Organisers challenge Starmer’s threat to ban some pro-Palestine marches

Organisers of pro-Palestine marches have said Keir Starmer’s threat to ban some demonstrations opposing Israel’s actions in the Middle East will “strike at the root of free assembly and free speech” in the UK. On Saturday morning, the prime minister told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that “there are instances” in which he would support stopping some pro-Palestine protests altogether. Starmer said he also wanted the language expressed on some protest marches to be subjected to “tougher action”, including the chant “globalise the intifada”. Intifada is an Arabic word that translates to uprising or “shaking off”. Some pro-Palestine voices use the phrase as an expression of solidarity with Palestinians resisting Israeli occupation while some Jewish groups and leaders have described it as a call to violence. His comments come days after a series of attacks on the British Jewish community in recent weeks, including the stabbing of two Jewish men in Golders Green in north London on Wednesday. John Rees, co-founder and national officer for the Stop The War coalition, which helps organise large pro-Palestine demonstrations in central London, considered Starmer’s comments a “threat” against his coalition’s own protests. Speaking to Sky News, Rees said a ban “will be to strike at the root of free assembly and free speech in this country. “I don’t think that people in this country are minded to say: ‘Oh, well, we did it once, and that didn’t work. …