Alaa Abdelfattah and Britain's selective outrage

"Alaa, an Egyptian-British writer and activist, spent more than a decade in and out of Egyptian prisons following the 2011 uprising that toppled President Hosni Mubarak. His detention was marked by prolonged hunger strikes, denial of basic rights and treatment that human rights organisations described as cruel and degrading. He was released on September 23 after a years-long campaign by his mother, sister and close friends."

"Alaa left behind a decade of repression in Cairo only to be welcomed in London with public attacks and a call for the revocation of his British citizenship and his deportation. Public hostility was whipped up by the uncovering of a social media post from 2010 in which Alaa said he considered killing any colonialists heroic, including Zionists. The tweet has been widely condemned, referred to the counter-terrorism police for review, and seized upon by politicians calling for punitive measures."

Alaa Abdelfattah, an Egyptian-British writer and activist, spent over a decade in and out of Egyptian prisons after the 2011 uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak. His detention involved prolonged hunger strikes, denial of basic rights and treatment described as cruel and degrading by human-rights organisations. He was released on September 23 after a years-long campaign by family and friends; a travel ban was lifted this month, allowing him to join his family in the UK on December 26. He returned to public hostility triggered by a 2010 social-media post praising violence against colonialists, prompting police review and calls for revocation of his citizenship. The UK reaction contrasts with its continued hosting and collaboration with senior Israeli officials accused of overseeing deadly bombing campaigns in Gaza.

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