‘Anti-British’ Egyptian activist now APOLOGISES for social media posts after mass outrage

But a series of posts condemned as “abhorrent” by Nigel Farage then came to light.

In a dead-of-night statement, the activist admitted he “should have known better” but claimed he had been left “shaken” by the public outcry over his own words.

“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.

“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.

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“I should have known better.”

His posts included comments appearing to call for the killing of Zionists, referring to British people as “dogs and monkeys”, and suggesting that police should be killed.

Mr Abd el-Fattah has also been accused of expressing support for suicide bombings.

He had been detained in Egypt in September 2019, and in December 2021 was sentenced to five years in prison on charges of spreading false news.

While behind bars, reams of activists, politicians and celebrities had campaigned to move him to the UK.

The Prime Minister described bringing him to the UK as a “top priority”.

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On December 26, he was reunited with his son, who lives in Brighton, after a travel ban was lifted.

But Reform UK boss Mr Farage had led a late-December outcry against his “abhorrent posts” which he said “show Mr el-Fattah to hold views which are completely opposed to our British way of life”.

He wrote to Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, urging her to revoke his British citizenship.

Mr Abd el-Fattah became a British citizen through his mother, who was born in the UK, under a legal route that grants automatic citizenship by descent.

On Sunday night, multiple Labour MPs and ministers anonymously condemned their own Government – with one minister saying it was “truly shocking” Britain had “welcomed a racist antisemite with open arms”.

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Numerous former Tory ministers were also accused of hypocrisy after campaigning to return Mr Abd el-Fattah to the UK before complaining when he was eventually brought back.

Another hypocrisy row unfolded over comparisons between the Egyptian activist and mother Lucy Connolly, who was jailed under Labour for her social media posts.

As Leader of the Opposition, Sir Keir Starmer had complained about how Mr Abd el-Fattah was jailed for his online activity – but as Prime Minister, he repeatedly defended Ms Connolly’s sentence.

Campaigner Adam Brooks said on Sunday: “To the absolute morons calling for Alaa to apologise, so then we can move on… you didn’t accept Lucy Connolly’s regrets or apologies, did you?

“No, you wanted her locked up for a long time. You people are the biggest hypocrites ever, you need serious mental help.”

Ms Connolly herself then said: “The morons Adam talks of are absolutely relentless. Imagine being that sad and bitter but constantly trolling me and having my name in your mouth.

“But as Nigel Farage has recently discovered, all publicity is good publicity! The more you troll, the more you shout, the more the likes of Adam and I will do the most.

“Why? Because we have children and their future looks pretty bleak at the moment.”

In full, the Egyptian activist’s apology reads: “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.

“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. “Looking back I see the writings of a much younger person, deeply enmeshed in antagonistic online cultures, utilising flippant, shocking and sarcastic tones in the nascent, febrile world of social media.

“But this young man never intended to offend a wider public and was, in the real world, engaged in the non-violent pro-democracy movement and repeatedly incarcerated for calling for full equality, human rights and democracy for all.

“Today, this middle aged father firmly believes all our fates are entwined and we can only achieve prosperous and safe lives for our children together. All the initiatives I’ve led reflect this.

“I must also stress that some tweets have been completely misunderstood, seemingly in bad faith.

“For example, a tweet being shared to allege homophobia on my part was actually ridiculing homophobia. 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.

“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. I faced a military tribunal and imprisonment for defending Christians in Egypt falsely accused of violence.

“This weekend was supposed to be the first time I celebrated my son’s birthday with him since 2012, when he was one year old.

“I have been imprisoned in Egypt for almost his entire life for my consistent promotion of equality, justice and secular democracy.

“That included publicly rejecting anti-Jewish speech in Egypt, often at risk to myself, defence of LGBTQ rights, defence of Egyptian Christians, and campaigning against police torture and brutality – all at great risk. And, indeed, my freedom was stripped from me for these defences of human rights. These values are core to my identity.

“It has been painful to see some people who supported calls for my release now feel regret for doing so. 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. I have received huge empathy and solidarity from people across the UK, enough to win me my freedom, and I will be forever grateful for this.”