British-Egyptian national Alaa Abd El-Fattah has issued a statement apologising for historic tweets which appear to demand violence against Zionists
09:07, 29 Dec 2025Updated 14:59, 29 Dec 2025
A British citizen who was admitted to the UK after being illegally detained in Egypt has apologised "unequivocally" for historic tweets appearing to call for violence against Zionists.
Alaa Abd El-Fattah reunited with his son six years after being detained on charges of spreading false news about the regime. His arrival in Britain was welcomed by Keir Starmer, who faces a backlash after posts dating back to 2010 came to light. The Government has since said the views were "abhorrent".
Tory shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp this morning labeled Mr El-Fattah a "despicable scumbag" and called for his citizenship to be torn up. In posts dating back to 2010, the British-Egyptian dual national - a key voice in the Arab Spring protests who went on hunger strike behind bars - described the killing of Zionists as heroic, saying “we need to kill more of them”.
In another post he described British people as dogs and monkeys. Mr El-Fattah wrote: "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.
"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."
There was a long-running campaign to free him by Tory and Labour governments. Mr El-Fattah's imprisonment was branded a breach of international law by UN investigators. He was pardoned by Egyptian president Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi in September, and flew to Britain on Boxing Day after a travel ban was listed.
Mr 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."
He went on: "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 Kemi Badenoch previously said it was "inconceivable" that no one saw Mr Abd El-Fattah's published statements over the years and suggested those who did deemed them "offensive but unserious, or merely loose talk".
And Mr Philp said: "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 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 PM was not aware of the social media posts when he said he was "delighted" that Mr Abd El-Fattah had returned to the UK. 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.
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."
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.
Mr 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."