Two of the country’s biggest police forces plan to arrest protesters who chant “globalise the intifada” in a move decried as political repression by campaigners.
The heads of Greater Manchester Police (GMP) and the Metropolitan Police said both forces will “act decisively and make arrests”, adding the measures are designed to “deter intimidation”.
Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis previously said it had to be made clear that chants such as “globalise the intifada” are “unlawful”.
While the move was welcomed by Jewish groups, Ben Jamal from the Palestine Solidarity Campaign said 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.
“The police have not consulted with the Palestine coalition who organise the major protests in London, nor representative groups of the Palestinian community in Britain, before making this far-reaching statement on our rights.
“The Arabic word intifada means shaking off or uprising against injustice. It came to prominence during the first intifada which was overwhelmingly marked by peaceful protest that was brutally repressed by the Israeli state.
“The implication that slogans used to support the liberation of the Palestinian people are only open to interpretation by groups who have maintained complicit support for Israel’s oppression of the Palestinian people and denial of their rights is deeply problematic.”
Prosecutors have said they will consider each case on its own merits, and go back to police with advice where there is not enough evidence to bring charges.
Chief Crown prosecutor Lionel Idan, hate crime lead for the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “We are already working closely with police and communities to identify, charge and prosecute antisemitic hate crimes and we will always look at ways we can do more.
“We carefully consider each antisemitic hate crime case referred to us for charging decision or early advice to see whether it can be taken to court.
“Some offences can be context specific and where the evidence is not sufficient we will work with police to identify what more can be done to meet the threshold for charging.”
As they made the announcement on Wednesday, Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley and GMP Chief Constable Sir Stephen Watson said the circumstances have changed in the wake of the Bondi Beach mass shooting.
In a rare joint statement, they said: “We know communities are concerned about placards and chants such as ‘globalise the intifada’ and those using it at future protest or in a targeted way should expect the Met and GMP to take action.
“Violent acts have taken place, the context has changed – words have meaning and consequence.
“We will act decisively and make arrests.”
It is alleged that father and son Sajid and Naveed Akram opened fire on crowds of more than 1,000 people on Bondi Beach on Sunday as they celebrated Hanukkah.
Sajid Akram, 50, was shot dead by police, while Naveed, 24, woke from a coma on Tuesday and was charged with a raft of offences including 15 counts of murder and committing a terrorist attack.
His case was dealt with briefly on Wednesday at a New South Wales court. No bail application was made and the case was listed on December 22 to deal with reporting restrictions, and on April 8 for a mention hearing.
The first funerals of the victims also took place on Wednesday, including that of London-born Rabbi Eli Schlanger.
In their statement, Sir Mark and Sir Stephen said due to the “escalating threat”, both forces will now “recalibrate to be more assertive”.
They said: “We have consistently been advised by the CPS that many of the phrases causing fear in Jewish communities don’t meet prosecution thresholds.
“Now, in the escalating threat context, we will recalibrate to be more assertive.”
The Community Security Trust, a charity which provides protection for Jews in Britain, said the announcement comes “not a moment too soon” as it welcomed the “more robust response to violent language on protests”.
A spokesperson said: “This is a necessary and important first step to turning back this tide of violent incitement and we hope that police across the country, and the CPS, will follow suit.”
The Campaign Against Antisemitism said police chiefs “may finally be waking up”, adding they “have finally realised that words and chants have consequences” after “two years of repeatedly excusing genocidal rhetoric and failing to grasp how their inaction was fuelling extremism in this country”.
In the wake of the Bondi attack, Sir Ephraim, who is travelling to Australia in his role as Chief Rabbi to the Commonwealth, told the Press Association: “We have seen on a weekly basis people out in the streets of cities in our country crying slogans which incite hatred – ‘from the river to the sea’, ‘globalise the intifada’.
“What does ‘globalise the intifada’ mean? Well, on Yom Kippur at the Heaton Park Synagogue in Manchester, we discovered what it means. On Bondi Beach, Australians discovered what is meant by those words.
“The time has come for us to make it absolutely clear that such speech is unlawful. It’s not going to be accepted. It’s gone on for far too long. So much of hate speech has the potential to become translated into hate action.”
Intifada is an Arabic word which means “to shake off”, according to the Institute for Middle East Understanding, and the American Jewish Committee describes it as a phrase “used by pro-Palestinian activists that calls for aggressive resistance against Israel and those who support Israel”.
But its meaning is contested, with protesters claiming it is a call to “shake off” colonialism and for a peaceful resistance to Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and actions in Gaza.
Britain’s human rights regulator has said it will monitor closely how police forces enforce the decision to arrest people using the chant.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission has previously warned about the potential “chilling effect” on people’s ability to exercise their democratic rights amid separate proposed changes to the law under the Crime and Policing Bill, to restrict the right to peaceful protest.
