LONDON: The UK’s secretary of state for leveling up, housing and communities has been accused of conducting a “witch hunt” after accusing pro-Palestinian demonstrators of antisemitism.
Political parties and the Palestine Solidarity Campaign condemned Michael Gove, with the Revolutionary Communist Party calling his accusations an attempt to distract from the Conservatives’ “support for genocide” in Gaza.
The Socialist Workers Party said he is conducting a “witch hunt (against) the Palestine solidarity movement.”
Gove announced plans to make protest organizers foot the cost of policing at pro-Palestinian demonstrations, saying they are not doing enough to stop some attendees spreading anti-Jewish messages.
“Many of those on these marches are thoughtful, gentle, compassionate people — driven by a desire for peace and an end to suffering. But they are side by side with those who are promoting hate,” he added.
“The organizers of these marches could do everything in their power to stop that. They don’t.”
Gove also said pro-Palestinian university encampments across the UK represent “antisemitism repurposed for the Instagram age,” and their presence has facilitated hostility against Jewish students on campuses.
Ben Jamal, PSC director, said in a statement: “Apologists for Israel’s genocidal violence and system of apartheid have lost the democratic and legal arguments, but continue to attempt to delegitimize Palestinian solidarity. They will not succeed.
“At a moment when Israel is on trial in the world’s highest court for the crime of genocide and the day after its Prime Minister has been threatened with ICC (International Criminal Court) arrest warrants for war crimes, it is grotesque that these smears continue.
“The real issues are that the UK government continues to arm Israel, refuses to resume funding to UNRWA (the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees), and is attempting to protect Israel from legal accountability.
“Far from stopping the genocide in Gaza as required under international law, the UK is complicit.”
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UK minister accused of ‘witch hunt’ against pro-Palestine movement
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UK minister accused of ‘witch hunt’ against pro-Palestine movement
- Michael Gove: University encampments represent ‘antisemitism repurposed for Instagram age’
- Palestine Solidarity Campaign: Britain ‘complicit’ in ‘genocide in Gaza’
UK police to arrest those chanting ‘globalize the intifada’
- Pro-Palestinian groups say the move will infringe on the right to protest and misunderstands the meaning of the word
- UK police say the context surrounding the chants has changed after the Bondi Beach attack
LONDON: People publicly chanting pro-Palestinian calls to “globalize the intifada” will be arrested, UK police warned Wednesday, saying the “context had changed” in the wake of Australia’s Bondi Beach attack.
The announcement by the police forces of London and the northwest English city of Manchester swiftly prompted accusations of political repression by some campaigners.
The move follows father-and-son gunmen killing 15 people Sunday at a Hanukkah festival on the Sydney beach and an October attack on a Manchester synagogue on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar.
“We know communities are concerned about placards and chants such as ‘globalize the intifada’,” the UK capital’s Metropolitan Police and Greater Manchester Police said in a joint statement vowing to “be more assertive.”
“Violent acts have taken place, the context has changed — words have meaning and consequence. We will act decisively and make arrests.”
Jewish groups welcomed the announcement, with the UK’s Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis calling it “an important step toward challenging the hateful rhetoric we have seen on our streets, which has inspired acts of violence and terror.”
But Ben Jamal, from the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, said in a statement that it infringes on the right to protest.
“The statement by the Met and GMP marks another low in the political repression of protest for Palestinian rights,” he said, ahead of a planned central London pro-Palestinian protest Wednesday evening.
He criticized the lack of consultation over the move, adding “the Arabic word intifada means shaking off or uprising against injustice.”
‘Sickening’
“It came to prominence during the first intifada which was overwhelmingly marked by peaceful protest that was brutally repressed by the Israeli state,” Jamal said.
The intifada refers to Palestinian uprisings against Israel. The first raged from 1987 to 1993, while the second flared between 2000 and 2005.
UK police have already stepped up security around the country’s synagogues, Jewish schools and community hubs in the wake of this year’s violent incidents.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar urged Australia to act against a “surge” of antisemitism after Sunday’s atrocity, echoing similar previous demands aimed at Britain.
In a social media post, Saar branded slogans heard at pro-Palestinian protests such as “Globalize the Intifada” “Death to the IDF,” the Israeli military, as antisemitic and violent incitement.
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.”
Chief prosecutor Lionel Idan said Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) was “already working closely with police and communities to identify, charge and prosecute antisemitic hate crimes.”
“We will always look at ways we can do more,” he added.
Hate crime referrals and completed prosecutions rose by 17 percent to 15,561 in the year to June 2025, according to the CPS.
The announcement by the police forces of London and the northwest English city of Manchester swiftly prompted accusations of political repression by some campaigners.
The move follows father-and-son gunmen killing 15 people Sunday at a Hanukkah festival on the Sydney beach and an October attack on a Manchester synagogue on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar.
“We know communities are concerned about placards and chants such as ‘globalize the intifada’,” the UK capital’s Metropolitan Police and Greater Manchester Police said in a joint statement vowing to “be more assertive.”
“Violent acts have taken place, the context has changed — words have meaning and consequence. We will act decisively and make arrests.”
Jewish groups welcomed the announcement, with the UK’s Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis calling it “an important step toward challenging the hateful rhetoric we have seen on our streets, which has inspired acts of violence and terror.”
But Ben Jamal, from the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, said in a statement that it infringes on the right to protest.
“The statement by the Met and GMP marks another low in the political repression of protest for Palestinian rights,” he said, ahead of a planned central London pro-Palestinian protest Wednesday evening.
He criticized the lack of consultation over the move, adding “the Arabic word intifada means shaking off or uprising against injustice.”
‘Sickening’
“It came to prominence during the first intifada which was overwhelmingly marked by peaceful protest that was brutally repressed by the Israeli state,” Jamal said.
The intifada refers to Palestinian uprisings against Israel. The first raged from 1987 to 1993, while the second flared between 2000 and 2005.
UK police have already stepped up security around the country’s synagogues, Jewish schools and community hubs in the wake of this year’s violent incidents.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar urged Australia to act against a “surge” of antisemitism after Sunday’s atrocity, echoing similar previous demands aimed at Britain.
In a social media post, Saar branded slogans heard at pro-Palestinian protests such as “Globalize the Intifada” “Death to the IDF,” the Israeli military, as antisemitic and violent incitement.
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.”
Chief prosecutor Lionel Idan said Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) was “already working closely with police and communities to identify, charge and prosecute antisemitic hate crimes.”
“We will always look at ways we can do more,” he added.
Hate crime referrals and completed prosecutions rose by 17 percent to 15,561 in the year to June 2025, according to the CPS.
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