The Tories have called on the Prime Minister to deport the democracy activist
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer (Image: Getty)
Sir Keir Starmer has been urged to deport an Egyptian activist days after celebrating his arrival in Britain. The Prime Minister is facing an intense backlash after saying he was “delighted” that Alaa Abd El-Fattah had been reunited with family members in the UK following his release from detention in Egypt.
It comes after now-deleted historic social media posts emerged which appear to show Mr Abd El-Fattah branding Britons “dogs and monkeys”, calling for Zionists to be killed and violence against the police, and expressing hatred of white people. It is understood that Sir Keir was unaware of the statements when he publicly welcomed him to Britain on Boxing Day.
Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick called on the Prime Minister to strip the Egyptian-British dual national of his citizenship and deport him.
Mr Jenrick said: “If the Prime Minister really was unaware that El Fattah was an extremist, he should immediately retract his comments expressing ‘delight’ at his arrival and begin proceedings to revoke his citizenship and deport him.
“There is no way El Fattah – with his anti-British, antisemitic and homophobic views – should be in the UK.
“El Fattah’s views were well known as he had a European peace prize rescinded in 2015.
“The civil servants who supposedly withheld this crucial piece of information from Ministers should be sacked.“
Mr Abd El-Fattah was detained in Egypt in September 2019 and sentenced to five years in prison on charges of spreading false news in December 2021.
His imprisonment was branded a breach of international law by UN investigators, and he was released after being pardoned by Egyptian president Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi.
Robert Jenrick is calling for the dissident to be deported from the UK (Image: Getty)
The Prime Minister said last Friday that he was “delighted” Mr Abd El-Fattah had arrived in the UK.
He said his release, which the previous Tory government also lobbied for, had been a “top priority”.
Sir Keir’s response came under fire from Jewish organisations, with the Board of Deputies of British Jews saying there was an “urgent need” to find out whether Mr Abd El-Fattah still held the views expressed online.
They 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.”
The Jewish Leadership Council raised fears about the safety of Jewish communities in the wake of recent antisemitic attacks in Manchester and at Australia’s Bondi Beach.
It 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.
“We know from Heaton Park, Manchester, and Bondi Beach that there are those who hear such words as a call to action.
“The Government has celebrated Mr Abd El-Fattah’s arrival as a victory, British Jews will see it as yet another reminder of the danger we face.”
Mr Abd El-Fattah was a leading voice in Egypt’s 2011 Arab Spring uprising and went on hunger strikes behind bars.
His posts on X, formerly Twitter, led to the European Parliament withdrawing his nomination for a prestigious human rights award in 2014 after they found a tweet from 2012 in which he called for the murder of Israelis.
A Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Spokesperson said: “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.”
