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Conservatives call for citizenship revocation
The UK's Conservative Party has urged the government to deport Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abdel Fattah and strip him of his British citizenship after social media posts surfaced in which he called for the killing of Zionists. Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick described the activist's arrival in Britain as "an absolute disgrace" and accused Labour ministers of celebrating a diplomatic failure.
Controversial remarks spark backlash
Messages attributed to Abdel Fattah, a prominent critic of the Egyptian government, included calls to "kill Zionists" and statements denying police rights. The Board of Deputies of British Jews condemned the posts as "threatening to British Jews and the wider public," while Conservative MP Sir Iain Duncan Smith, who previously campaigned for Abdel Fattah's release, said he would not have supported the effort had he known of the remarks.
"His extremist rhetoric is utterly abhorrent. I urge the police to investigate," Duncan Smith wrote on X.
Sir Iain Duncan Smith, former Conservative leader
Government response and past advocacy
The Foreign Office acknowledged Abdel Fattah's release had been a long-standing priority under successive UK governments but condemned his "abhorrent" posts. A Labour source accused Jenrick of "rewriting history," noting that Conservative administrations, including those in which Jenrick served, had also lobbied for the activist's freedom.
Abdel Fattah, a dual national, was granted British citizenship in December 2021 through his London-born mother. His release in September followed a decade-long imprisonment in Egypt, where he was convicted of "spreading fake news" for sharing a Facebook post about torture. Human rights groups called his trial unfair.
Background and current status
Abdel Fattah gained prominence during Egypt's 2011 uprising against former President Hosni Mubarak. In 2014, he was nominated for the Sakharov Prize, a European human rights award, but the nomination was withdrawn over tweets about Israel posted in 2012. He later claimed the comments were part of a "private conversation" taken out of context.
After reuniting with his 14-year-old son in Brighton this week, Abdel Fattah told the BBC in October that he was "learning how to get back into life" following his imprisonment. His family has not yet commented on the recent controversy.
Political fallout
Jenrick's remarks on GB News framed Abdel Fattah's arrival as a security risk, stating: "Someone who basically hates Britain... is now going to be coming here to roam our streets." Labour has not directly addressed the calls for deportation but emphasized the government's commitment to due diligence in such cases.
