LONDON: Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in an interview broadcast on Saturday that banning some pro-Palestinian marches could be justified, especially when they call for the intifada to spread.
Labour leader Starmer is under pressure to act after a spate of antisemitic incidents, including this week, when two men were stabbed in the north London suburb of Golders Green, which is home to a large Jewish community.
The prime minister, a former human rights lawyer and chief public prosecutor whose wife is of Jewish origin, said many Jewish people had told them they were affected by “the repeat nature” of the protests.
“I’m a big defender of freedom of expression, peaceful protests,” he told the BBC. “But when there are chants like ‘globalise the intifada’, that’s completely off limits.
“Clearly, there should be tougher action in relation to that.”
Starmer said he wanted to police the language used on marches more strongly and that there were “instances” when some protests should be stopped altogether.
