An alleged Hamas-supporting Channel migrant said to have called for ‘death to all Jews’ has appeared in court.
Abu Wadee is accused of arriving in the UK without a valid entry clearance, and appeared at Canterbury Crown Court this morning for a short administrative hearing.
The defendant, said to be a Palestinian national also known as Mosab Abdulkarim al-Gassas, is suspected of being one of the 235 migrants picked up on four small boats in the English Channel on March 6.
He was arrested by Home Office Immigration Enforcement officers at an asylum hotel in Manchester three days later after the Mail on Sunday shed light on the 33-year-old’s antisemitic social media posts, images of him holding guns, and his apparent links to Palestinian extremists.
Wadee sat in the glass-panelled dock in Canterbury today, wearing a dark grey prison-issue jumper and holding a cardboard folder apparently containing Home Office documents, flanked by two security guards.
He appeared to wince at various points throughout the five-minute hearing, and spoke only to confirm his name, aided by an Arabic interpreter.
Wadee was remanded back into custody by the judge, Her Honour Judge Sarah Counsell.
He will next appear at the same court on Thursday, when he is due to enter a plea, while the judge will also consider an application for him to be released on bail.
Abu Wadee, 33, was arrested by Immigration Enforcement officers on suspicion of entering the UK illegally
The migrant has filmed himself chanting about killing Jews
Wadee’s social media is replete with pictures of him posing with a Kalashnikov, an artillery shell and a menacing posse of masked men
He last appeared in court four weeks ago, when he told magistrates in Manchester he was ‘frightened’ and ‘confused’.
Then, prosecutor Robin Lynch Mr Lynch said Wadee had left Palestine in 2022, applying for asylum in Greece, Germany and Belgium – with the latter refusing on the grounds he had applied in other countries.
When interviewed, Wadee said he had paid 1,500 euros (£1,300) for a place on a small boat to cross the Channel, the court heard.
Details of Wadee’s ‘significant hate speech’, including calling for ‘the death of Jews’ on social media were spelt out by the prosecutor, along with his ‘support for Hamas’.
Applying for bail at the time, Wadee – who was not legally represented – said: ‘If you grant me bail I promise that I will appear for any appointment you want me to come to.
‘The situation in the cell is very difficult especially during Ramadan.’
But District Judge Jane Hamilton said there were ‘substantial grounds to believe you would fail to surrender’.
Before being handcuffed and led to the cells, Wadee said: ‘I will die in prison.
The Campaign Against Antisemitism says that Wadee can be seen in this image posing with slingshot for hurling rocks
Wadee, seen wearing a Palestinian flag headband, chants his desire is to ‘die for Allah’
‘I’m a victim of Hamas – I’m wanted by Hamas, I have evidence of it.’
The Home Office’s own guidelines effectively prevent people being sent back to war-ravaged Gaza, raising concerns Wadee will be allowed to stay in Britain.
Wadee charted his journey across Europe to his 170,000 TikTok followers, with some videos being viewed more than 2.5 million times. His account was ‘banned’ after he arrived in the UK.
He had also uploaded a video of himself and others on a dinghy in the Channel being approached by a Border Force boat, with the caption: ‘Thank God, we arrived in Britain.’
But his account on the social media platform was taken down and listed as ‘banned’ after an investigation unearthed his extremist history.
It included images of him brandishing assault rifles, and another in which he appeared to hold a tear-gas canister in his mouth during apparent clashes at the border with Israel.
When interviewed, slightly-built Wadee said he had funded his journey across the Channel ‘through working’, prosecutor Mr Lynch told magistrates last month.
He also described how Wadee had shared ‘significant hate speech calling for the death of Jews’ as well as ‘support for Hamas’ and ‘pictures of him with various military weapons’.
District Judge Hamilton said: ‘Having heard a little of the circumstances of the case and the fact that the hotel has withdrawn your accommodation, I feel there are substantial grounds to believe you would fail to surrender.’
The offence with which he’s been charged carries a maximum sentence of four years’ imprisonment.
