LONDON, Dec 17 (Reuters) – British police on Wednesday said they would take tougher action against people who use placards and chants to target the Jewish community, saying recent violent incidents had changed the context around such protests.
The move comes days after 15 people died in a mass shooting at Australia’s Bondi Beach targeting an event for the Jewish festival of Hanukkah, and following an attack at a synagogue in Manchester in northern England in October in which two Jewish worshippers were killed.
“We know communities are concerned about placards and chants such as ‘globalise the intifada’ and those using it at future protests or in a targeted way should expect the Met and GMP to take action,” London’s Metropolitan Police and Greater Manchester Police said in a joint statement.
“Violent acts have taken place, the context has changed – words have meaning and consequence. We will act decisively and make arrests.”
Jewish groups have been calling for tougher action over the language used at pro-Palestinian protests, while the Community Security Trust (CST), which works to provide security to protect British Jews, says antisemitic incidents have been soaring in Britain.
“Is there a connection between this embrace of a call for death in the name of Palestinian rights, and people inflicting actual death apparently in the name of the same cause? As soon as you ask the question, the answer seems obvious,” Dave Rich, the CST’s director of policy, wrote this week.
(Reporting by William James, editing by Ed Osmond)
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