The UK Home Office denied Mandla Mandela’s visa to enter the UK on Friday, stating that his application had been rejected because of his stance on the Israel-Palestine war and alleged “support for Hamas.” Mandela, grandson of late anti-apartheid leader and former president Nelson Mandela, has been a speaker at many pro-Palestine events in the UK.

Mandela was planning to return to the UK to speak at several events in support of Palestine in varying cities such as Manchester and Edinburgh, but was told he needed a visa to do so, and received the Home Office letter on Thursday. The letter, dated October 21, says:

Your presence in the UK has been assessed as not conducive for the public good on the grounds that you have engaged in unacceptable behavior. You have made multiple statements which explicitly support Hamas and their terrorist violence, including glorifying the Oct. 7 attack on Israel and their recently deceased leader Ismail Haniyeh.

Hamas is widely designated as a terrorist organization by several countries, including the UK, where any members or “those who invite support for the group” may be jailed.

The Immigration Act 1971 sets out the non-conducive grounds for denial of entry into the UK and outlines that entry clearance or permission must be refused “where the applicant’s presence in the UK is not conducive to the public good because of their conduct, character, associations or other reasons…”

The letter highlights that the Home Office considers Mandela’s presence to be a “threat” to communities in the UK, namely Jewish communities, given his alleged support to Hamas and cited public interest and public safety concerns. The letter included many examples of posts on Mandela’s Instagram account, including captions and a photo of Mandela and Haniyeh.

When speaking to the Associated Press, Mandela criticized the decision as an attack on his freedom of expression and movement. Mandela holds a South African passport, which, in usual circumstances, allows travel to the UK without a visa. He said on his Instagram account, in a post including images of the letter, that the letter “affirms [the UK’s] duplicity and support for, and complicity with genocide Israel.”

The Home Office has not yet commented.