Prominent UK activist arrested at London protest for ‘Globalize the intifada’ sign

Peter Tatchell, a veteran human rights campaigner and LGBTQ advocate, brands arrest as ‘attack on free speech’; police say two more arrested for Palestine Action support

London police on Saturday arrested prominent rights activist Peter Tatchell at a pro-Palestinian march after he displayed a placard featuring the slogan “Globalize the intifada,” his foundation said.

Tatchell, 74, is a veteran human rights campaigner best known for his LGBTQ advocacy. He was detained as he attended a pro-Palestinian demonstration that featured attendees marching through central London, according to his foundation.

Three others were arrested at the same demonstration, with police saying two were taken in for questioning on suspicion of support for the banned Palestine Action organization.

In Tatchell’s case, London’s Metropolitan Police said on X: “Officers policing the Palestine Coalition protest have arrested a 74-year-old man on suspicion of a public order offence. He was seen carrying a sign including the words ‘globalize the intifada.”

The veteran activist posted a photo of himself on social media with a sign reading: “Globalize the intifada: Non-violent resistance. End Israel’s occupation of Gaza & West Bank.”

The 74-year-old branded his arrest “an attack on free speech” in a statement the foundation sent to media outlets, which noted he had been taken to a south London police station.

“The police claimed the word intifada is unlawful. The word intifada is not a crime in law. The police are engaged in overreach by making it an arrestable offence,” the statement said.

“This is part of a dangerous trend to increasingly restrict and criminalize peaceful protests,” it added.

Over the past year, the British government has taken tougher action against pro-Palestinian protests and organizations, and last month, the Met Police said that “Globalize the intifada” and other slogans and phrases that it said “concerned” members of the Jewish community would be banned from protests.

The UK also proscribed the Palestine Action activist group as a terrorist organization last year, after some of its members broke into a military base and vandalized several aircraft, causing an estimated £7 million ($9.3 million) of damage.

The move made being a member of the group or supporting it a serious criminal offense punishable by up to 14 years in prison.

Palestine Action was founded in 2020 and gained prominence with protests targeting Israeli defense companies and British firms linked to them. It stepped up its actions during the Gaza war, sparked by the Hamas massacre in Israel on October 7, 2023.

Since the group was proscribed, more than 2,700 people have been arrested for holding signs in support of the organization, according to Amnesty International UK. Two more were arrested at Saturday’s protest in London.

The government has been criticized for taking too broad a view of the definition of what constitutes “terrorism,” since Palestine Action claimed not to have directly killed or injured anyone in its actions. Footage shown in court last year showed one of its members striking an officer on the back with a sledgehammer as she knelt on the floor during the break-in, fracturing her lumbar spine.

The government has argued that actions “can constitute terrorism if it involves serious damage to property even if it does not involve violence against any person or endanger life.”

The moves came after Jewish groups had been calling for tougher action over the language used at pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel protests, while the Community Security Trust (CST), which works to provide security for British Jews, says antisemitic incidents have been soaring in Britain.