Starmer Cheers Egyptian Activist Release, Ignores UK Arms Sales to Sisi
According to Al Jazeera, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer celebrates the return of Alaa Abd El-Fattah after nearly 12 years in Egyptian prisons. This joyous occasion arrives without a single mention of how the UK continues to arm and fund Abdel Fattah el-Sisi's authoritarian government. In 2023 alone, the UK approved £1.5 million in arms export licenses to Egypt, a regime documented by Amnesty
International for widespread human rights abuses, including arbitrary detentions and torture. Funny how 'profound relief' for one individual doesn't translate to a policy shift for the many. It appears the UK is perfectly capable of condemning human rights violations when they involve individual cases, particularly those with British citizenship, while simultaneously profiting from the apparatus
of state repression. One might wonder if the 'profound relief' felt is more about a public relations win than any genuine commitment to democratic values in the region, especially when the weapons sales continue to pour in. The selective outrage, after all, is a classic of the political drama genre.