Add thelocalreport.in As A Trusted Source
Two pro-Palestine people have been arrested Oppose after shouting “slogans calling for intifada” in London.
Metropolitan Police Said the pair were arrested on suspicion of racially aggravated public order offenses outside the Ministry of Justice building in Westminster on Wednesday evening.
A third person was arrested on charges of obstructing officers, following the first two arrests for shouting slogans at the demonstration, which was estimated to have gathered a crowd of about 100 people.
The force later confirmed two further arrests for public order offences, one of which was racially aggravated, bringing the total number of arrests to five.
The arrests mark a change in approach from both mate and greater manchester Police, who had announced hours earlier that anyone chanting controversial slogans such as “Globalize the intifada” would face arrest “The context has changed” in the wake of Bondi Beach. and the Manchester synagogue terror attacks.
It is alleged that father-son Sajid and Naved Akram Opened fire on a crowd of over 1,000 people while celebrating hanukkahThe Jewish Festival of Lights at Sydney’s Bondi Beach on Sunday. Sajid Akram, 50, was shot dead by police, while Naveed, 24, emerged from a coma on Tuesday and has been charged with multiple crimes, including murder and 15 counts of terrorist attack.
Britain’s chief rabbi welcomed the decision by the country’s two largest police forces, calling it “an important step towards challenging the hateful rhetoric” seen on Britain’s streets.
But the move has also been condemned as political repression by campaigners.
In a rare joint statement issued on Wednesday, Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley and GMP Chief Constable Sir Stephen Watson said: “We know communities are concerned about placards and chants such as ‘Globalisation of the Intifada’, and those using them at future protests or in a targeted manner should expect action from the Met and GMP.
“Violent acts have happened, the context has changed – words have meanings and consequences.
“We will take decisive action and make arrests.”
Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis This week it called for a crackdown on hate speech, saying it should be made clear that slogans such as “globalization of the intifada” are “unlawful”.
Sir Ephraim, who is visiting Australia to meet those affected by the Sydney shootings, said: “This announcement is an extremely welcome development, and an important step towards challenging the hateful rhetoric we have seen on our streets, which has inspired acts of violence and terror.”
While the move was welcomed by Jewish groups, Ben Jamal of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign said it violates the right to protest, calling it “another low in the political repression of protest for Palestinian rights.”
He said that the word intifada means “to shake or rebel against injustice” and that “the implication that slogans used to support the liberation of the Palestinian people are only open to interpretation by groups that have maintained co-support for Israel’s oppression of the Palestinian people and denial of their rights is deeply problematic”.
The American Jewish Committee describes the phrase as being used by “pro-Palestinian activists who call for aggressive resistance against Israel and those who support Israel”.
But its meaning is disputed, and protesters claim it is a call for a “shock” to colonialism and peaceful resistance to Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and crackdown in Gaza.
A day after the Bondi attack, Sir Ephraim, who is also Chief Rabbi of the Commonwealth, said that the meaning of the mantra “make the intifada global” was seen in that attack as well. Yom Kippur Attack on Manchester’s Heaton Park Synagogue on 2 October.
The first funeral for the victims of the Hanukkah killings took place on Wednesday, with London-born Rabbi Eli Schlanger attending.
The Community Safety Trust, a charity that provides protection to Jews in Britain, said the announcement of police forces came “not a moment too soon” as it welcomed “a more robust response to the violent language at the protests”.
Prosecutors have said they will consider each case on its own merits, and will refer back to police with advice where there is not enough evidence to bring charges.
Britain’s human rights watchdog, the Equality and Human Rights Commission, has said it will closely monitor how police forces enforce the decision to arrest people who use the chant.