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. Both men have now been discharged from hospital.
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 would “strike at the root of free assembly and free speech in this country”.
He added: “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.”
Defend Our Juries, which organises demonstrations where people express support for the proscribed group Palestine Action, responded to Starmer’s comments on X, saying: “End the genocide, not our freedoms to oppose it.”
Starmer stressed his suggestion some protest marches could be banned was “not a discussion that has only been had this week in response to this awful incident. That is a discussion we’ve been having with the police for some time”.
He told Today: “In relation to the repeated nature of the marches, many people in the Jewish community have said to me, it’s the repeat nature, it’s the cumulative effect.”
Asked if he supported calls for a moratorium on pro-Palestinian marches – notably from his independent adviser on terrorism Jonathan Hall – Starmer said: “I think it’s time to look across the board at protests and the cumulative effect. I think it’s time for, I would say, some people protesting to just reflect on what the Jewish community is going through and the overall impact that this is having.”
Mark Rowley, the Metropolitan police commissioner, told the Times on Friday night that he did not agree with a temporary ban on the pro-Palestine marches, suggesting it is not practical, but said the police need more powers.
He said laws surrounding protests “are messy and complicated and could be sharper and clearer”, adding that pro-Palestinian protest organisers repeatedly try to include a synagogue on their route through London.
“Their initial suggestion for their route, their march, has involved walking by a synagogue. Each time we’ve prevented that, we’ve put conditions on. The fact that features as the organisers’ intent, I think that sends a message … that feels like antisemitism. That may be a fair or unfair inference, but that’s the message it sends.”
Rowley said earlier that a “dangerous and troubling” mix of hate crimes, terrorism and the involvement of hostile states was coming together in the UK to create a terrifying atmosphere for British Jews.
Rees said the problem with linking pro-Palestine demonstrations with attacks on Jewish people is that it “acts as if there’s a causal relationship” between the two.
Referring to those who carry out attacks against the Jewish community, including Essa Suleiman, who has been charged with three counts of attempted murder after attacking a longtime friend before stabbing two Jewish men in Golders Green, Rees said: “These kinds of individuals are not attached to the Palestine movement. They are not attached to the marches. There’s no evidence that they’ve ever seen a march, let alone been on one, or that the organisers would for a second condone it. So this connection is completely fallacious.”
Downing Street has been approached for comment.