Starmer calls for tougher action at pro-Palestinian protests

Britain’s Prime Minister Calls for Tougher Action Against Anti-Semitic Rhetoric at Protests

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has called for stricter measures against certain chants at pro-Palestinian demonstrations, as concerns mount over the safety of British Jews following a string of violent incidents, including the stabbing of two Jewish men in London.

Speaking to the BBC on Saturday, Starmer emphasized that while he would defend the right to protest, certain marches related to the Gaza war might need to be prohibited. He suggested that repeated pro-Palestinian demonstrations have had a “cumulative effect” contributing to the rise in anti-Semitic incidents across the United Kingdom.

“When you see, when you hear some of those chants — ‘globalize the intifada’ would be one I would pick out — then clearly there should be tougher action in relation to that,” Starmer stated. The Arabic term “intifada,” generally translated as “uprising,” has become a flashpoint in debates over protest rhetoric.

The prime minister’s comments come in the wake of a terrorist attack in Golders Green, a neighborhood known as an epicenter of London’s Jewish community. A 45-year-old man was charged Friday with attempted murder after two Jewish men were stabbed and wounded on Wednesday. Police have classified the stabbings as an act of terrorism.

This attack represents the latest in a troubling pattern that includes recent arson attacks targeting synagogues and other Jewish sites across the British capital, contributing to a climate of fear within the community.

Mark Rowley, the head of the Metropolitan Police, delivered a stark warning on Friday, stating that British Jews are facing their greatest threat ever. He pointed to social media as a catalyst for making anti-Semitism more mainstream than in previous periods.

“The ghastly fact is that Jews are on everybody’s list, all of those hateful groups, whether you’re extreme right, whether you’re extreme left, whether you’re Islamist terrorist, whether you’re right-wing terrorist, and some hostile states as well now with some sort of Iranian-related threats,” Rowley told The Times. “There’s a ghastly Venn diagram that they’re at the middle of.”

In response to the escalating threat, Britain has raised its official terror threat level from “substantial” to “severe” following Wednesday’s attack. This designation, the second-highest on the nation’s five-point scale, indicates that intelligence agencies consider an attack highly likely within the next six months.

Government officials clarified that the elevated threat level wasn’t solely in response to the Golders Green attack but reflects broader concerns about “Islamist and extreme right-wing terrorist threat from individuals and small groups based in the U.K.”

The Community Security Trust, a charity that monitors anti-Semitic incidents, has documented a dramatic surge in reported cases since the Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, and the subsequent war in Gaza. The organization recorded 3,700 incidents in 2025, representing a more than twofold increase from the 1,662 incidents recorded in 2022.

The surge in anti-Semitic incidents has sparked debate about the boundaries between legitimate political protest and hate speech, with authorities facing difficult decisions about when to restrict demonstrations that could potentially incite violence or spread harmful rhetoric.

As tensions continue to simmer, British authorities face the delicate task of balancing free speech protections with the need to ensure the safety of Jewish communities while navigating the complex political landscape surrounding the ongoing conflict in Gaza.