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By Shane Croucher
Senior Editor
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Two police chiefs in the U.K. warned that people who chant "globalize the intifada" face arrest in the wake of the Bondi Beach attack and other acts of violence against Jewish communities, saying "the context has changed."
Intifada means uprising and is commonly associated with past Palestinian violence against Israel, as well as nonviolent resistance. The chant “globalize the intifada,” heard at pro-Palestinian rallies during the Gaza war, is viewed by many Jewish groups as a call for violence against Jews, not just Israel, and comes at a time of rising antisemitism.
London Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley and Greater Manchester Police (GMP) Chief Constable Sir Stephen Watson delivered a joint statement after the Bondi Beach attack on a Hanukkah party Sunday in Sydney, Australia, by suspects linked to the Islamic State militant organization (ISIS) and an earlier knife attack on a synagogue in Manchester, England, by an Islamist extremist.
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"We know communities are concerned about placards and chants such as 'globalise the intifada' and those using it at future protest or in a targeted way should expect the Met and GMP to take action," the joint statement said. "Violent acts have taken place, the context has changed—words have meaning and consequence. We will act decisively and make arrests."
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Britain has faced scrutiny and criticism from the U.S. under the Trump administration for how it polices speech, particularly on social media. But the White House has also raised the alarm about the nature of some of the pro-Palestinian protests happening in the U.S. and elsewhere, and the potential for antisemitism to spill over into acts of violence against Jews.
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), which campaigns against antisemitism, says the "globalize the intifada" chant "is a reference to two periods of Palestinian violence against Israel–in the late 1980s and from 2000-2005–when Palestinian terrorists committed indiscriminate acts of violence against Israelis, including suicide bombings, shootings and stabbings, targeting people on city buses, eating in restaurants or out at nightclubs–resulting in over 1,000 people killed."
"This slogan is generally understood as a call for indiscriminate violence against Israel, and potentially against Jews and Jewish institutions worldwide," the ADL continued.
But some pro-Palestinian activists who defend using the phrase argue that it is not inherently a call for violence and is a general rallying cry for resistance against Israel across the world through peaceful means.
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