Egyptian-British Activist Apologizes for Antisemitic Social Media Posts as Police Launch Review

Activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah, freed from prison in Egypt and now in Britain, apologized on Monday for his “shocking and hurtful” social media posts made more than a decade ago, which counter-terrorism police said they are assessing.

Abd el-Fattah, 44, became Egypt’s most prominent political prisoner after spending years in and out of detention and a rare symbol of opposition during a crackdown under President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

He arrived in Britain last Friday after obtaining British citizenship in 2021 through his mother, with Prime Minister Keir Starmer saying he was “delighted” by the news.

In the following days, British newspapers ran stories about antisemitic posts he made on the former Twitter platform between 2008 and 2014, seen by Reuters, which endorsed violence against “Zionists” and police.

In another he called British people “dogs and monkeys.”

Counter Terrorism Policing said the posts were being assessed following referrals from the public.

In a statement, Abd el-Fattah said many of his tweets had been misunderstood but that others were unacceptable.

“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 apologize,” he said.

He added they were mostly “expressions of a young man’s anger and frustrations” at wars in Iraq, Lebanon, and Gaza, and “the rise of police brutality against Egyptian youth.”

Nigel Farage, leader of the right-wing Reform UK party which tops opinion polls, called for Abd el-Fattah’s deportation. Kemi Badenoch, the leader of the opposition Conservative Party, said the country should consider it.

A spokesperson for Starmer said he was not aware of the posts when he campaigned for Abd el-Fattah’s release and called the comments “abhorrent”.”

But the spokesperson added the government has a record of helping its citizens overseas.

Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper later said she was also unaware of the posts and that her office would urgently review its processes after what she called “an unacceptable failure” of due diligence.

In a letter to lawmakers that was posted on X, Cooper said long-standing procedures and due diligence had been “completely inadequate” and promised changes to ensure accurate information and proper checks.

The Board of Deputies of British Jews said his posts were of “profound concern.”

Abd el-Fattah was most recently serving a five-year sentence in Egypt imposed in December 2021, after he shared a social media post about a prisoner’s death.