Palestine Solidarity Campaign chief claims crackdown on ‘globalise intifada’ is ‘repression’

Palestine Solidarity Campaign director Ben Jamal has described new police guidance targeting chants of “globalise the intifada” at anti-Israel protests as “another low in political repression.”

Responding to the joint statement by Metropolitan and Greater Manchester Police chiefsnow  instructing officers to arrest those using the inflammatory chant, Jamal 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.”

In contrast to Jamal, the hate crime lead for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said the organisation will “work with police to identify what more can be done to meet the threshold for charging.”

Chief Crown Prosecutor Lionel Idan said: “We carefully consider each antisemitic hate crime case referred to us for charging decisions or early advice to determine 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.

“We have initially responded to the Government’s hate crime review to identify where the law can be strengthened to enhance our ability to prosecute such hatred, deter offenders, and achieve justice for victims.”

Idan expressed solidarity with the Jewish community following the recent terror attack in Sydney, stating: “Our thoughts are with the Jewish community following the abhorrent terror attack on innocent people in Sydney as they started to celebrate Hanukkah.

“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.”

Jamal said the atrocity in Australia should not be used to justify the repression of the rights to protest and free speech.

He added: “We need to condemn all racist violence – that directed against Jewish people gathering to celebrate their faith and culture on a beach, and the systemised racist violence of apartheid and genocide that Israel employs against Palestinians.

“You are not an anti-racist unless you stand fully against both.”

The joint statement was universally welcomed by communal groups in the aftermath of terror attacks in Sydney and Heaton Park, Manchester.