Former top judge says ban on antisemitic chants at pro-Palestine marches ‘exceptionally difficult’ to prosecute
A ban on anti-Semitic chants at pro-Palestinian marches would be “extremely difficult” to prosecute, a former chief judge has said.
Anyone chanting controversial slogans such as “make the intifada global” will be arrested following the Bondi Beach terror attack and the terror attack on Manchester’s Heaton Park synagogue on October 2, the Met Police and Manchester Police announced on Wednesday.
But when asked whether the law allowed people who use these slogans to be prosecuted in court, former Supreme Court judge Lord Sumption said there were “obvious difficulties” because an intention to incite violence against particular groups must normally be proven.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4 Today He said in the program: “The law says that if you display banners that contain threatening, abusive or insulting words with the intention of inciting violence against certain groups or individuals, and that’s the important thing, it is an offence.
“Using language that incites racial hatred is also a crime, but merely sustaining a political slogan (which is essentially what it is) will not be enough under normal circumstances.
“I say under normal conditions because the current conditions are not normal… There is an electric atmosphere in Gaza and things that are normally acceptable may be less acceptable under the current conditions.”
He added: “I think it would be extremely difficult to justify a prosecution based on nothing more than displaying this banner. But I’m not saying it’s impossible.”
Sir Peter Fahy, former chief constable of Manchester, said this uncertainty made the job of police chiefs “extremely difficult”.
He explained: “A lot of this is very nuanced. It’s the intersection of public order law, protest law, hate crime law, sometimes even counter-terrorism law. So it’s extremely complex.”
“The government has made several announcements about changing some of these rules but I don’t think they have become law. So it’s quite confusing for frontline officers.”
It follows the arrest of two men who chanted slogans calling for an “intifada” on Wednesday, the Metropolitan Police said.
The arrests took place during a protest by pro-Palestinian demonstrators in front of the Ministry of Justice in Westminster, London.
A third person was arrested on the grounds that he “obstructed” the police who made the first two arrests by chanting slogans.
The Met later confirmed two further arrests for public order offences; one of which was racially aggravated, bringing the number of arrests to five.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said earlier this week that “freedom of expression is an important right in this country and that it cannot mean inciting hatred or harassing others” and that police would use their powers “more strongly” to combat the spread of antisemitism.
The arrests mark a change in approach by the Met Police and Greater Manchester Police, who announced earlier on Wednesday that anyone chanting controversial slogans such as “make the intifada global” would be arrested.
While the move was welcomed by Jewish groups, Ben Jamal of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign said it violated the right to protest, calling it “another low level of political repression of protests for Palestinian rights.”
He said the word intifada “means shaking off or uprising against injustice” and said the “implication that slogans used to support the liberation of the Palestinian people are only open to interpretation by groups who have maintained complicit support for Israel’s oppression of the Palestinian people and denial of their rights is deeply problematic”.
The American Jewish Committee describes the phrase as “used by pro-Palestinian activists who call for aggressive resistance against Israel and those who support Israel.”
However, its meaning is disputed, and protesters claim it is a call for “liberation” from colonialism and peaceful resistance to Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and its actions in Gaza.
Britain’s Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis welcomed the decision as “an important step towards challenging the hateful rhetoric” seen on Britain’s streets.
But the move was also criticized by campaigners as political pressure.
During the pro-Palestinian protest held in front of the Ministry of Justice building, police officers entered the crowd of approximately 100 people and took the individuals to police vehicles.
It comes after Met commissioner Sir Mark Rowley and GMP chief constable Sir Stephen Watson said circumstances had changed following the mass shooting at Bondi Beach.
In a rare joint statement, they said: “We know communities are concerned about banners and slogans such as ‘globalise the intifada’ and those using it in future protests or in a targeted manner should wait for the Met and GMP to take action.
“Acts of violence have occurred, the context has changed; words have meaning and consequence.
“We will act decisively and make arrests.”
