"Police in the United Kingdom have made their first arrests since announcing their intent to crack down on people making public calls to globalise the Intifada after Australia's Bondi Beach attack, speciously linking largely peaceful protests against Israel's genocidal war with a deadly targeting of a Jewish festival. London's Metropolitan Police posted on X late on Wednesday that it had made four arrests at pro-Palestinian protests held outside the Ministry of Justice in Westminster, all involving the alleged shouting or chanting of slogans involving calls for intifada."
"Ben Jamal, from the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, pointed out in a statement that the Arabic word intifada means shaking off or uprising against injustice. In the Palestinian context, the word is understood to mean civil uprising against military occupation and illegal settlement expansion, with key historical instances in 1987-93 and 2000-05, drawing brutal responses from Israel that left thousands of people dead."
"Jamal criticised the lack of consultation over the new police stance, saying on X that forces across the political establishment were using the grotesque racist violence on Bondi beach to delegitimise any protest against open genocide."
Four arrests were made at a pro-Palestinian demonstration outside the Ministry of Justice in Westminster, tied to alleged shouting or chanting of slogans calling for intifada. The demonstration supported eight imprisoned hunger strikers jailed over links to the Palestine Action group, whose lives are described as in peril. The Metropolitan and Greater Manchester police signalled a tougher approach to pro-Palestine protests following the Bondi Beach attack, citing concerns about alleged antisemitism. UK Safeguarding Minister Jess Phillips backed police action and characterised calls for intifada as incitement to violence. Palestine Solidarity Campaign figures emphasised intifada's meaning as uprising and criticised the new policing stance as delegitimising protest. Gaza casualties have risen past 70,000.
Read at www.aljazeera.com
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