Democracy activist Alaa Abd El-Fattah has apologised “unequivocally” for several historic tweets in which he appears to call for violence towards Zionists, but said some of the posts have been “completely twisted out of their meaning”.
Abd El-Fattah 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 he was pardoned by Egyptian president Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi in September this year after years of lobbying by Conservative and Labour governments.
He flew to the UK on Boxing Day and was reunited with his son, who lives in Brighton, after a travel ban was lifted.
Since then, posts from as early as 2010 have surfaced in which the activist appears to call for violence against Zionists and the police.
“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,” he said in a statement issued on Monday.
“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.”
The prime minister has been under pressure for celebrating Abd El-Fattah’s return to the UK, with some calling for the activist’s British citizenship to be revoked.
Kemi Badenoch and Nigel Farage are among those who called for the Home Secretary to look into whether the Egyptian dissident can be stripped of his UK citizenship and deported.
On Monday Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp branded Alaa Abd El-Fattah a “despicable scumbag”, adding he was “not really interested” in the democracy activist’s apology.
The Conservative MP told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “I haven’t seen the full statement, but I’ve seen parts of it, and frankly, I’m not really interested in his apology.
“What he said was absolutely disgusting. In my view, this man is a scumbag.”
Mr Philp added: “If I was the actual Home Secretary, I would today be signing an order to revoke his citizenship under the 1971 Immigration Act on the grounds he’s not conducive to the public good and making sure he gets deported, because people who spew this kind of hatred have no place in this country, and the fact he’s issued an apology now that he’s been essentially exposed I think makes no difference whatsoever.
“He’s clearly making the apology simply because his vile, hateful remarks have been publicly exposed now.”
Asked whether he thought “people can change” their ways, Mr Philp replied Mr Abd El-Fattah “could have said all this at any point in the last 10 years – but he hasn’t”.
Reform UK however has said the Conservatives “cannot be trusted”, after the decision to grant Alaa Abd El-Fattah citizenship.
The activist, who was recently released after years of detention in Egypt, previously wrote tweets which appeared to show him calling for violence against Zionists and the police.
He was granted UK citizenship in December 2021 under former Conservative prime minister Boris Johnson, reportedly through his UK-born mother.
“In my view, this man is a scumbag,” said Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp.
Abd El-Fattah said he took allegations of antisemitism “very seriously” and that some of the tweets had been “misunderstood, seemingly in bad faith”.
“For example, a tweet being shared to allege homophobia on my part was actually ridiculing homophobia,” he said.
“I have paid a steep price for my public support for LGBTQ rights in Egypt and the world.
“Another tweet has been wrongly interpreted to suggest Holocaust denial – but in fact the exchange shows that I was clearly mocking Holocaust denial.”
Abd El-Fattah added: “I take accusations of antisemitism very seriously. I have always believed that sectarianism and racism are the most sinister and dangerous of forces, and I did my part and paid the price for standing up for the rights of religious minorities in Egypt.”
Tory leader Mrs Badenoch previously said it was “inconceivable” that no one saw Abd El-Fattah’s published statements over the years and suggested those who did deemed them “offensive but unserious, or merely loose talk”.
Writing in the Daily Mail, she said: “I do not want people who hate Britain coming to our country.
“And where such views are part of an individual’s public record, they must be considered when decisions are taken about citizenship. We have been too complacent for too long.”
Abd El-Fattah was granted UK citizenship in December 2021 under Boris Johnson, reportedly through his UK-born mother.
In a statement on Sunday, the Foreign Office 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.”
It is understood the prime minister was not aware of the social media posts when he said he was “delighted” that Abd El-Fattah had returned to the UK.
In September, Alaa Abd El-Fattah’s mother spoke to ITV News International Editor Emma Murphy about her son’s release.
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 Abd El-Fattah still held the views expressed online.
Meanwhile, the Jewish Leadership Council voiced concerns about the safety of Jewish communities in the wake of recent antisemitic attacks in Manchester and at Australia’s Bondi Beach.
“We know from Heaton Park, Manchester, and Bondi Beach that there are those who hear such words as a call to action,” the organisation said in a post on X.
“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.”
Abd El-Fattah was a leading voice in Egypt’s 2011 Arab Spring uprising and went on hunger strikes behind bars.
In 2014, the blogger’s posts on Twitter cost him a nomination for the European Parliament’s Sakharov Prize.
The group backing him withdrew the nomination for the human rights award, saying they had discovered a tweet from 2012 in which he called for the murder of Israelis.
Abd El-Fattah said he had seen “huge empathy and solidarity” from across the UK and would be “forever grateful” for the support.
“It has been painful to see some people who supported calls for my release now feel regret for doing so,” he said.
“Whatever they feel now, they did the right thing. Standing up for human rights and a citizen unjustly imprisoned is something honourable, and I will always be grateful for that solidarity.”
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