Peter Tatchell, the activist and campaigner, has been arrested for holding a placard which displayed the phrase “globalise the intifada” at a pro-Palestine march in London.
Tatchell, who attended a Palestine solidarity march in London on Saturday afternoon, held a sign that read: “Globalise the intifada: Non-violent resistance. End Israel’s occupation of Gaza & West Bank.”
He called his arrest an “attack on free speech” and said police claimed the word intifada was unlawful. He was taken to Sutton police station in south London.
In a statement released by the Peter Tatchell Foundation, the 74-year-old, who is one of the country’s best known gay rights campaigners, said his arrest was “part of a dangerous trend to increasingly restrict and criminalise peaceful protests”.
“The Arab word intifada means uprising, rebellion or resistance against Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. It does not mean violence and is not antisemitic. It is against the Israeli regime and its war crimes, not against Jewish people.
“By ‘non-violent resistance’ I was advocating boycott, sanction and divestment – the same tactics that helped bring down the apartheid regime in South Africa. ‘Globalise the intifada’ means create a worldwide campaign like the anti-apartheid movement.
“The police are totally wrong to conflate support for Palestinian resistance to oppression with hatred and attacks on Jews,” he said.
In December, the Metropolitan police said that protesters who chanted “globalise the intifada” would now be arrested because the “context has changed” after the Bondi Beach terror attack in Sydney.
On Saturday afternoon, the force said: “Officers policing the Palestine Coalition protest have arrested a 74-year-old man on suspicion of a public order offence. He was seen carrying a sign including the words ‘globalise the intifada’.”
The Metropolitan police said there were 13 arrests from the Palestine Coalition protest and one from the Stop the Hate counter demonstration.
Tatchell said three people “were charged with this new ‘crime’ of expressing support for an intifada against Israel’s war crimes and genocide” at a London rally last month.
“I have a long history of defending Jewish people against the antisemitism of the far right and Islamist extremism. I joined the March Against Antisemitism, with the chief rabbi and thousands of Jewish people, on 26 November 2023, just after the 7 October massacre,” he said.
Last May, Tatchell was arrested by police for holding a placard that read: “Stop Israel genocide! Stop Hamas executions! Odai Al-Rubai, aged 22, executed by Hamas! RIP!” for a racially and religiously aggravated offence. He said he is taking legal action against the Met over this arrest.
“My placard did not mention anyone’s race or religion. The police have since admitted that I was wrongly arrested and I am awaiting a settlement,” he said.
