LONDON (AP) — Police in London arrested two people who called for “intifada” during a pro-Palestinian protest, which followed a decision by authorities to toughen enforcement of hate speech laws after a deadly attack on a Hanukkah celebration in Australia.
The arrests Wednesday came hours after police in London and Manchester, England, announced a crackdown on protesters using slogans such as “globalize the intifada.” The Arabic word intifada is generally translated as “uprising.”
While pro-Palestinian demonstrators say the slogan describes the worldwide protests against the war in Gaza, Jewish leaders say it inflames tensions and encourages attacks on Jews, including the attack that killed 15 people on Sunday at Bondi Beach in Sydney.
London Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mark Rowley and Greater Manchester Police Chief Constable Stephen Watson said they decided to take a tougher stance after Bondi Beach and an Oct. 2 attack on a Manchester synagogue that left two people dead.
“We know communities are concerned about placards and chants such as `globalize the intifada,’ and those using it at future protest or in a targeted way should expect the Met and GMP to take action,” they said in a joint statement released Wednesday. “Violent acts have taken place, the context has changed — words have meaning and consequence.”
In the hours before Wednesday night’s demonstration in support of Palestine Action, a pro-Palestinian group that was banned as a terrorist organization earlier this year, London police warned protesters to be aware of the earlier announcement.
Two protesters were arrested for “racially aggravated public order offenses” after they shouted slogans calling for intifada during the protest outside the Ministry of Justice on Wednesday night, the Metropolitan Police Service said on social media. A third person was arrested for trying to interfere with the initial arrests.
The term “intifada” is used to describe two major Palestinian uprisings against Israeli policy in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, the first beginning in 1987 and the second beginning in 2000. During the recent conflict in Gaza, the slogan “globalize the intifada” has been widely used by pro-Palestinian protesters around the world.
The debate over such language comes after antisemitic hate crime and online abuse soared in Britain following the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and the Israeli military campaign in Gaza that followed.
Around 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage during the initial attack on Israel. More than 70,660 Palestinians have been killed during the ensuing Israeli campaign in Gaza, according to the territory’s health ministry.
FILE - Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mark Rowley stands during a visit by King Charles III to thank them for their work and support, ahead of the funeral of late Queen Elizabeth II in London on Sept. 17, 2022. (Carl de Souza/Pool Photo via AP, File)
Ailsa Craig is an uninhabited isle off the coast of southwest Scotland and the source of the super-dense granite used to make curling stones for the Winter Olympics. It features both “common green” granite comprising the body of the stone and the “blue hone” granite that forms the running surface.
Local company Kays Curling makes all the the curling stones for the Milan Cortina Winter Games. It has a history with the Olympics dating back to the first winter edition in 1924 in Chamonix, France. Kays produces up to 2,000 stones per year and Canada is its biggest market. Asian countries have been increasing their orders.
This is a documentary photo story curated by AP photo editors.
AP photography: https://apnews.com/photography
Dog walkers stand on the beach at Girvan with the granite island of Ailsa Craig in the background in Scotland, Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
A finished curling stone in a store room at Kays Curling stone factory in Mauchline, Scotland, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
A groove is made on a curling stone by a craftsman at Kays Curling stone factory in Mauchline, Scotland, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
Curling stones await further machining during being manufacture at Kays Curling stone factory in Mauchline, Scotland, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
A craftsman works on machining Ailsa Craig Common Green granite into the shape of a churning stone at Kays Curling stone factory in Mauchline, Scotland, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
Ailsa Craig common green granite curling stone blanks are dried under a heater as they wait further machining at the Kays Curling stone factory on Mauchline, Scotland, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
A craftsman uses calipers to measure the amount of a curling sone that has contact with the ice, during a quality control phase at Kays Curling stone factory in Mauchline, Scotland, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant,)
Blue Hone granite is machine cut from block of the rock at Kays Curling stone factory in Mauchline, Scotland, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
A craftsman uses a stonecutting machine to slice Blue Hone granite blocks which are then used in curling stones at Kays Curling stone factory in Mauchline, Scotland, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
Blue Hone granite blocks are prepared to be used as part of a curling stone at Kays Curling stone factory in Mauchline, Scotland, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
Granite rock that has been used to create curling stone blocks lies outside Kays Curling stone factory in Mauchline, Scotland, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
Jim English, Kays Curling Managing Director, looks at a bolder of granite on the island of Ailsa Craig, off the coast of Scotland, Monday, Nov. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
Old quarry equipment rusts, with the lighthouse in the background on Ailsa Craig island, off the coast of Scotland , Monday, Nov. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
A danger sign near the steep cliff and granite quarry on Ailsa Craig island off the coast of Scotland, Monday, Nov. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
Jim English, Kays Curling Managing Director, shows the amount of the mineral feldspar in a pebble of granite on the island of Ailsa Craig, off the coast of Scotland, Monday, Nov. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
The steep granite cliffs on Ailsa Craig island off the coast of Scotland, Monday, Nov. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
The lighthouse is seen from the small boat taking environmental officers to Ailsa Craig island, Scotland , Monday, Nov. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
Seals swim in the surf off the island of Ailsa Craig off the coast of Scotland, Monday, Nov. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
A small boat carrying environmental officers heads towards the granite island of Ailsa Craig, Scotland, Monday, Nov. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
The island of Ailsa Craig, where the two types of granite, Common Green and Blue Hone, that are used to make curling stones is quarried from, is seen from the beach at Girvan, Scotland, Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
