British activist Peter Tatchell has been arrested at a pro-Palestinian march in central London for carrying a placard reading “Globalise the intifada”, according to his foundation.
The Peter Tatchell Foundation said the human rights campaigner, 74, had been taken to Sutton Police Station to be detained.
He posted a photo of himself on social media holding the sign which presumably led to his arrest.
It read: “Globalise the intifada: Non-violent resistance. End Israel’s occupation of Gaza & West Bank.”
In a statement, Mr Tatchell said the arrest was “an attack on free speech” and added: “The police claimed the word intifada is unlawful. The word intifada is not a crime in law.
“The police are engaged in over-reach by making it an arrestable offence.
“This is part of a dangerous trend to increasingly restrict and criminalise peaceful protests.
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“The Arab word intifada means uprising, rebellion or resistance against Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza.
“It does not mean violence and is not antisemitic. It is against the Israeli regime and its war crimes, not against Jewish people.”
In a post on X, the Metropolitan Police said officers had arrested a 74-year-old man at the protest “on suspicion of a public order offence” after he was seen carrying a sign including the words “globalise the intifada”.
Intifada means “uprising” in Arabic and has previously referred to two specific Palestinian uprisings against Israel, first in the late 1980s and then in the early 2000s. Thousands of people were killed, according to several estimates.
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The Met said two other people were also arrested at the protest on Saturday, organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, on suspicion of showing support for a proscribed organisation.
The force said the pair were spotted by officers carrying a banner with the words “We are all Palestine Action”. Palestine Action was proscribed as a terror group in July 2025.
Tatchell arrest the latest in ‘intifada’ crackdown
In December, ahead of a protest in central London, the Met warned that protesters chanting “globalise the intifada” would be arrested because the “context has changed” in the wake of the Bondi Beach terror attack, which saw 15 people killed at an event celebrating the Jewish festival of Hanukkah.
Three people were then arrested for allegedly being involved in chants calling for an intifada.
Earlier this week, the Met said the three people had been charged with using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour intending to stir up racial hatred, or where it was likely to be stirred up.
Jewish groups have largely welcomed the crackdown on the word, with the Community Security Trust, a charity which provides protection for Jews in the UK, saying in December it had come “not a moment too soon”.
Pro-Palestinian protesters like Mr Tatchell have said the crackdown on the word, and similarly “from the river to the sea” – a phrase associated with the eradication of the Israeli state – infringe on free speech.
