ORGANISERS of pro-Palestine demonstrations have challenged Keir Starmer’s threat to ban some protests against Israel as they warn it would “strike at the root of free assembly and free speech” in the UK.
The Prime Minister said on Saturday that “there are instances” in which he would support stopping some pro-Palestine marches altogether, adding that he wanted to see “tougher action” against people using certain phrases at demonstrations.
Starmer said he wanted to see a clampdown on phrases including the chant “globalise the intifada”.
Intifada is an Arabic word that translates to uprising or “shaking off” and has been used by some pro-Palestine supporters who say they use the phrase to show solidarity with Palestinians resisting Israeli occupation. However, some Jewish groups and leaders have described it as a call to violence.
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Starmer’s call comes after a string of antisemitic attacks in London, with most recently two Jewish men stabbed in Golders Green, north London, on Wednesday.
John Rees, co-founder and national officer for the Stop the War coalition, which helps organise large pro-Palestine demonstrations in London, said Starmer’s comments are a “threat” against people’s right to protest.
He told Sky News that a ban would “strike at the root of free assembly and free speech in this country”.
“I don’t think that people in this country are minded to say: ‘Oh, well, we did it once, and that didn’t work. So we’re now going home,’ Rees added.
“As long as the wars continue, as long as the killing continues, people will want to say to this government, you’re complicit in this, and you should stop.
“And will want to say to the Israeli government, you’re setting the Middle East on fire. It’s now impacting not only the lives of Palestinians, but the livelihood of people around the globe and you should stop.”
Rees continued: “We have to be absolutely clear here, there is no threat whatsoever to the Jewish community from these marches. In fact, they are attended by thousands of Jewish people who disapprove of the actions of the government and disapprove of the actions of the State of Israel.”
He went on to say that pro-Palestine supporters need to be “absolutely clear” that there is “no threat whatsoever” to the Jewish community from the marches.
“In fact, they are attended by thousands of Jewish people who disapprove of the actions of the government and disapprove of the actions of the State of Israel,” Reese added.
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Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch called for pro-Palestine marches to be banned altogether on Saturday, as she claimed “they are used as a cover for promoting violence and intimidation against Jews”.
However, Jewish academics in Scotland have called for unity to fight against racism on all grounds.
The Scottish Universities Jewish Staff Network (SUJSN) said the best response to the current violence is for Jewish and non-Jewish people to come together in protesting against “all forms of racism, whoever and wherever the target might be”.
The group added: “We strongly reject attempts by the police and government to use antisemitic attacks as a pretext to clamp down on such peaceful protests.
“Far from encouraging terrorist violence, the joint action of anti-racist Jews and non-Jews in opposition to racist violence against Palestinians is the best way of challenging terrorism.”
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