‘Serious questions to answer’: PM condemned for celebrating arrival of activist who once urged killing of Zionists
Responding to communal anger over the reaction to Alaa Abd el-Fattah, an FCDO spokesperson said: “It's been a long-standing priority under successive governments to work for his release, and to see him reunited with his family in the UK."
Senior government ministers including the prime minister have provoked fury by welcoming the arrival to the UK of an activist who had previously called for “all Zionists” to be killed.
Dual British-Egyptian national Alaa Abd el-Fattah, a democracy activist in Egypt, had been sentenced to five years in prison for spreading false news. He received a presidential pardon earlier this autumn and was allowed to travel to the UK following lobbying by ministers, who expressed their delight he had been reunited with his family yesterday.
While both the home and justice secretaries enthusiastically welcomed his arrival, Sir Keir Starmer took to Twitter to write: “I’m delighted that Alaa Abd El-Fattah is back in the UK and has been reunited with his loved ones, who must be feeling profound relief…Alaa’a case has been a top priority for my Government since we came to office. I’m grateful to President Sisi for his decision to grant the pardon.”
But it has now been revealed that Abd El-Fattah – whose case has also previously been backed by successive Tory premiers when in Government – sent a string of since deleted antisemitic messages on social media more than 15 years ago. He had written he considered it “heroic” to kill “any colonialists and specially zionists”.
In another message on X that surfaced from 2010, he wrote: “Dear Zionists, please don’t ever talk to me. I’m a violent person who advocated the killing of all Zionists including civilians, so f*** off.” In the same year he denied the Holocaust by the Nazis.
While historic posts also emerged saying he hated white people and for the murder of police, it’s understood Downing Street was unaware of his historic social media activity when Starmer’s effusive post went live.
CST’s head of policy Dave Rich said: “I ‘ve spent all evening reading what appear to be numerous antisemitic, hateful social media posts of Alaa Abd el-Fattah, and then reading the joyful government statements about him coming here, and frankly WTAF is going on. Serious questions to answer.”
The scandal erupted just 10 days after the PM reiterated his pledge to do “everything in his power” to crackdown on rising antisemitism.
In strikingly forthright language, the Jewish Leadership Council 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.”
In 2022, then former PM Boris Johnson, James Cleverly and then foreign secretary Liz Truss all advocate publicly for el-Fattah’s release. As he passed day 80 on hunger strike, Truss responded to a question from Layla Moran: “I can assure [her] that we’re working very hard to secure his release.”
In a letter to Starmer, shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick described the PM’s reaction as going beyond “consular support. It was a personal, public endorsement from the prime minister. Given Mr AbdEl-Fattah’s record of extremist statements about violence, Jews and the police, it was a serious error of judgement.” He asked if he would withdraw the unalloyed endorsement”.
He added: “Nobody should be imprisoned arbitrarily , not 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”.
Responding to the widespread communal concern, an FCDO 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.”
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