Keir Starmer has been left red-faced after he said he was unaware of the ‘abhorrent’ social media posts by an Egyptian activist he welcomed back to Britain.
The PM has rowed back from his earlier comments in which he sparked backlash for saying he was ‘delighted’ by Alaa Abd El-Fattah’s return to the country.
He had served more than a decade in Egyptian jails and had allegedly previously advocated the killing of ‘Zionists’ and the British police.
His arrival was also welcomed by Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy and Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper.
Sir Keir was made aware of El-Fattah’s social media posts after they circulated online, according to The Telegraph.
The Foreign Office released a statement today, saying: ‘The Government condemns Mr El-Fattah’s historic tweets and considers them to be abhorrent.’
The statement was added to one issued earlier that read: ‘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 Conservatives have called for the Egyptian-British dissident to be stripped of his UK citizenship and deported.
Keir Starmer (pictured on December 4 in Glasgow, Scotland) has been left red-faced after he said he was unaware of the ‘abhorrent’ social media posts by an alleged Egyptian extremist he welcomed back to Britain
Alaa Abd El-Fattah with his mother Laila after arriving back in the UK
Al-Fattah, with his sister Sanaa Seif on the right, was released in September but has only just returned to the UK
Sir Keir Starmer faces backlash after expressing ‘delight’ at return to UK of Egyptian activist Al-Fattah who said ‘kill Zionists’
Robert Jenrick, the Tories’ justice spokesman, condemned Sir Keir’s remarks.
Writing in today’s Mail on Sunday, Mr Jenrick said: ‘At a time when anti-Semitic incidents are surging, when Jewish communities feel under threat and when policing is under intense pressure, the signal this sends is grotesque.’
He added: ‘The Prime Minister is no longer a private campaigner or a gun for hire. His words carry weight and represent us all.’
Reform leader Nigel Farage said: ‘This Government just gets worse. No mention of these violent tweets on the BBC News story either.’
Mr El-Fattah, 44, wrote most the tweets between 2010 and 2011, some of which appear to have been deleted. In one, he said: ‘I consider killing any colonialists and especially Zionists heroic, we need to kill more of them.’
In another, he wrote: ‘There was no genocide against Jews by the Nazis – after all, many Jews are left.’
Shortly after that, he tweeted: ‘Dear Zionists, please don’t ever talk to me, I’m a violent person who advocated the killing of all Zionists including civilians, so f*** off.’
He also said: ‘Police are not human, they don’t have rights, we should just kill them all.’
On August 8, 2011, as London was in the grip of riots, Mr El-Fattah wrote: ‘Go burn the city or Downing Street or hunt police you fools.’
He also said: ‘So the British dogs and monkeys really think terrorists will reveal their plans on Twitter?’
Mr El-Fattah, who was born and raised in Egypt, was granted British citizenship in 2022 as his mother Laila Soueif was born in the UK.
He became an internationally known freedom activist as the Arab Spring swept the country in 2011. He was arrested and jailed during the protests, but released months later.
Join the debate
Should public figures be held accountable for celebrating individuals with a history of hate speech?
Sir Keir Starmer said he was delighted byu El-Fattah’s return
Yvette Cooper also celebrated the reunification
Alaa Abd El-Fattah spent years in and out of prison thanks to his pro-democracy activism
In June 2014, Mr El-Fattah was arrested for his activism against Egyptian president Abdel Fattah El-Sisi’s regime, and sentenced to 15 years, but released in 2019.
He was jailed again for five years in December 2021 over claims he spread fake news about torture on social media.
The activist was granted a pardon in September and released, but was not allowed to leave the country until Boxing Day.
And last night, critics questioned how the PM and his ministers did not know about Mr El-Fattah’s previous tweets.
In a letter to Sir Keir, seen by the MoS, Mr Jenrick wrote: ‘Did you know about these statements before you issued your “delighted” message? Do you condemn them without qualification… will you correct the record by withdrawing the unalloyed endorsement?’
Mr El-Fattah was seen as a cause celebre in Britain and around the world, praised by celebrities such as Judi Dench.
A spokesman for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: ‘Either the Government did not carry out a basic search, or they knew about this and considered it insufficiently important to warrant saying anything. We have no idea which of these it is, and struggle to decide which is more concerning.
‘In the wake of lethal terrorist attacks on Jews from Manchester to Bondi, the UK now has yet one more resident who wants to see “Zionists” murdered, unless of course the passage of time and a long spell in Egypt have led to a radical rethink by Alaa Abd El-Fattah.’ Mr El-Fattah could not be contacted for comment.
ROBERT JENRICK: Want to wipe out anti-Semitism, Sir Keir? Then stop welcoming its proponents with open arms
Only days ago, Keir Starmer promised to ‘eradicate anti-Semitism in the UK’. Then, this week, he did the opposite.
The Prime Minister went on X to say he was ‘delighted’ that Alaa Abd El-Fattah is back in Britain. He called the case a ‘top priority’ for his Government.
He even thanked Egyptian president Abdel Fattah El-Sisi for granting a pardon.
That is not discreet diplomacy. It is a very personal welcome from the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. And it is indefensible. Because this isn’t simply a story about a relieved family. It is also a story about who the Prime Minister chose to celebrate.
Mr El-Fattah’s public record includes statements that should make any responsible leader pause before putting the authority of government behind him.
In his own social media posts, he has endorsed killing ‘Zionists’ and urged more of it. He has also been reported as calling for Israelis to be killed in chilling terms. And he appeared to deny the Holocaust happened.
Nor is this confined to Israel. In July 2011, he wrote that ‘police are not human’, that they ‘don’t have rights’, and that ‘we should just kill them all’.
In August 2011, amid disorder on London’s streets, he urged people to ‘go burn the city or Downing Street or hunt police’. In fact, he said he hated white people and called us Brits ‘dogs’.
Sir Keir Starmer lights a candle during a Downing Street event to mark Hanukkah
Read that again. A man being publicly welcomed by the Prime Minister has, in his own words, advocated violence against Jews and violence against police, has egged on attacks on the seat of government itself and has insulted the British people.
In today’s two-tier justice system, people have been arrested at the airport or had a knock on the door from the police for tweeting lesser things – indeed got 30 months inside for saying them.
At a time when anti-Semitic incidents are surging, when Jewish communities feel under threat and when policing is under intense pressure, the signal this sends is grotesque.
The Government should be standing four-square with the victims of hatred and violence. Instead, the Prime Minister is jubilant about bringing a man with a record of incitement into this country and presenting it as his personal triumph.
There can be only two explanations. Either Sir Keir did not know what he was amplifying – which would be staggering negligence at the top of government – or he did know, and decided to press ‘post’ anyway. That would be worse.
No one disputes that families want loved ones home. No one supports arbitrary detention abroad. But the Prime Minister is no longer a private campaigner or a gun for hire. His words carry weight and represent us all as a nation.
He should withdraw his unalloyed endorsement of this man, condemn these statements without equivocation and explain how on earth this became a ‘top priority’.
If Sir Keir is serious about eradicating anti-Semitism, he should start by not cheering it on and welcoming its proponents at the arrivals lounge with open arms.
