Two arrested after calling for ‘intifada’ after huge police warning | Politics | News
The Metropolitan Police said two men who chanted slogans calling for an “intifada” were arrested.
The arrests took place during a protest by pro-Palestinian demonstrators outside the Ministry of Justice in Westminster on Wednesday evening.
A third person was arrested on the grounds that he “obstructed” the police who made the first two arrests by chanting slogans.
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley and Greater Manchester Police Chief Constable Stephen Watson warned earlier on Wednesday that “words and chants” would have “real world consequences”.
In a rare joint letter, they warned that prosecutors had repeatedly alleged many statements “that do not meet prosecution thresholds that have caused fear in Jewish communities.”
The Bondi Beach atrocity, in which two Islamist terrorists targeted a Hanukkah celebration and killed 15 people, has sparked renewed anger at slogans against pro-Palestinian marches and the fear, hatred and insults they engender.
Sir Mark and Mr Watson said: “The two recent terrorist attacks targeting Jews, the growing fear in Jewish communities and the spate of terror attacks that have been disrupted in recent years call for a stronger response.
“We know that communities are concerned about banners and slogans such as ‘globalise the intifada’ and that those using it in future protests or in a targeted manner should wait for the Met and GMP to take action.
“Current laws are inadequate and we welcome the Home Secretary asking Lord Ken Macdonald KC to review existing public order and hate crime legislation.
“Lyrics and chants, especially those used in protests, matter and have real-world consequences.
“We have been repeatedly informed by the CPS that much of the expression that causes fear in Jewish communities does not meet the prosecution thresholds.
“Now, in the context of increased threat, we will recalibrate to be more assertive.”
The surviving suspect, 24-year-old Naveed Akram, is accused of 15 counts of murder and terrorist attacks following Sunday’s massacre.
Akram and his father, Sajid, 50, are accused of opening fire on a crowd of more than 1,000 people during Hanukkah celebrations in the Archer Park area of Bondi Beach on Sunday evening.
Sir Ephraim, who traveled to Australia as Chief Rabbi of the Commonwealth, told the Press Association: “On a weekly basis we saw people on the streets of our country’s cities chanting slogans inciting hatred such as ‘from river to sea’, ‘globalise the intifada’.
“What does ‘globalization of the intifada’ mean? We discovered what it meant on Yom Kippur at Heaton Park Synagogue in Manchester. Australians discovered what these words meant at Bondi Beach.”
“And it’s time for us to make it clear that this type of speech is illegal. It will not be accepted. It has been going on for too long. So much of hate speech has the potential to escalate into acts of hate.”
Sir Keir Starmer and senior ministers said protesters’ slogans such as “globalize the intifada” and “from river to sea” amounted to a call to attack the Jewish people.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “The demand for the internationalization of the intifada can have no other interpretation than a call to attack Jewish communities around the world.”
