Palestine Coalition protest: Peter Tatchell arrested at rally in central London
Prominent activist Peter Tatchell was arrested during a pro-Palestinian march in central London, his charity says.
The trust said Mr Tatchell, 74, was arrested on Saturday over his banner.
The banner read: “Globalize the intifada: Non-violent resistance. End Israel’s occupation of Gaza and the West Bank.”
In a statement released by the Peter Tatchell Foundation, Mr Tatchell said the arrest was “an attack on freedom of expression”.
“The police claimed that the word intifada was against the law. The word intifada is not a crime in law.
“The police are overreaching by making this an arrestable offence.
“This is part of a dangerous trend to increasingly restrict and criminalize peaceful protests.”
Mr Tatchell said the Arabic word “intifada” means “uprising, revolt or resistance against Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza”.
“This does not mean violence and it is not antisemitic. It is against the Israeli regime and its war crimes, not against the Jewish people.”
Mr Tatchell was taken to Sutton police station to be detained, according to his trust.
Protesters chanting “Globalize the Intifada” would be arrested because “the context has changed” following the terror attack on Bondi Beach, the Metropolitan Police said in December.
The Met said in a post on
According to a witness account, Mr Tatchell was walking for about a mile from Russell Square to the top of the Strand, near police officers and with the sign on display, when the group was met with a counter-protest.
At this point he was stopped and “manhandled by 10 police officers”, according to Jacky Summerfield, who was with him.
“I was pushed behind a police cordon and I couldn’t talk to him after that,” he said.
“I could not get any closer to hear anything more than that related to Section 5 of the Public Order Act.
“There were no problems until that moment, he was walking next to the police,” he added.
“No one said or did anything.”
