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Whether
Alaa Abd El-Fattah is considered "dangerous" is a subject of
significant public debate, often depending on whether he is viewed through the
lens of human rights activism or his past rhetoric.
Arguments
for Why He Is Viewed as "Dangerous" Critics,
including several UK and Egyptian politicians, point to historical social media
posts as evidence of extremist or violent tendencies: Violent
Rhetoric: In posts from 2010 to 2012, Abd El-Fattah allegedly called for the
killing of Zionists and endorsed violence against police. Controversial
Statements: He has faced criticism for posts in which he stated he "hates
white people" and referred to British people as "dogs and
monkeys". Political
Opposition: The Egyptian government has officially characterized him as a
dangerous purveyor of "false news" and a "terrorist" to
justify his decade-long imprisonment. Current
UK Controversy: Since his arrival in the UK on December 26, 2025, political
figures like Robert Jenrick and Nigel Farage have called him a "dangerous
individual" and "threat to the British public," even reporting
him to counter-terrorism police.
Arguments
for Why He Is Not "Dangerous" Human
rights organizations and international bodies generally view him as a prisoner
of conscience rather than a threat: Pro-Democracy
Activism: He is widely recognized as a leading voice of the 2011 Arab Spring,
campaigning for political reform and civil liberties in Egypt. UN and
Human Rights Support: Groups like Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch,
and UN experts have described his arrests as politically motivated and
"arbitrary". Pardoned
Status: He was granted a presidential pardon in September 2025 by Egypt's
President el-Sisi and was allowed to travel to the UK in December 2025. Unequivocal
Apology: On December 29, 2025, Abd El-Fattah issued a public apology for his
past posts, calling them "youthful anger" and "shocking,"
while clarifying that his comments on the Holocaust were intended as satire
against antisemitism.
Summary
of Recent Events (December 2025) Arrived
in UK: December 26, 2025. Public
Apology: December 29, 2025, apologizing for "historic tweets" that
called for violence. Legal
Status: He holds dual British-Egyptian citizenship and is currently in the UK |
Tories and Labour face questions over support for
activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah
Dissident was freed by Egypt after campaign by
successive UK governments but offensive posts have surfaced
Pippa Crerar Political editor
Sun 28 Dec 2025 17.06 GMT
The decision by successive UK governments to
campaign for the release and return of British-Egyptian democracy activist Alaa
Abd el-Fattah has been called into question after past violent and offensive
social media posts came to light.
The dissident’s historical remarks – in which he
appeared to call for violence towards “Zionists” and the police – have prompted
a widespread backlash since his return from detention in Egypt on Friday.
Keir Starmer faces criticism after initially
welcoming Abd el-Fattah back to the UK and saying his release had been a “top
priority” for the government, although it is understood the prime minister was
not aware of the online posts at the time.
However, Jewish organisations have criticised the
“effusive” response and said the years-long campaign to secure the activist’s
release, backed by successive Labour and Conservative administrations, showed a
“lack of due diligence”.
After the disclosure of the social media posts
over the weekend, the UK Foreign Office condemned the “abhorrent” remarks by
the dual national, who was granted British citizenship in 2021 by Boris
Johnson’s Conservative government.
A Foreign Office spokesperson said: “Mr el-Fattah
is a British citizen. It has been a longstanding 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[al]
tweets and considers them to be abhorrent.”
Both the Labour government and its Tory
predecessors are expected to come under pressure to explain why they campaigned
for the release of Abd el-Fattah, who has a British-born mother, when his posts
were already in the public domain.
The posts cost him a nomination for the European
parliament’s Sakharov prize in 2014. The group backing him withdrew their
nomination for the human rights award, saying they had discovered a tweet from
2012 in which he called for the murder of Israelis.
In 2015, Abd el-Fattah claimed his comments had
been taken out of context, and that while it had seemed “shocking”, it had been
part of a “private conversation” that took place during an Israeli offensive in
Gaza.
The decision to grant citizenship would have been
made by the Home Office, which at that point was led by Priti Patel, advised by
the Foreign Office, where Liz Truss was foreign secretary and James Cleverly
was the minister for the region.
Successive Tory prime ministers have also called
for Abd el-Fattah, to be released and reunited with his family, including Rishi
Sunak who said it was “a priority” for his government in November 2022.
When Labour came to power, Starmer continued
lobbying the Egyptian president over Abd el-Fattah, ongoing imprisonment,
making three calls to his Egyptian counterpart, while the UK national security
adviser, Jonathan Powell, also personally urged the Egyptians to end the
detention.
The campaign for the release of one of Egypt’s
most prominent political prisoners became a cause célèbre in the UK, where his
mother, Laila Soueif, almost died while on hunger strike over his detention.
Abd el-Fattah, finally arrived in London on
Friday after Egypt lifted a travel ban it had imposed on him despite releasing
him from jail in September. In 2021, he had been sentenced to five years in
prison on charges of “spreading false news” after sharing a Facebook post about
torture in the country.
After the social media posts emerged, Robert
Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary, called for Abd el-Fattah, to be stripped
of his dual citizenship and deported, adding he should “be made to live in
Egypt or frankly anywhere else in the world”.
Writing to the prime minister about his words
welcoming the activist’s return to the UK, Jenrick said: “Given Mr Abd
el-Fattah’s record of extremist statements about violence, Jews and the police,
it was a serious error of judgment. Nobody should be imprisoned arbitrarily,
nor for peaceful dissent. But neither should the prime minister place the
authority of his office behind someone whose own words cross into the language
of racism and bloodshed.”
Nigel Farage waded into the row, posting on X on
Sunday that he had reported Abd el-Fattah to counter-terrorism police over his
remarks.
“Whilst Robert Jenrick is right to criticise
Starmer … we must not forget that it was the Tory government who started this …
Labour are only doing the same as the Tories, just worse,” the Reform UK leader
said.
Several Tory politicians who lobbied for Abd
el-Fattah’s release from prison have said they now regret their participation
in the campaign. The former Conservative party leader Iain Duncan Smith, who
was among those who had pushed for Abd el-Fattah’s return, urged the police to
investigate his comments.
“I do … regret signing the letter calling for the
release of Alaa Abd el-Fattah, given his views, that have since come to light,
are utterly abhorrent. Had I known of these, I would not have signed the
letter. I urge the police to investigate the nature of these extremist
comments,” Duncan Smith posted on X.
The Tory MP Alicia Kearns, a former chair of the
foreign affairs select committee, said: “I trusted the process to give Alaa
citizenship, and then supported the campaign for his release. I feel deeply let
down, and frankly betrayed, having lent my support to his cause, which I now
regret.
“It is wholly improper for British citizens to be
detained without due process by foreign states; however Alaa must unequivocally
apologise and make clear he now wholly rejects the hatred and antisemitism he
expressed, which is so wholly incompatible with British values.”
The democracy activist was a leading voice in
Egypt’s 2011 Arab spring uprising and went on hunger strikes behind bars. His
imprisonment was labelled a breach of international law by UN investigators. He
was eventually released after being pardoned by the Egyptian president, Abdel
Fatah al-Sisi.
The Board of Deputies of British Jews said it had
raised concerns with the UK government over Abd el-Fattah’s remarks and that
there was an “urgent need” to find out whether he still held the views
expressed online.
The board said: “The social media history that
has emerged from Alaa Abd el-Fattah is of profound concern. His previous
extremist and violent rhetoric aimed at ‘Zionists’ and white people in general
is threatening to British Jews and the wider public.
“The cross-party campaign for such a person, and
the warm welcome issued by the government, demonstrate a broken system with an
astonishing lack of due diligence by the authorities.”
Tom Rutland, Labour MP for East Worthing and
Shoreham, posted: “It is unclear to me why it has been a priority for
successive governments to bring this guy over here. What kind of vetting is
routinely done in these cases? His tweets are impressive in how they manage to
be vile in such a variety of ways.”
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