Four individuals were arrested for chanting “Globalize the Intifada” during a Palestine Coalition protest in London on Wednesday night, almost immediately after the British government introduced a new crackdown on the phrase.
The Palestine Coalition protest entered controversy straight away, as the planned route would have interrupted the menorah lighting at Trafalgar Square.
The Metropolitan Police imposed the Public Order Act to prevent protesters from assembling in the area around Trafalgar Square, Whitehall, Parliament Square, and the surrounding areas.
The police encouraged the protesters to familiarize themselves with the new regulations.
Nevertheless, there were a total of four arrests for “racially aggravated public order offenses involving the alleged shouting or chanting of slogans involving calling for intifada.”
Police also arrested a fifth person for obstructing the arrests of the others.
Protester claims Bondi beach killings used to curtail rights
Speaking at the protest, Chris Nineham, vice chair of Stop the War Coalition, said it was “absolutely shocking they are using the appalling killings in Australia to try to curtail our right to protest and freedom of speech.
“They say their foreign wars are in the name of democracy and the rules-based order while trashing those very things at home!”