![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/e5c77aec-a9c0-408e-ac70-ba76946354b6.jpg\")
<\/p>\nThe British prime minister also suggested he wanted to see \u201ctougher action\u201d against people using certain phrases at Gaza demonstrations \u2014 but stopped short of agreeing with calls for a ban on the marches.<\/p>\n
His latest intervention comes amid repeated warnings from authorities of a \u201cdeeply troubling rise\u201d in antisemitic incidents across England in the wake of a double stabbing in Golders Green on Wednesday last.<\/p>\n
The Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre raised the UK terrorism threat level \u201csevere\u201d, meaning a terror attack is \u201chighly likely\u201d, after two Jewish men were stabbed in the incident.<\/p>\n
Why am I on a march where this is the chant?<\/p>\n
Speaking to BBC Radio 4\u2019s Today programme, Starmer said: \u201cI will defend the right of peaceful protest very strongly, and freedom of speech. I have defended those principles all my life and I will continue to do so.\u200b<\/p>\n
\u201cBut if you are on a march or a protest where people are chanting \u2018globalise the intifada\u2019, you do have to stop and ask yourself, \u2018Why am I not calling this out? Why am I on a march where this is the chant?\u2019 And I do think it\u2019s time for people just to ask themselves that.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not saying, of course, that there aren\u2019t very strong legitimate views about the Middle East, about Gaza. We all have deep concerns about it. This government has recognised Palestine just last year. So, of course, there are important issues.\u201d<\/p>\n
Starmer suggested he was not in favour of banning the marches, and instead suggested that a \u201cwhole-of- society response\u201d was needed to draw attention to antisemitism, alongside granting \u201cfurther powers\u201d for the policing of demonstrations.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, he suggested he was in favour of prosecuting those who use the phrase \u201cglobalise the intifada\u201d, which critics believe is a call to use violence against Israelis and Jewish people.<\/p>\n
Speaking to the BBC, Starmer said: \u201cI don\u2019t want to get involved in operational policing, but I think when you see, when you hear some of those chants, \u2018globalise the intifada\u2019 \u2026 then clearly there should be tougher action in relation to that.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow, that\u2019s not a discussion that has only been had this week in response to this awful incident. That is a discussion we\u2019ve been having with the police for some time.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The scene in Golders Green, north-west London, after the attack. Photo: PA<\/p>\n
Elsewhere in the interview, the British PM defended two police officers from criticism for kicking the Golders Green stabbing suspect as they tried to disarm him.<\/p>\n
In footage shared on social media, the officers appeared to kick the 45-year-old suspect in the head after they had used a Taser to force him to the ground.<\/p>\n
Starmer said: \u201cThere\u2019s a guy on the ground. He\u2019s got a rucksack on. And I don\u2019t know what was going through the mind of those officers, but if I was there, I\u2019d be thinking, \u2018He\u2019s going to detonate something\u2019.\u200b<\/p>\n
\u201cIn those circumstances, I think you can quite see why what could have gone through their mind is, \u2018We need to do whatever we can to disable this guy\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
The prime minister also branded Green Party leader Zack Polanski \u201cdisgraceful\u201d and \u201cnot fit to lead any political party\u201d for reposting criticism of the officers online.<\/p>\n
The Green leader, who was also criticised by Metropolitan Police commissioner Mark Rowley for his actions, has apologised for \u201csharing a tweet in haste\u201d.<\/p>\n
Antisemitism is growing, in part because of social media<\/p>\n
Both men injured in the Golders Green attack have now been discharged from hospital.<\/p>\n
Rowley, who is London\u2019s top policeman, told reporters that he believed British Jews are facing their greatest ever threat in the wake of a recent spate of attacks.<\/p>\n
He also said that Jews are at the centre of a \u201cghastly Venn diagram of hate\u201d from all sides, and warned antisemitism is a growing threat to their safety, in part because of social media.<\/p>\n
Stephen Parkinson, the UK\u2019s director of public prosecutions, meanwhile, said there was a \u201cdeeply troubling rise in antisemitic incidents across the country\u201d.<\/p>\n
Rowley also said he is \u201cconcerned\u201d about the scale of upcoming protests in the capital, and said police are looking at what conditions and powers should be used in respect of those events.<\/p>\n
Yesterday, Tory leader Kemi Badenoch criticised Starmer for his lack of action on tackling antisemitism.<\/p>\n
She told broadcasters: \u201cI heard the prime minister give an interview this morning where he didn\u2019t seem to know what to do about it.<\/p>\n
\u201cEnough with the platitudes. We need action. We need to shame people who think antisemitism is acceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The British prime minister also suggested he wanted to see \u201ctougher action\u201d against people using certain phrases at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":54730,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[126],"tags":[6259,243,264,317,10125],"class_list":{"0":"post-54826","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-keir-starmer","8":"tag-gaza","9":"tag-israel","10":"tag-keir-starmer","11":"tag-palestine","12":"tag-the-independent"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@people\/116509413469080955","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54826","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54826"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54826\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54730"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54826"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54826"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54826"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}