Successive UK governments face questions over support for activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah

"Successive UK governments are facing questions over their decision to campaign for the release and return of British-Egyptian democracy activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah 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 Tory administrations, showed a lack of due diligence."

"Both the Labour government and its Tory predecessors are now 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."

Successive UK governments campaigned for the release and return of British-Egyptian activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah after his detention in Egypt. Historical social media remarks in which he appeared to call for violence towards Zionists and the police emerged, provoking widespread backlash following his return from detention. Keir Starmer initially welcomed his return and said his release had been a top government priority; the prime minister was reportedly unaware of the online posts at the time. Jewish organisations criticised the effusive response and said the years-long campaign showed a lack of due diligence. The UK Foreign Office condemned the historic tweets as abhorrent and noted he was granted British citizenship in 2021.

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