Democracy activist Alaa Abd El-Fattah faces calls to have his UK citizenship stripped just days after arriving in Britain following years of detention in Egypt. The controversy erupted after old social media posts emerged showing him advocating violence against Zionists, police and white people.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer had welcomed Abd El-Fattah's Boxing Day arrival, saying he was "delighted" the dual British national was reunited with his loved ones. But within 48 hours, politicians across parties demanded his deportation as the extent of his past online rhetoric became public.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch called on Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood to "pull out all the stops" to deport Abd El-Fattah. She wrote in the Daily Mail: «I do not want people who hate Britain coming to our country.»
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage also wrote to Mahmood urging revocation of Abd El-Fattah's citizenship. He criticized the lack of due diligence, writing: «It should go without saying that anyone who possesses racist and anti-British views such as those of Mr el-Fattah should not be allowed into the UK.»
The social media posts
Abd El-Fattah's posts dating back to 2010 included calls for «the killing of all Zionists, including civilians» and described British people as «dogs and monkeys». He wrote: «I seriously, seriously, seriously hate white people, especially those of English or Dutch or German descent.»
During the August 2011 London riots, he posted: «Go burn the city or Downing Street or hunt police, you fools.» He called police «not human», adding: «We should just kill them all.»
The posts also included Holocaust denial and advocacy for murder of Jews. In 2014, his nomination for the European Parliament's Sakharov Prize was withdrawn due to a 2012 tweet calling for the murder of Israelis.
Cross-party backlash
Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick called for civil servants to be sacked if they knew Abd El-Fattah's record and concealed it from ministers. He had previously described Abd El-Fattah's UK links as «tenuous at best» and his citizenship as a «loophole» on Sky News.
Even Labour MPs joined the criticism. One unnamed senior Labour MP told The Times: «It's truly shocking that we've welcomed a racist anti-Semite into our country with open arms.» The MP added: «Serious questions need to be asked about the lack of judgment here and the Home Office should seriously be contemplating stripping him of his British citizenship.»
Another Labour MP described the timing as particularly damaging after recent antisemitic attacks in Manchester and Australia's Bondi Beach: «After Bondi Beach and the Manchester synagogue attack when the PM said he'd do everything to make the Jewish community feel safe, this looks and sounds like a kick in the face.»
Tory MP Alicia Kearns, former chair of the foreign affairs select committee, said she felt «deeply let down, and frankly betrayed» after supporting his release. She demanded Abd El-Fattah «must unequivocally apologise and make clear he now wholly rejects the hatred and antisemitism he expressed which is so wholly incompatible with British values».
Jewish community outrage
The Board of Deputies of British Jews raised «profound concern» with the Government. The organization stated: «His previous extremist and violent rhetoric aimed at 'Zionists' and white people in general is threatening to British Jews and the wider public.» It called for an «urgent need» to establish whether Abd El-Fattah still holds these views.
The Jewish Leadership Council said: «We are appalled by the effusive welcome Alaa Abd El-Fattah has received from the UK Government. The Prime Minister recently reiterated his determination to root out antisemitism from our country but has now shared his delight that someone who has advocated for killing Zionists has arrived in the UK.»
Citizenship controversy
Abd El-Fattah was granted UK citizenship in December 2021 while imprisoned in Egypt, based on his mother Laila Soueif being born in Britain. The decision was made under Boris Johnson's Conservative government.
Badenoch acknowledged the citizenship grant was a mistake, claiming it was «rubber-stamped» by officials without escalating to then Home Secretary Priti Patel. She said it was «inconceivable» that no one in government was aware of his previous statements.
Government sources suggested Starmer was unaware of the social media posts during the years he championed Abd El-Fattah's release. The PM had raised the case in the Commons in 2022, describing him as «jailed for the crime of posting on social media».
Government defense
The Foreign Office defended its efforts Sunday in a statement: «Mr El-Fattah is a British citizen. It has been a long-standing priority under successive governments to work for his release from detention, and to see him reunited with his family in the UK. The Government condemns Mr El-Fattah's historic tweets and considers them to be abhorrent.»
Abd El-Fattah, a prominent figure in Egypt's 2011 Arab Spring uprising, spent almost all of the past 12 years in Egyptian detention. UN investigators branded his imprisonment a breach of international law. He was pardoned in September by Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi.
Liberal celebrities including actors Olivia Colman, Stephen Fry and Emma Thompson had pressed ministers for his release. Abd El-Fattah has made no public comment since arriving in the UK.
Note: This article was created with Artificial Intelligence (AI).
