People publically chanting pro-Palestinian calls to “globalise the intifada” will be arrested, UK police warned Wednesday, saying the “context had changed” in the wake of the Bondi Beach massacre.
“We know communities are concerned about placards and chants such as ‘globalise the intifada’,” the London Metropolitan and Greater Manchester police forces said in a statement.
“Violent acts have taken place, the context has changed — words have meaning and consequence. We will act decisively and make arrests.”
Gunmen killed 15 people on Sunday when they fired into crowds at a Hanukkah festival on Sydney’s Bondi Beach.
One, Sajid Akram, was shot and killed by police. His son Naveed, 24, was charged in hospital on Wednesday with more than 50 counts, including terrorism and 15 murders.
The Bondi Beach attack came some two months after a gunman of Syrian origin attacked a synagogue in the English city of Manchester. Two people died along with the gunman in the October 2 attack on the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, Yom Kippur.
UK police have already stepped up security around the country’s synagogues, Jewish schools and community hubs.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar urged Canberra to act against a “surge” in antisemitism after Sunday’s attack.
In a post on X, Saar said since the October 7, 2023 attack and the subsequent war in Gaza “there has been a surge in antisemitism in Australia, including violent incitement against Israel and Jews”.
He referred to slogans heard at pro-Palestinian protests, such as “Globalise the Intifada”, “From the River to the Sea, Palestine Will be Free”, and “Death to the IDF,” the Israeli military.
While Britain’s prosecutors have said the phrases do not meet the threshold for prosecutions, “in the escalating threat context, we will recalibrate to be more assertive,” Met Commissioner Mark Rowley and the Manchester Chief Constable Stephen Watson said in their joint statement.
The intifada refers to Palestinian uprisings against Israel. The first raged from 1987 to 1993, while the second flared between 2000 and 2005.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, whose wife is Jewish, denounced the weekend gun rampage in Australia as “sickening”, saying it was “an antisemitic terrorist attack against Jewish families”.
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