The government has condemned an activist’s “abhorrent” social media posts which sparked a backlash after his return to the UK from detention in Egypt.
Alaa Abd El-Fattah, a British-Egyptian citizen, was detained in Egypt in September 2019. In December 2021, he was sentenced to five years in prison on charges of spreading fake news.
His imprisonment was labeled by UN investigators as a violation of international law, and Mr. Abd El-Fattah was released after being pardoned by Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi.
He returned to the UK on Boxing Day.
However, posts dating back to 2010 have since emerged in which the activist appears to call for violence against “Zionists” and the police.
They appear to be from Mr. Abd El-Fattah’s X account, but could not be verified.
Dual national Alaa Abd El-Fattah was detained in Egypt in September 2019 (PA Archive)
Sir Keir Starmer was criticized for celebrating the activist’s return. The Prime Minister said on Friday that he was “delighted” that Mr El-Fattah had been reunited with his loved ones in Britain.
“[They] I must feel a deep sense of relief,” Sir Keir wrote on X.
“I want to pay tribute to Alaa’s family and everyone who worked and campaigned for this moment.”
Sir Keir was not aware of the social media posts at the time, it is understood, and a source no. 10 rejected the idea that welcoming Mr. Abd El-Fattah’s return was an endorsement of his political views.
In an updated statement on Sunday, a Foreign Office spokesman said: “Mr El-Fattah is a British citizen.
“It has been a long-standing priority under successive governments to work towards 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 finds them abhorrent.”
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer criticized for his comments on Abd El-Fattah’s return to Britain (PA Wire)
The Board of Deputies of British Jews said they had raised concerns with the government and there was an “urgent need” to find out whether Mr Abd El-Fattah still held the views expressed online.
They said: “The social media story that has emerged from Alaa abd El-Fattah is deeply concerning.
“His previous extremist and violent rhetoric targeting ‘Zionists’ and white people in general threatens British Jews and the general public.
“The cross-party campaign for such a person and the warm welcome given by the Government demonstrates a broken system with a stunning lack of diligence on the part of the authorities.”
Meanwhile, the Jewish Leadership Council has expressed concern about the safety of Jewish communities following recent anti-Semitic attacks in Manchester and Australia’s Bondi Beach.
The council said: “We are appalled at the effusive reception Alaa Abd El-Fattah has received from the UK government.
“The Prime Minister recently reiterated her determination to stamp out anti-Semitism in our country, but now she has shared her delight that someone who advocated killing Zionists has arrived in Britain.
“We know from Heaton Park, Manchester and Bondi Beach that there are those who hear such words as a call to action.
“The government celebrated the arrival of Mr Abd El-Fattah as a victory, British Jews will see it as another reminder of the danger we face.”
Former Conservative Party leader Iain Duncan Smith, who lobbied for Abd El-Fattah’s release, called on police to investigate his comments.
“I regret signing the letter calling for Alaa Abd el-Fattah’s release, given his views, which have since come to light, are utterly abhorrent.
“Had I known about these I would not have signed the letter. I urge the police to investigate the nature of these extremist comments,” he posted on X.
Mr Abd El-Fattah was a leading voice in Egypt’s 2011 Arab Spring uprising and went on hunger strike behind bars.
In 2014, the blogger’s Twitter posts cost him a nomination for the European Parliament’s Sakharov Prize.
His advocacy group withdrew the nomination for the human rights award, saying it had uncovered a 2012 tweet in which he called for the killing of Israelis.
Meanwhile, shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick said the Prime Minister’s remarks amounted to a “personal, public endorsement”.
“Given Mr. Abd El-Fattah’s history of extremist statements about violence, Jews and the police, this was a serious error of judgment,” he wrote.
In a letter to Sir Keir, Mr Jenrick asked him to clarify whether he knew about Mr Abd El-Fattah’s statements before posting that he was “delighted” at his release.
“You condemn them without qualification, including condoning the killing of Israelis and ‘Zionists’ and calling to kill the police and burn Downing Street?”
He asked if the Prime Minister would “correct the record” and withdraw the “unaligned opinion”.
“No one should be jailed arbitrarily or for peaceful dissent. But neither should the prime minister put the authority of his office behind someone whose words intersect with the language of racism and bloodshed,” he said.