Democracy activist Alaa Abd El-Fattah faces calls to have his UK citizenship stripped after social media posts emerged appearing to advocate violence against Zionists and police. The Egyptian-British activist returned to the UK on Boxing Day following his release from detention in Egypt, where Egypt had imprisoned him since September 2019. Posts dating back to 2010 prompted sharp backlash from politicians and Jewish community leaders amid rising concerns over antisemitism.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has called on Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood to investigate revoking Abd El-Fattah's citizenship. In one post, Abd El-Fattah reportedly wrote: "I consider killing any colonialists and especially Zionists heroic, we need to kill more of them." Another post allegedly denied the Nazi genocide of Jews. The Press Association could not verify the tweets.
Badenoch told the Daily Mail: "I do not want people who hate Britain coming to our country. And where such views are part of an individual's public record, they must be considered when decisions are taken about citizenship. We have been too complacent for too long."
Political Pressure Mounts
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage formally urged the Home Secretary to revoke Abd El-Fattah's citizenship, criticizing previous due diligence. In a letter, he wrote: "Indeed, it was the Conservatives who granted citizenship to Mr el-Fattah in 2021 while he was still imprisoned. That none of those parties carried out basic due diligence on this unpleasant individual is, frankly, astonishing. 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."
Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick described Abd El-Fattah's UK links as "tenuous at best" on Sky News, calling his citizenship a "loophole."
Former Conservative Party leader Iain Duncan Smith expressed regret for lobbying for Abd El-Fattah's release and called for a police investigation into his comments.
Sir Keir Starmer had said he was "delighted" by Abd El-Fattah's return. Sources indicated Starmer was not aware of the social media posts when he made that statement.
Jewish Community Voices Alarm
The Board of Deputies of British Jews raised concerns with the Government, calling for an "urgent need" to ascertain whether Abd El-Fattah still holds his expressed views. 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,"
The Jewish Leadership Council criticized the reception Abd El-Fattah received, particularly given recent antisemitic attacks in Manchester and at Australia's Bondi Beach. The group 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."
Tory MP Alicia Kearns, former chair of the foreign affairs select committee, said she felt "deeply let down, and frankly betrayed" after supporting Abd El-Fattah. She demanded he "must unequivocally apologise and make clear he now wholly rejects the hatred and antisemitism he expressed which is so wholly incompatible with British values"
Background on Imprisonment and Release
A court sentenced Abd El-Fattah to five years in prison in December 2021 on charges of spreading false news. UN investigators branded his imprisonment a breach of international law. Egyptian president Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi pardoned him in September, and Egypt subsequently lifted his travel ban.
The activist was a leading figure in Egypt's 2011 Arab Spring uprising. His imprisonment became a high-profile case, with both Conservative and Labour governments lobbying for his release.
The UK granted Abd El-Fattah citizenship in December 2021 through his UK-born mother while he was still imprisoned under Boris Johnson's administration. He arrived in the UK on Boxing Day and reunited with his son, who lives in Brighton.
The Foreign Office confirmed in a statement Sunday: "Mr El-Fattah is a British citizen. Successive governments made his release from detention a long-standing priority, and worked 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's controversial social media activity previously cost him the European Parliament's Sakharov Prize nomination in 2014, which the Parliament withdrew due to a 2012 tweet calling for the murder of Israelis.
Note: This article was created with Artificial Intelligence (AI).
