UK PM Starmer faces backlash for linking Golders Green stabbing to pro-Palestine protests

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer faced a backlash on Friday after linking pro-Palestine marches to antisemitic violence, saying that chanting "globalise the intifada" is a call for terrorism against Jews. The comments followed the stabbing of two Jewish men in Golders Green, northwest London, on Wednesday.

Starmer said on Thursday evening: "Antisemitism is an old, old hatred. History shows that the roots are deep, and if you turn away, it grows back. Yet far too many people in this country diminish it." He added: "If you stand alongside people who say 'globalise the intifada', you are calling for terrorism against Jews and people who use that phrase should be prosecuted."

The attack occurred in Golders Green, a neighbourhood with a large Jewish population. The victims, aged 34 and 76, were stabbed on Wednesday. A 45-year-old Somali-born British national was arrested on Wednesday afternoon. On Friday, London's Metropolitan Police announced that Essa Suleiman had been charged with two counts of attempted murder and one count of possession of a bladed article in a public place. Suleiman had left a psychiatric hospital days before the attack, Channel 4 reported on Thursday. He was referred to the Prevent counter-extremism programme in 2020.

Green Party leader Zack Polanski accused the government of "using the pain of the Jewish community to restrict our right to peaceful protest." Polanski said: "I am the only Jewish leader of a major political party, and I suffer antisemitic abuse every single day. For other politicians to use antisemitism as a political football, especially after these appalling attacks, is utterly appalling and should be beneath them."

Jonathan Hall KC, the UK's independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, called for a "moratorium" on pro-Palestine marches. Hall said on Times Radio: "It pains me to say this, but I think we may have reached a point where we need to have a moratorium on the sorts of marches that have been happening. It's clearly impossible at the moment for any of these pro-Palestine marches not to incubate within them some sort of antisemitic or demonising language."

Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis joined calls for a temporary ban on the marches. Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, he said he would "love to see it being implemented ASAP, before the next demonstrations which are planned." He said the marches had contributed towards a "tone of Jew hatred within our country."

Home Office minister Alex Davies-Jones said pro-Palestinian marches had been "hijacked" by people seeking to cause division. Speaking to Times Radio, she said there had been evidence of antisemitic activity on the marches, citing "chants of death, calls for global intifada, for example." She added: "That is wrong – but people do have the right to protest the actions of Israel if that's what they deem fit."

The Stop the War Coalition is planning a demonstration in London on 16 May for Nakba Day, which commemorates the forcible displacement of more than 750,000 Palestinians from their homes in 1948. The coalition criticised Hall's remarks as "unacceptable," saying: "We condemn unequivocally these attacks, as we do all forms of antisemitism and racism. No one should be attacked for their race or religion. However, the attempts by Hall, sections of the media and some politicians to connect such attacks with the Palestine marches are wrong."

An obscure group, Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia (Hayi), claimed responsibility for the attack; the claim has not been verified. The group first appeared online on 9 March. The Israeli government has said the group is linked to Iran, but British police have not established any such connection.

In December, the Metropolitan and Greater Manchester Police forces said they would arrest people for chanting "globalise the intifada" or holding placards displaying the phrase. In January, three pro-Palestine protesters were charged for allegedly chanting "intifada" at a demonstration.