A Home Office minister has stated that pro-Palestinian marches in British cities have been “hijacked” by individuals aiming to sow division, leading to renewed scrutiny of the government’s approach to these demonstrations.
\nAlex Davies-Jones acknowledged that antisemitic activity had occurred during the marches, affirming the government’s readiness to approve bans when necessary. However, she emphasized that protest remains a “fundamental right” and highlighted that not everyone participating in the marches is antisemitic.<\/p>\n
This comes as Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis joined calls for a temporary ban on the marches, following the stabbing of two Jewish men in Golders Green on Wednesday. The incident in the north London suburb, classified as a terror incident by police, has intensified political discussions regarding the protection of British Jews. Jonathan Hall KC, the government’s reviewer of terrorism legislation, advocated for a “moratorium” on pro-Palestinian marches, asserting that it was “clearly impossible at the moment” for them not to “incubate” antisemitism. Sir Ephraim, speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, expressed his desire for such a ban to be “implemented ASAP, before the next demonstrations which are planned.” He added that the marches had contributed to a “tone of Jew hatred within our country,” stating: “We are witnessing the normalisation of antisemitism, and it most definitely has not been taken seriously enough.”<\/p>\n
However, Mr. Hall’s suggestion has faced criticism from the Stop the War Coalition, a campaign group involved in organizing several previous marches. The group condemned “all forms of antisemitism and racism” but deemed it “wrong” to link the marches to any attacks on Jewish people.<\/p>\n
Police forces in England and Wales possess powers to restrict protests under certain conditions, including specifying routes or duration. They can apply for an outright ban if these powers are insufficient to prevent “serious public disorder,” though this requires the Home Secretary’s approval and is rarely exercised. Last month, the government approved a Metropolitan Police request to ban the Al Quds Day march in London, marking the first protest march ban since 2012.<\/p>\n
Speaking to Times Radio, Davies-Jones affirmed the government’s willingness to act when required, while stressing the importance of balancing restrictions with the right to demonstrate. She cited “chants of death, calls for global intifada, for example” as evidence of antisemitic activity on pro-Palestinian marches. She further stated: “That is wrong \u2013 but people do have the right to protest the actions of Israel if that’s what they deem fit, and I think it’s really really important here that we recognise that not everybody on these marches is antisemitic. They have been hijacked by certain individuals who are seeking to cause division and hatred in our country, and are using these marches, using these positions to cause fear and intimidation, and that is wrong.”<\/p>\n
On Friday, Met Police chief Sir Mark Rowley indicated his force would “go as far as we absolutely can” within legal limits to “maximise the sense of safety” in London. He added that the force was reviewing what “reasonable” restrictions might be applied to major protests scheduled in the coming weeks. The Stop the War Coalition plans its annual march for Nakba Day on May 16, commemorating the 1948 displacement of Palestinians during Israel’s creation. A “Unite the Kingdom” rally, led by far-right activist Tommy Robinson, is also planned for the same day.<\/p>\n
Last year, the government commissioned a review of public order and hate crime legislation, expected in February but yet to be published. However, Sir Keir Starmer mentioned on Thursday that ministers were exploring “further measures we can take on protests,” suggesting the government is already considering new restrictions. The prime minister also urged police to prosecute individuals chanting “globalise the intifada” during demonstrations, noting the phrase had left British Jews feeling scared and intimidated. The term “intifada” gained prominence during the 1987 Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Jewish groups interpret the term as a call for violence against Jewish people, while pro-Palestinian groups describe it as a call for peaceful resistance to Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and actions in Gaza. In December, the Met and Greater Manchester Police announced they would adjust their approach to the slogan following an attack on a Jewish festival in Australia’s Bondi Beach, and would arrest those using it in chants or on placards.<\/p>\n
#ProPalestinianMarches #UKPolitics #Antisemitism #FreedomOfProtest #PublicOrder #GoldersGreen #IntifadaDebate #BritishJews #GovernmentScrutiny #MiddleEastConflict<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A Home Office minister has stated that pro-Palestinian marches in British cities have been “hijacked” by individuals aiming to sow division, leading to renewed scrutiny of the government’s approach to these demonstrations. Alex Davies-Jones acknowledged that antisemitic activity had occurred during the marches, affirming the government’s readiness to approve bans when necessary. However, she emphasized […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5909,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5908","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vanak.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5908","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vanak.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vanak.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vanak.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vanak.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5908"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vanak.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5908\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vanak.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5909"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vanak.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5908"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vanak.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5908"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vanak.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5908"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}