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<\/a><\/p>\nActivist Peter Tatchell is arrested during a pro-Palestinian protest on Jan. 31, 2026 in London, England. (Guy Smallman\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Tatchell\u2019s arrest comes weeks after the police in London announced that they would arrest pro-Palestinian protesters who chant \u201cglobalize the intifada.\u201d While the common pro-Palestinian phrase is defended by its supporters as a rallying call to expand international pressure on Israel, critics say it amounts to a call for violence against Jews.<\/p>\n
The policy change came in the wake of the attack on a Chanukkah celebration in Sydney that killed 15. It followed other efforts by the British government to tighten limits on what pro-Palestinian protesters can say and do, including a ban on the activist group Palestine Action that has made any show of support illegal.<\/p>\n
Tatchell, 74, who is known as one of England\u2019s most prominent gay rights activists, wrote in a post on X that he had \u201copposed Hamas since it was formed & opposed ALL Islamists (Iran, Hezbollah etc).\u201d But he said the Metropolitan Police\u2019s new policy was an overreach.<\/p>\n
\u201cPolice are fabricating new laws. There is no legal statute that criminalises \u2018intifada,\u2019\u201d wrote Tatchell in a post on X decrying his arrest. \u201cBy arresting me, police seem to be reacting to pressure from a foreign regime \u2013 Israel \u2013 & Netanyahu apologists, to silence public support for Palestinians\u2019 right to resist Israeli occupation.\u201d<\/p>\n
The full text of Tatchell\u2019s sign at the rally read \u201cGlobalise the intifada: Non-violent resistance. End Israel\u2019s occupation of Gaza & West Bank.\u201d Tatchell said he was detained for 12 hours.<\/p>\n
Last May, Tatchell was arrested at another pro-Palestinian protest in London for carrying a sign that read \u201cSTOP Israel GENOCIDE! STOP Hamas executions!\u201d He said police had accused him of breaching the peace and that pro-Palestinian protesters had accused him of being a pro-Israel plant because he called out Hamas in addition to Israel.<\/p>\n
Thirteen people were arrested on Saturday during the Palestine Coalition protest and one person was arrested from the Stop The Hate UK counter protest, according to London\u2019s Metropolitan Police.<\/p>\n
The London protest was not the only pro-Palestinian demonstration this weekend to feature calls for an \u201cintifada.\u201d<\/p>\n
A coalition of Jewish groups denounced a rally in Philadelphia on Sunday in which marchers chanted calls for an intifada. According to the groups, one speaker said, \u201cMartyrdom is a commitment, a principle. It gives life to the movement and carries it forward\u2026our task is to identify tangible, precise ways to attack the genocidal Zionist enemy and actually f\u2014ing attack.\u201d<\/p>\n
The rally was organized by the Philly Palestine Coalition, which has previously targeted Jewish-owned restaurants in the city.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis was not a metaphor or abstract political speech,\u201d said the statement from the groups, Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia, Anti-Defamation League Philadelphia and American Jewish Committee Philadelphia\/Southern NJ. \u201cIt was explicit incitement for violence. Such language and imagery are dangerous, antisemitic and unacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n