Uploaded February 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
This is Alaa Abd El-Fattah, an Egyptian-British software developer who happens to have a propensity for political activism.
Between 2006 and 2025, Abd El-Fattah was arrested and imprisoned a number of times in his home country of Egypt. He faced various charges, including organising a political protest without authorisation, inciting violence against the military, and spreading “false news undermining national security.”
Human rights groups have stated that he had been unfairly detained for a total of 12 years. Basically, he went up against a repressive and authoritarian government and was swiftly punished.
But never fear, the protesters’ wishes came true. He has since been released! He was given a presidential pardon in September 2025.
As a dual national who was granted British citizenship in 2021, he flew to the UK to be reunited with his family. Oh, it’s a heart-warming story.
Even Prime Minister Keir Starmer was celebrating. He tweeted: “I’m delighted that Alaa Abd El-Fattah is back in the UK and has been reunited with his loved ones, who must be feeling profound relief. I want to pay tribute to Alaa’s family, and to all those who have worked and campaigned for this moment. Alaa’s case has been a top priority for my government since we came to office.”
Oh, how wonderful! Helping “exemplary” UK citizens reunite with Britain.
Well, perhaps Mr. Abd El-Fattah isn’t quite as pure of heart as first thought. He made a series of social media posts from around 2010 to 2014, which have raised some questions about his character.
This is his X account, which he has used as his personal megaphone. In 2011, he wrote: “I’m telling u that I hate white people.” It’s strange that he’d want to move to the UK.
He also wrote: “I'll switch to something else, advocating killing police, hating white people, assassination plots…” Although I believe he claims this tweet was “sarcastic” or “ridiculing” the charges against him in Egypt.
Here’s another one from 2010, replying to a now-deleted tweet: “But it remains fairly correct. The problem is rooted in white people and the Palestinian problem is rooted in Jews.”
And just one more: “Only white people would think castrating your pets is the humane way of treating them (am I allowed to say that in South Africa now?)”
To be fair, these were all written around 15 years ago, so perhaps he likes white people now?
Here’s another one about police: “It was a retweet… but I’ve always been pro killing police.”
Hmm, again, it’s hard to tell if he’s being serious, but why say it at all? This one from 2009 makes his intent clearer: “Call me when u plan to get a tooth for the tooth. Courts r useless man. It’s time we started killing police officers.”
I guess he’s referring to Egyptian police officers, but does that make it any less wrong?
He clearly doesn’t like Israel and Zionism. In 2013, he articulately tweeted: “F**k Israel.”
And: “Zionism is turning killing and stealing land into an ideology, hence it makes perfect sense to see Zionists as my enemies.”
After all these historical tweets came out, suddenly Keir Starmer was less effusive. The BBC reported: “Starmer regrets welcoming British-Egyptian activist to UK after ‘abhorrent’ posts came to light.”
Oh, the entire British Government couldn’t do a quick character check? Not when the Conservatives gave him a passport in 2021, and certainly not when Labour demanded his release in 2025.
To be fair to the PM, he did send out another tweet a few days after welcoming Alaa back to the UK. He wrote: “As Yvette Cooper sets out in her letter, the historic tweets by Alaa Abd El-Fattah are absolutely abhorrent. We are taking steps to review the information failures in this case.”
So never fear! The PM is “taking steps.”
To be fair to Mr. Abd El-Fattah, he did say that he was sorry for what he said. The Guardian reported: “British-Egyptian rights activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah apologises for ‘hurtful’ tweets.”
I won’t read the whole thing, but here are some excerpts: “Looking at the tweets now... 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 and the rise of police brutality against Egyptian youth. Looking back, I see the writings of a much younger person… utilising flippant, shocking and sarcastic tones in the nascent, febrile world of social media. 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.”
So there you go. He was just advocating for killing police in a time when police brutality was common. He was just lashing out at white people and Jews and Zionists because he was angry and frustrated.
Now, he’s just a non-violent, pro-democracy, human rights activist demanding that we’re all treated equally. Truly, a modern-day miracle of character development.
MUSIC
Allégro by Emmit Fenn
This is Alaa Abd El-Fattah, an Egyptian-British software developer who happens to have a propensity for political activism.
Between 2006 and 2025, Abd El-Fattah was arrested and imprisoned a number of times in his home country of Egypt. He faced various charges, including organising a political protest without authorisation, inciting violence against the military, and spreading “false news undermining national security.”
Human rights groups have stated that he had been unfairly detained for a total of 12 years. Basically, he went up against a repressive and authoritarian government and was swiftly punished.
But never fear, the protesters’ wishes came true. He has since been released! He was given a presidential pardon in September 2025.
As a dual national who was granted British citizenship in 2021, he flew to the UK to be reunited with his family. Oh, it’s a heart-warming story.
Even Prime Minister Keir Starmer was celebrating. He tweeted: “I’m delighted that Alaa Abd El-Fattah is back in the UK and has been reunited with his loved ones, who must be feeling profound relief. I want to pay tribute to Alaa’s family, and to all those who have worked and campaigned for this moment. Alaa’s case has been a top priority for my government since we came to office.”
Oh, how wonderful! Helping “exemplary” UK citizens reunite with Britain.
Well, perhaps Mr. Abd El-Fattah isn’t quite as pure of heart as first thought. He made a series of social media posts from around 2010 to 2014, which have raised some questions about his character.
This is his X account, which he has used as his personal megaphone. In 2011, he wrote: “I’m telling u that I hate white people.” It’s strange that he’d want to move to the UK.
He also wrote: “I'll switch to something else, advocating killing police, hating white people, assassination plots…” Although I believe he claims this tweet was “sarcastic” or “ridiculing” the charges against him in Egypt.
Here’s another one from 2010, replying to a now-deleted tweet: “But it remains fairly correct. The problem is rooted in white people and the Palestinian problem is rooted in Jews.”
And just one more: “Only white people would think castrating your pets is the humane way of treating them (am I allowed to say that in South Africa now?)”
To be fair, these were all written around 15 years ago, so perhaps he likes white people now?
Here’s another one about police: “It was a retweet… but I’ve always been pro killing police.”
Hmm, again, it’s hard to tell if he’s being serious, but why say it at all? This one from 2009 makes his intent clearer: “Call me when u plan to get a tooth for the tooth. Courts r useless man. It’s time we started killing police officers.”
I guess he’s referring to Egyptian police officers, but does that make it any less wrong?
He clearly doesn’t like Israel and Zionism. In 2013, he articulately tweeted: “F**k Israel.”
And: “Zionism is turning killing and stealing land into an ideology, hence it makes perfect sense to see Zionists as my enemies.”
After all these historical tweets came out, suddenly Keir Starmer was less effusive. The BBC reported: “Starmer regrets welcoming British-Egyptian activist to UK after ‘abhorrent’ posts came to light.”
Oh, the entire British Government couldn’t do a quick character check? Not when the Conservatives gave him a passport in 2021, and certainly not when Labour demanded his release in 2025.
To be fair to the PM, he did send out another tweet a few days after welcoming Alaa back to the UK. He wrote: “As Yvette Cooper sets out in her letter, the historic tweets by Alaa Abd El-Fattah are absolutely abhorrent. We are taking steps to review the information failures in this case.”
So never fear! The PM is “taking steps.”
To be fair to Mr. Abd El-Fattah, he did say that he was sorry for what he said. The Guardian reported: “British-Egyptian rights activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah apologises for ‘hurtful’ tweets.”
I won’t read the whole thing, but here are some excerpts: “Looking at the tweets now... 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 and the rise of police brutality against Egyptian youth. Looking back, I see the writings of a much younger person… utilising flippant, shocking and sarcastic tones in the nascent, febrile world of social media. 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.”
So there you go. He was just advocating for killing police in a time when police brutality was common. He was just lashing out at white people and Jews and Zionists because he was angry and frustrated.
Now, he’s just a non-violent, pro-democracy, human rights activist demanding that we’re all treated equally. Truly, a modern-day miracle of character development.
MUSIC
Allégro by Emmit Fenn
