Met police and GMP pledge crackdown on ‘intifada’ chants at Gaza war protests | Police

Police in London and Manchester vowed to crack down on pro-Palestinian demonstrations, saying they would arrest anyone chanting “Globalize the Intifada” or carrying a banner with the phrase on it.

Protests began in October 2023 after a Hamas attack on Israel led to the Israeli invasion of Gaza. London’s Metropolitan Police policed ​​the most protests, followed by Greater Manchester Police (GMP).

On Wednesday, chiefs of both forces said attacks on Jewish people in Manchester, where two people were killed, and in Sydney, Australia, where 16 people died, including one of the alleged killers, meant new rules were now in place.

In a joint statement, Met commissioner Sir Mark Rowley and GMP chief constable Sir Stephen Watson said: “Lyrics and chants, particularly those used at protests, are important and have real-world consequences.

“We have been constantly informed by the CPS [Crown Prosecution Service] Most statements that create fear in Jewish communities do not appear to meet the prosecution threshold. Now, in the context of increased threat, we will re-adjust to be more assertive.

“We know that communities are concerned about banners and slogans such as ‘globalise the intifada’ and that those using them in future protests or in a targeted manner should expect action from the Met and GMP.

“There have been incidents of violence, the context has changed, words have meaning and consequences. We will act decisively and make arrests.

“Frontline staff will be briefed on this enhanced approach. We will also use powers under the Public Order Act, including conditions in London synagogues, during services.”

Police chiefs added: “It is possible to protest in support of the Palestinian people without intimidating Jewish communities or breaking the law.”

The Met said two people who chanted slogans calling for an “intifada” were arrested on Wednesday evening.

The arrests took place during a protest by pro-Palestinian demonstrators outside the Ministry of Justice in Westminster.

Police said that a third person, who made the first two arrests for chanting slogans, was arrested for “obstructing” the police.

The largest protest marches were organized by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC). Its director, Ben Jamal, condemned the police plan as “political suppression of protests against Palestinian rights” and said that uttering the word intifada was not a call for violence.

The Met in particular has been criticized for being too lax on the protests but also for being too harsh.

The CPS, which prosecutes cases in England and Wales, could not say whether the new approach would hold up in the courts.

The Guardian understands Met chiefs believed they were subject to unwarranted criticism because footage of the protest showed chants that some objected to, but officers failed to take action because they believed there was no prospect of conviction.

One person with knowledge of the discussions said: “We are being subjected to all the criticism about this. Society only sees inaction. It is unrealistic for us to change nothing and continue with the same approach.”

Intifada literally means uprising or resistance and is the term used by Palestinians for uprisings against Israel. The first intifada started in 1987, and the second in 2000. For Palestinians, this means resistance to oppression, but some Israelis – probably the majority – associate it with violence, including suicide attacks.

Jewish groups say intifada slogans on Britain’s streets are being seen as a call for new violence against their faith. Ultimately, it may fall to judges and juries to decide what was intended and what, if any, criminal offense was involved.

The Community Security Trust, the leading group working for the security of Jewish people in Britain, welcomed the move: “This announcement does not come too soon. It is unacceptable to allow calls for a global ‘intifada’ to be allowed on our streets, especially given the wave of terror against Jews around the world.”

“We welcome the news that this behavior will now be met with arrests. This is a necessary and important first step in turning back the tide of incitement to violence and we hope that police and the CPS across the country will follow suit.”

But the chief executive of the Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “After two years of repeatedly excusing calls for the ‘globalization of the Intifada’, police chiefs are only now waking up to the fact that people who call for the death of Jews in this way should be jailed. But banning this one hymn is a useless token measure… Unless marches are banned outright, it is difficult to see how they will enforce this ban.”

“Police chiefs have a lot of work to do if we are to restore law and order in this country. We pray that no more Jews need to die in their custody.”

PSC’s Jamal said: “The implication that slogans used to support the liberation of the Palestinian people are open only to interpretation by groups that continue their complicit support for Israel’s oppression of the Palestinian people and the denial of their rights is extremely problematic.

“It is worth noting that many of the groups pushing for such action have called on the police to consider even the slogan ‘Free, free Palestine’ as a call for the genocidal murder of the Jewish people.

“We also saw organizations such as the House of Representatives. [of British Jews] Argue that calls for a boycott to protest Israel’s violations of international law and Palestinian rights are inherently antisemitic.”

He added: “The horrific massacre in Sydney, Australia, must not be used as a justification for further suppression of fundamental democratic protest rights and freedom of expression in this country.

“We need to condemn all racist violence against Jewish people who come together to celebrate their faith and culture on the beach, and apartheid and genocide, which is Israel’s systemic racist violence against Palestinians. You can’t be anti-racist unless you are completely opposed to both.”

Lionel Idan, the CPS’s hate crime lead, said the force “works closely with police and communities to detect, charge and prosecute anti-Semitic hate crime, and we will always look at ways we can do more”.

The CPS statement did not mention the banning of the term “globalisation of the intifada” and Idan said: “We carefully consider every case of anti-Semitic hate crime that is referred to us for a charging decision or early recommendation to see whether it should be taken to court.

“Some offenses may be context specific and where the evidence is insufficient, we will work with police to determine what more can be done to meet the charging threshold.”