Campaigner Peter Tatchell arrested for carrying ‘globalise the intifada’ placard | Peter Tatchell
Activist and campaigner Peter Tatchell was arrested for carrying a banner reading “globalise the intifada” at a pro-Palestinian march in London.
Tatchell, who attended a Palestinian solidarity march in London on Saturday afternoon, carried a banner that read: “Globalize the intifada: Non-violent resistance. End Israel’s occupation of Gaza and the West Bank.”
He called his arrest an “attack on freedom of expression” and said police claimed the word intifada was illegal. He was taken to Sutton police station in south London.
In a statement released by the Peter Tatchell Foundation, the 74-year-old, one of the country’s best-known gay rights campaigners, said his arrest was “part of a dangerous trend to increasingly restrict and criminalize peaceful protests.”
“The Arabic word intifada means uprising, revolt or resistance against Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. It does not imply violence and is not antisemitic. It is not against the Jewish people, but against the Israeli regime and its war crimes.
“By ‘non-violent resistance,’ I was advocating boycott, sanctions and divestment—the same tactics that helped bring down the apartheid regime in South Africa. ‘Globalizing the Intifada’ means creating a worldwide campaign like the anti-apartheid movement.”
“The police are completely wrong to conflate support for Palestinian resistance to oppression with hatred and attacks against Jews,” he said.
In December, the Metropolitan police said protesters chanting “globalise the intifada” would now be arrested because “the context has changed” following the Bondi Beach terror attack in Sydney.
On Saturday afternoon, police said: “Police officers supervising a Palestine Coalition protest arrested a 74-year-old man on suspicion of an offense against public order. He was seen carrying a banner bearing the words ‘globalise the intifada’.”
Tatchell told a rally in London last month that three men were “charged with this new ‘crime’ of expressing support for the intifada against Israel’s war crimes and genocide.”
“I have a long history of defending the Jewish people against far-right antisemitism and Islamic extremism. I participated in the March Against Antisemitism with the chief rabbi and thousands of Jews on November 26, 2023, immediately following the October 7 massacre.”
Last May Tatchell was arrested by police “Stop the Israeli genocide! Stop the Hamas executions! 22-year-old Odai Al-Rubai executed by Hamas! RIP!” for a racially and religiously aggravated offense for carrying a banner that read: He said he would take legal action against the Met over this arrest.
“My banner did not mention anyone’s race or religion. The police have since admitted that I was wrongfully arrested and that I am waiting for a solution,” he said.
