UK Bans Pro-Hamas Preacher from Entering Country After Public Outcry
British Home Secretary revokes travel authorization for Dr. Shadee Elmasry over inflammatory social media posts defending Hamas attacks
UK Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has banned Shadee Elmasry, an Islamic preacher from entering the country, just as he was set to begin a three-day speaking tour organized by the Global Relief Trust (GRT), a group with alleged ties to Hamas terrorists. Dr. Shadee Elmasry, a New Jersey-born scholar who studied in Morocco, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt, had scheduled events in Birmingham, Bolton, and Ilford starting January 5, 2026. However, his travel authorization was revoked following pressure from lawmakers and Jewish advocacy groups concerned about his inflammatory rhetoric.
Defending the October 7 Massacre
Elmasry’s online presence reveals a pattern of apparent justification for terrorist violence. One day after the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks, he posted: “The people of Gaza finally punched back.”
Weeks later, on November 26, 2023, he posted: “Even if it was Hamas, it’s conceivable and maybe even expected that a legitimate resistance movement will make condemnable mistakes or go to excesses every once in a while. That doesn't take anything away from the morality of their resistance.”
Antisemitic Conspiracy Theories
Beyond defending Hamas, Elmasry has promoted classic antisemitic rhetoric. On October 6, 2025, he tweeted “Blaming God just like their teacher, Satan.”
In August 2024, he invoked the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, the infamous antisemitic forgery, posting: “Nobody knows if the Protocols are authentic, but everything here is what we’re seeing... This is Satanism.”
Tour Organizer’s Alleged Hamas Links
The tour’s organizer, GRT, came under scrutiny in November 2023 when investigative outlet GnasherJew revealed that its Gaza manager, Ahmed Yusuf Alloh, simultaneously held the rank of Lieutenant Colonel as chief of Operations and Emergency Command in Hamas’s Military Medical Service. The UK Charity Commission stated it was “aware of the concerns” and assessing whether action was needed.
Parliamentary Intervention
Conservative MP Nick Timothy publicly called for government’s intervention, posting: “It’s giving a platform to incitement and violent extremism.”
The Campaign Against Antisemitism similarly warned that Elmasry’s rhetoric “smacks of the same insidious rhetoric that plagues so many of our streets and campuses.”
A Home Office spokesperson told The New Arab: “There is no place in the UK for foreign nationals who spread hate or push extremist ideas.”
Broader Extremism Concerns
The ban comes amid mounting pressure on the UK government to proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood, with Conservative peer Lord Godson challenging ministers to follow the United States in designating certain Brotherhood chapters as terrorist organizations. Hamas itself has described itself as “the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood.”
Elmasry has appeared on platforms alongside prominent Islamist figures, including being hosted on the Thinking Muslim podcast, which has also featured Muslim Brotherhood leader Tareq Al-Suwaidan, who is banned from entering the U.S.
Excellent. Now he can preach in Hell.
Never heard of him. When was the public outcry?