of vile antisemitic rants to speak at their festival. With the unacceptable rise in antisemitism on our streets leaving British Jews in a constant state of anxiety, Hasan Piker is clearly not conducive to the public good,” he said.

Hasan Piker is one of the most prominent online influencers on the left. He has millions of followers and subscribers across social media platforms. He live-streams on the gaming platform Twitch for hours every day. Recently, he’s drawn the ire of the Democratic Party leadership for endorsing and campaigning on behalf of progressive candidates in primaries across the country.

To talk more about his ban from the U.K., his views on Israel, his critique of the Democratic Party and more, we’re joined by Hasan Piker from his home, where he streams, in West Hollywood, California.

Hasan, welcome to Democracy Now! Can you start off by responding to this ban on you and — Cenk is your uncle, is that right, Cenk Uygur?

HASAN PIKER: Yes.

AMY GOODMAN: On what this means? In fact, you’re going to virtually participate in the Oxford debate anyway, right?

HASAN PIKER: Yeah, I was also supposed to — first of all, thank you for having me. It’s a real honor to be on the show. I’m basically listening to the show a lot earlier than I normally would, because I usually do that in my morning routine.

But so, Cenk and I were supposed to participate at the Oxford Union. We were supposed to do different panels at SXSW. I was also supposed to have a conversation with Jeremy Corbyn and Zack Polanski, the leader of the Green Party, and I also had another talk set up with former Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis. And then, Cenk was supposed to travel to the U.K. with his family, and he was stopped at the airport, and he found out that his visa had been rescinded and that he could not get on the plane. So I ended up checking my visa, as well, and found out that my visa was also revoked.

Now, I find what the British government did here to be objectionable. I find it to be disgusting. I also find it to be terrifying. I think it’s a terrifying prospect for the future of Western liberal democracies. The fact that a country that has in the past harbored much more radical thinkers than myself to completely drop all pretext that they care about free expression instead of protecting it is, I think, a sign of the times. I think it’s a sign that we’re moving down into a — we’re headed down a very different — dare I say, fascist — direction in the Western world.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And this is — this in happening, Hasan, under a Labour government in Britain, especially given Britain’s particular role when it comes to Israel and Palestine, being the primary imperial power that allowed the creation or promoted the development of the state of Israel.

HASAN PIKER: Yeah, absolutely. There is definitely a lot of culpability, that extends far beyond the Balfour Declaration. And the British government has been coordinating with the Israeli government. The Royal Air Force has been conducting surveillance missions, flying off of their Cyprus base. Keir Starmer has actually visited this base and has openly admitted that he could never say in broad daylight what the Royal Air Force is doing there. Starmer has also invited Isaac Herzog, who has been mentioned in the ICC and the ICJ court cases against both Israel and Israeli officials, like former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

So, the fact that England extends a red carpet to war criminals and collaborators of war criminals that have played a role in the genocide of the Palestinians, but then critics of Israel are considered to be real threats, significant threats to public safety is preposterous. But once again, I think this is a real warning. Just as the proscription of Palestine Action and the mass arrests that have taken place of pensioners in the U.K. that have demonstrated in support of Palestine Action was a very clear attempt by the British government to do the exact opposite of the democratic process, to refuse to listen to the very just and moral demands of the masses, and instead suppress their voices and try to silence them through state repression, is very clear that there’s a — there’s a terrifying direction that the U.K. is headed down.

And, yes, it is the Labour government’s complicity, both in the crimes that Israel has committed, but it’s also the Labour government’s complicity in the acceleration towards fascism, because the next government that comes in, if it’s, God forbid, a Reform government, a far-right, authoritarian government, they’re going to overtake this exact same process, and they might not have even the restrictions that the Labour government is applying currently. So, to offer them the keys of the castle in this manner is complicity. It’s something that we’ve seen. It’s appeasement. It’s something that we’ve seen throughout history in the past, where liberals assume that they could overtake the reactionary demands coming from the right in an effort to keep control, and they ultimately fail to the fascists.

JUAN GONZÁLEZ: I wanted to ask you also about another international issue which you’ve been involved with controversy lately. You went to Cuba in March with the Nuestra América Convoy, which brought activists from 33 countries and medicines and supplies to Cuba to attempt to break this economic blockade and warfare that the United States has been — has been involved in against Cuba. But last week, it was reported that the Treasury Department sent you and Medea Benjamin, founder of CodePink, who helped organize the convoy, a request for information from the Office of Foreign Assets Control to look at the possible violations. What’s your response to this inquiry?

HASAN PIKER: Yeah, so, I’ve yet to receive a subpoena. Even though Fox News claimed I received one, I have not. But I think that the news article itself was symbolic. I assume that this is less of a real inquiry and more so an opportunity for the American government to try to silence political dissent and to also criminalize activism.

We were there to support the Cuban population with humanitarian aid that was necessary. And I also, separately, got a journalism visa, as well, to cover the atrocities that were taking place on the ground and to try to figure out what our government’s culpability was in the economic devastation that Cubans were facing. And, I mean, it was horrifying. You guys have covered this stuff extensively.

But it’s very clear — the Trump administration is not making it a secret — that they want to prosecute all manner of political dissent, whether it be the counterterrorism initiatives implemented by Sebastian Gorka or, even now, lawfare by way of the Treasury Department. I think the goal here is to, once again, just like the British government, silence dissent, and maybe even ultimately criminalize it. Hopefully this won’t be a precedent-setting case, but we are headed down a scary path here in the United States.

AMY GOODMAN: Hasan, I wanted to play a clip of a short documentary about your trip to Cuba.

HASAN PIKER: For years, I’ve wanted to visit Cuba. I wanted to learn about the problems caused by the embargo. I’ve wanted to see a socialist society in person. Last month, I took the opportunity to go, as part of a humanitarian mission to bring aid that my government won’t. I’d be accompanying Progressive International, alongside hundreds of others from around the world. Activists, journalists, artists and politicians would be coming to the island by boat and plane to deliver over 40 tons of necessary supplies, food, medicine and medical equipment.

All right, we’re in the heart of — we’re in the heart of Havana right now. One of the things that I’ve immediately been hit with is how beautiful the city is, but also how hollowed out it is, in many ways. It looks like — I mean, some of these houses, they have the skeleton, they have the outside, but inside, it looks like it’s bombed out. You know, there’s people living in it, but, like, very clearly, this is in a dire state of disrepair.

AMY GOODMAN: More indictments have been brought in this last day against Cuban leaders, Hasan Piker. Did you actually deliver medical supplies? How successful were you?

HASAN PIKER: Yes, so, the humanitarian aid mission was accompanied by hundreds of other activists, as well. It wasn’t just medical supplies. There was, I believe, food, as well. The delivery was successful, but, ultimately, it’s a drop in the bucket. And what the Cuban population actually needs right now is oil, because oil is what runs their entire energy grid. And unfortunately, the Trump administration has very openly created a blockade, and the island’s energy grid is currently still suffering.

Now, there’s also one aspect to this that I think adds insult to injury, and that’s the reality that there is actually parts of the Cuban island that are receiving oil with regular frequency, and that is, of course, Guantánamo Bay. That’s an American military base on the island of Cuba, and it’s basically an old colonial outpost. And so, you have the situation where 90 miles off of our coastline, you have 9 million or so people suffering. There’s food shortages. People can’t deliver medicine all around the island, because there’s simply no oil. And food is — medicine is also spoiling, as well. They’re just sitting in factories because there’s no refrigeration. And yet, a couple miles off of — a couple miles away from Havana, you have Guantánamo Bay, where they have a McDonald’s. And they have American military members stationed there. And they have energy for the entire island, potentially. I think this really shows the inhumanity and the juxtaposition.

And it’s — I feel like it’s something that many Americans are completely oblivious to. If they were more aware of the crisis, that they would also find it to be morally repugnant and unconscionable. And I suspect that’s part of the reason why the federal government wants to stop these kinds of actions, or at least create an environment of threats and pressure, so that other people who could also freely travel to Cuba and see what’s going on for themselves, and maybe even deliver humanitarian aid themselves, think twice before they participate in something like this. I, myself, am unbowed, and I hope others will be, too.

AMY GOODMAN: Hasan Piker, at the 2024 DNC in Chicago, 30 delegates to the convention were with the National Uncommitted Movement. Uncommitted delegates were selected in state Democratic primaries to call for an end to the Biden administration’s backing of Israel’s assault on Gaza. After the DNC denied their request for a Palestinian American speaker on stage, uncommitted delegates and their allies staged a sit-in outside the convention hall. This is a clip of the co-founder of the uncommitted movement, Abbas Alawieh.

ABBAS ALAWIEH: Here is the scandal, my friends. Here is the scandal. The scandal is that there are forces within Democratic Party leadership who do not want us to talk about Palestinian human rights. But that’s not sustainable. This is a watershed moment.

AMY GOODMAN: So, this was a watershed moment. You actually were inside the DNC for a while, before they put you out. You had a select seat there as a commentator. But can you talk about the fact — I put this question also to Dr. Hamawy, who you campaigned with, along with Dr. El-Sayed. You campaigned with him also for his senatorial race. Can you talk about the autopsy report and it not talking about Israel and Gaza, though the issue took center stage at the DNC with this sit-in, with people who were quite involved with the Democratic National Committee?

HASAN PIKER: Yeah, I think to myself all the time whether this is a byproduct of incompetence or if they are totally aware that this is a major crisis, a major issue, and they’re cynically trying to avoid having a conversation about it.

I also had interviewed the uncommitted movement outside, and I had my press credentials revoked in real time while I was live broadcasting at the DNC, while simultaneously being interviewed by a New York Times reporter, as a matter of fact, for my criticisms of the DNC. I was invited, but then, you know, I was, I guess, disinvited at the same time for these exact warnings that I was issuing to as many Democrats as I possibly could. It turned out those warnings were true, and yet the Democratic Party still has not learned a very important lesson and still seemingly chooses not to listen to the demands of the masses.

A similar pattern arises here that we just talked about with the United Kingdom. I feel like there’s a real crisis in democracy and illiberalism in the Western world because of our complicity with war crimes and our complicity in Israel’s genocide, and instead of addressing these problems, instead of solving these issues, instead of leaning into the demands of the overwhelming majority of the masses, the American government and the Democratic Party, just like the Labour Party, which is supposed to be the left representation of politics in both these countries, has decided to suppress the needs of the masses, have decided to avoid having these conversations.

Having said that, however, there is an opportunity here, as, you know, Adam Hamawy, Chris Rabb in Philadelphia and numerous insurgent candidates that are popping up all around the country in the primary system, and actually successfully defeating the establishment Democrats all around the country, have created this unavoidable force that will hopefully present a very good change within the party.

And it’s not just, of course, about Israel, either. It’s about these issues broadly. I feel like the center of power in the Democratic Party for far too long has conceded to the interests of profits, to the interests of corporations, and oftentimes placed them first, and placed the interests of the population, the people, the masses, the working class, last. Hopefully, we can make a change. And we can force that change, because I feel as though the party right now needs fighters. We don’t have a lot of time. Fascism is here, and someone has to fight back. And the way to do that is through the democratic process and allowing real democracy to take place.

AMY GOODMAN: Hasan Piker, we want to thank you for being with us, political commentator and live streamer on the Twitch platform.

That does it for our show. I’ll be in Tampa, Florida, tonight. We’ll be celebrating WMNF Community Radio at two screenings of the film Steal This Story, Please!, about the history of Democracy Now! and the importance of independent media, at the Sun-Ray Cinema. You can check our website at democracynow.org. And then at the O Cinema in Miami Saturday and Sunday for three screenings. And, of course, it’ll be screening beyond that. I’ll be with the director, Tia Lessin. That does it for our show. Next week in Sheffield, in England, and then in Belfast, in Ireland, and then back to a swing through Vermont. Check our website. I’m Amy Goodman, with Juan González.