Starmer urged to strip citizenship of freed Egyptian dissident who called for 'killing of all Zionists'

Sir Keir Starmer has faced criticism after celebrating Mr Abd El-Fattah’s return to the UK on Boxing Day after posts emerged in which the activist appears to call for violence towards Zionists and the police.

The posts, which date back to 2010, appear to be from Mr Abd El-Fattah’s X account - but could not be verified independently.

“The Government condemns Mr El-Fattah’s historic tweets and considers them to be abhorrent,” the Foreign Office said on Sunday.

Senior Labour MPs have allegedly described Sir Keir’s initial intervention as “shocking” and “ridiculous” as they backed calls for Mr El-Fattah to have his citizenship stripped.

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One unnamed MP told the Times: “It’s truly shocking that we’ve welcomed a racist antisemite into our country with open arms. Serious questions need to be asked about the lack of judgment here and the Home Office should seriously be contemplating stripping him of his British citizenship.”

Another allegedly said: “Letting in a thug with a history of rampant antisemitism and anti-Zionism crossing the line into terror supporting and calling for the death of all Zionists is ridiculous and bad enough.

“But after Bondi Beach and the Manchester synagogue attack when the PM said he’d do everything to make the Jewish community feel safe, this looks and sounds like a kick in the face. Fattah should undoubtedly lose his British citizenship.”

Jewish organisations have criticised the “effusive” response from Sir Keir Starmer’s government to the Egyptian-British dual national’s return.

They said the years-long campaign to secure his release, which successive Conservative and Labour governments lobbied for, showed a “lack of due diligence”.

Mr Abd El-Fattah, a British-Egyptian dual national, was detained in Egypt in September 2019, and in December 2021 was sentenced to five years in prison on charges of spreading false news.

His imprisonment was branded a breach of international law by UN investigators, and Mr Abd El-Fattah was released after being pardoned by Egyptian president Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi.

The Prime Minister said on Friday that he was “delighted” Mr Abd El-Fattah had been reunited with his loved ones in the UK, a sentiment echoed by Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper and Justice Secretary David Lammy in similar posts.

It is understood that the prime minister was not aware of the controversial posts at the time of his initial statement.

The Board of Deputies of British Jews said they had raised concerns with the Government and that there was an “urgent need” to find out whether Mr Abd El-Fattah still held the views expressed online.

Tory MP Alicia Kearns, a former chair of the foreign affairs select committee, said she felt “deeply let down, and frankly betrayed” after learning of Mr Abd El-Fattah’s “grotesque tweets” after supporting his cause.

“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.”

Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick called for Mr Abd El-Fattah to be stripped of his citizenship, which he reportedly obtained through his UK-born mother.

Mr Jenrick said his links to the UK were “tenuous at best” and said that he had "extremist views", in his opinion.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, meanwhile, said he had reported Mr Abd el-Fattah to counter-terrorism police and said both Labour and the Conservatives were at fault.

“Whilst Robert Jenrick is right to criticise Starmer over Alaa abd El-Fattah – we must not forget that it was the Tory government who started this,” he said.

In a statement, the Egyptian activist said: "I am shaken that, just as I am being reunited with my family for the first time in 12 years, several historic tweets of mine have been republished and used to question and attack my integrity and values, escalating to calls for the revocation of my citizenship.

"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.

"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.

"I particularly regret some that were written as part of online insult battles with the total disregard for how they read to other people. I should have known better."