Organisers challenge Starmer’s threat to ban some pro-Palestine marches

Organisers of pro-Palestine marches have said Keir Starmer’s threat to ban some demonstrations opposing Israel’s actions in the Middle East will “strike at the root of free assembly and free speech” in the UK.

On Saturday morning, the prime minister told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that “there are instances” in which he would support stopping some pro-Palestine protests altogether.

Starmer said he also wanted the language expressed on some protest marches to be subjected to “tougher action”, including the chant “globalise the intifada”. Intifada is an Arabic word that translates to uprising or “shaking off”.

Some pro-Palestine voices use the phrase as an expression of solidarity with Palestinians resisting Israeli occupation while some Jewish groups and leaders have described it as a call to violence.

His comments come days after a series of attacks on the British Jewish community in recent weeks, including the stabbing of two Jewish men in Golders Green in 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 central London, considered Starmer’s comments a “threat” against his coalition’s own protests.

Speaking to Sky News, Rees said a ban “will be to 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.’

“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,” he said.

When asked about a “small percentage” of people who appear to express support for Hamas or chant the phrase “globalise the intifada”, Rees said out of the millions of people who have attended the demonstrations overall, a “minuscule number” of arrests have been made for such offences.

He said when stewards at the demonstrations see “inappropriate slogans”, they “ask people not to use them and, by and large, they comply”.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch called for pro-Palestine marches to be banned altogether on Saturday afternoon, claiming “they are used as a cover for promoting violence and intimidation against Jews”.

Rees said: “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.”