Britain is unlikely to strip Egyptian activist Alaa Abdel Fattah of citizenship despite calls after old social media posts were labeled antisemitic, UK government sources told The Guardian on Tuesday.
Despite a rising wave of demands over the past two days to revoke Abdel Fattah’s British citizenship over historic posts in which he was accused of “antisemitism,” the move appears unlikely, according to unnamed government sources cited by the British outlet.
The Guardian reported that the Home Office will not withdraw Abdel Fattah’s citizenship because his “abhorrent” posts do not meet the legal threshold for deprivation, the sources said.
Abdel Fattah arrived in Britain on Friday, Dec. 26 after Egyptian authorities removed his name from travel-ban lists, ending days of restrictions after his release from prison.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer welcomed his arrival, expressing delight, before accusations surfaced over old posts described as inciting “hate and violence,” prompting calls to strip his citizenship and deport him.
Citizenship deprivation criteria are tightly defined, covering fraud, terrorism, and serious organized crime, with a right of appeal, the Guardian said.
The Home Office did not comment publicly on the developments, but the sources told the newspaper that the legal barrier for cancellation had not been met, and Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood would only proceed if Abdel Fattah obtained citizenship through fraud or was involved in extremist activity and serious terrorist crimes.
Abdel Fattah has held British citizenship since 2021 through his mother, academic Laila Soueif, who obtained it by birth in Britain in 1956.
According to the BBC, the posts being circulated date to 2012, including: “I am a racist, I don’t like white people,” and a statement describing “killing any colonialists and especially Zionists” as “heroic,” adding, “we need to kill more of them,” as well as, “Police have no rights and we should kill them all.”
The British-Egyptian activist soon apologized in an English-language post, saying: “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.”
The prime minister’s spokesperson welcomed the apology on Monday, calling it “a fairly fulsome apology,” and “clearly the right thing to do.”
According to the BBC, rather than stepping back after apologizing, Abdel Fattah liked two posts claiming he was a “victim of a smear campaign,” including one on Facebook describing criticism as a “relentless smear campaign” waged by “the richest man in the world, a couple of Middle East intelligence services, and a few Zionist organisations.”
Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick also highlighted a second post liked the same day that claimed Abdel Fattah was the victim of a Zionist campaign, the BBC said, adding it had seen a screenshot before the post was deleted. Jenrick said the two interactions “show Abdel Fattah’s apology was insincere and scripted.”
During Abdel Fattah’s imprisonment, his family endured severe hardship in seeking his release after he exceeded the legal limit for detention. His mother’s hunger strike pushed her into a critical condition that nearly cost her life, and she knocked on many doors, including the presidency, until she secured his release three months ago.
