British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said people who use the phrase “globalize the intifada” should be prosecuted, describing the popular pro-Palestinian chant as a call for “terrorism against Jews” in the wake of a terror attack in a heavily Orthodox neighborhood of London.
“Of course, we protect freedom of speech and peaceful protest in this country,” Starmer said during an address on Thursday. “But if you are marching with people wearing pictures of paragliders without calling it out, you are venerating the murder of Jews. If you stand alongside people who say globalize the Intifada, you are calling for terrorism against Jews and people who use that phrase should be prosecuted.”
Starmer’s remarks, which come one day after two Jewish men were stabbed in in London’s heavily Jewish Golders Green neighborhood, marked a notable denunciation of pro-Palestinian slogans by the British leader, who has faced scrutiny for his response to rising antisemitism in the country.
As he visited the site of the attack on Thursday, Starmer was met by boos and chants including “Keir Starmer, Jew Harmer” from protesters accusing his government of failing to adequately combat antisemitism.
“It is racism, extreme racism, and it has left a minority community in this country scared, intimidating, wondering if they belong. So I say again, this government will do everything in our power to stamp this hatred out. We will strengthen our security and protect our Jewish community,” Starmer continued. “But I also call on everyone decent in this country to open their eyes to Jewish pain, Jewish suffering and Jewish fear.”
The phrase “globalize the intifada,” commonly chanted at pro-Palestinian protests, is defended by its supporters as a call for solidarity with Palestinians but criticized by many Jews as an invocation of violent Palestinian uprisings that killed roughly 1,000 Israelis.
In the wake of the deadly antisemitic terror attack on a Hanukkah celebration in Sydney, police in London announced that they would begin arresting pro-Palestinian protesters who invoked the phrase. Police in Manchester, England, where a man attacked a synagogue on Yom Kippur, also made the policy change.
In February, that policy, which drew widespread criticism, led to the arrest of British LGBTQ activist Peter Tatchell, who was holding a sign with the phrase on it at a pro-Palestinian march in London.
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