Protesters hold placards and wave Palestinian flags during a march organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign in central London on January 31, 2026
London police on Saturday arrested prominent rights activist Peter Tatchell at a pro-Palestinian march after he displayed a placard featuring the slogan "globalise the intifada", his foundation said.
It follows two of Britain's biggest police forces announcing last month that officers would detain people who publicly chant or display the slogan, a change prompted by Australia's Bondi Beach attack.
London's Metropolitan police and the force in Manchester, northwest England, warned of the "assertive" move in mid-December to counter alleged antisemitism and incitement to violence.
Tatchell, a veteran human rights campaigner best known for his LGBTQ advocacy, was detained as he attended a pro-Palestinian demonstration which featured attendees marching through central London, according to his foundation.
The 74-year-old branded it "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 criminalise peaceful protests."
Tatchell had posted on X a photograph of himself on the protest route carrying a placard with several different slogans on them including "Globalise the intifada".
In a post on X, the Met said: "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 'globalise the intifada."
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Originally published on doc.afp.com, part of the BLOX Digital Content Exchange.
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