British-Egyptian activist Alaa Abd El-Fattah has issued an apology for controversial tweets from over a decade ago that appeared to call for violence against Zionists and police. The apology comes amid intensifying calls from senior Conservative politicians to strip him of his UK citizenship and deport him, just days after his arrival in Britain following release from Egyptian detention.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp dismissed the apology as insincere and branded Abd El-Fattah a "scumbag". Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch and Reform UK leader Nigel Farage have both urged the Home Secretary to investigate revoking his citizenship.
The Apology and Defence
In a statement, Abd El-Fattah acknowledged the impact of his old posts. «Looking at the tweets now – the ones that were not completely twisted out of their meaning – I do understand how shocking and hurtful they are, and for that I unequivocally apologise,» he said.
He described the tweets, dating from 2010 to 2012, as expressions of a young man's anger during regional crises. «They were mostly expressions of a young man's anger and frustrations in a time of regional crises (the wars on Iraq, on Lebanon and Gaza), and the rise of police brutality against Egyptian youth,» Abd El-Fattah explained.
He insisted some posts had been misinterpreted, claiming a tweet alleging homophobia was actually ridiculing it, and another wrongly interpreted as Holocaust denial was mocking such views. «I must also stress that some tweets have been completely misunderstood, seemingly in bad faith,» he said.
Conservative Calls for Deportation
Philp rejected the apology outright on ITV's Good Morning Britain. «I haven't seen the full statement but I've seen parts of it, and frankly, I'm not really interested in his apology. What he said was absolutely disgusting. In my view, this man is a scumbag,» he said.
The Shadow Home Secretary called for immediate action. «If I was the actual Home Secretary, I would today be signing an order to revoke his citizenship under the 1971 Immigration Act on the grounds he's not conducive to the public good and making sure he gets deported,» Philp told ITV.
Badenoch wrote in Monday's 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.»
Farage wrote to Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood urging citizenship revocation, stating that individuals with "racist and anti-British views" should not be allowed into the UK.
Background and Citizenship
Abd El-Fattah was detained in Egypt in September 2019 and sentenced to five years in prison in December 2021 on charges of spreading false news. UN investigators branded his imprisonment a breach of international law.
He was granted British citizenship in December 2021 under Boris Johnson's government, through his UK-born mother. Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi pardoned him in September, lifting a travel ban that allowed him to fly to the UK on Boxing Day.
Political Fallout
Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who had said he was "delighted" by Abd El-Fattah's return and called his release a "top priority", now faces backlash. The Board of Deputies of British Jews expressed an "urgent need" to determine whether Abd El-Fattah still holds the views expressed online.
The Foreign Office issued a statement Sunday condemning Abd El-Fattah's historic tweets as "abhorrent" while confirming it had been a long-standing priority under successive governments to secure his release.
Abd El-Fattah said the weekend was supposed to mark the first time celebrating his son's birthday together since 2012, when his son was one year old. He stated he has been imprisoned in Egypt for almost his son's entire life for his promotion of equality, justice and secular democracy.
Note: This article was created with Artificial Intelligence (AI).
