The mayor of London, Sir Sadiq Khan, has urged Londoners to think before using the controversial chant “globalise the intifada”.
Speaking out for the first time since the chant was banned from protests in London and Manchester, Khan told activists to “park for a second what the criminal law is”, instead urging them to think about the impact their words were having on British Jews.
Speaking on Sky News the mayor, who has been in office since 2016, said: “Do you really want your neighbours who may be Jewish, your friends who may be Jewish, your colleagues who may be Jewish, being scared?
"That’s what’s happened over the last three years, there’s a heightened fear among Jewish people. If you are cognisant that what you’re saying is causing concern to your neighbours, don’t say it."
On December 17 – just days after the deadly mass-shooting at a Chanukah celebration on Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia – police leaders in London and Manchester announced that anyone using the phrase “globalise the intifada” would face police action.In a joint statement, the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, Sir Mark Rowley, and the Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police, Sir Stephen Watson, acknowledged that the Jewish community was “worried and scared,” and that increased anti-Jewish crime had impacted Jewish life.
“No community should have to live like this. That must change,” they said.
That same evening, two protesters who allegedly called for an “intifada” were arrested at a pro-Palestine rally in London – along with a third protester who allegedly attempted to obstruct their arrests.
Ending his statement, Khan – who drew sharp criticism from Jewish groups after publicly describing the war in Gaza as a “genocide” – told viewers: “There are other ways to make your views heard loudly and clearly about what’s happening in Gaza and the West Bank.”
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