Starmer urges tougher action against Gaza protests in UK

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer warned Saturday that tougher action was needed against people chanting certain phrases at pro-Palestinian protests, as concerns grew over the safety of British Jews after the stabbings of two Jewish men in London.

Starmer said he would always defend the right to protest, but said there may be instances where some marches protesting the war in Gaza should be banned.

He suggested that repeated pro-Palestinian marches have had a “cumulative effect” linked to the rise in antisemitic incidents in the UK.

“When you see, when you hear some of those chants — globalise the intifada’ would be one I would pick out — then clearly there should be tougher action in relation to that,” Starmer told the BBC. The Arabic word intifada is generally translated as “uprising.”