Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer has urged stronger measures against certain chants at pro-Palestinian protests amid rising antisemitic incidents. He spoke out following the stabbing of two Jewish men in London, which police labeled as terrorism. The UK's terror threat level has been raised to severe.
Keir Starmer warned on Saturday that tougher action is needed against people chanting phrases like 'globalize the intifada' at pro-Palestinian marches protesting the war in Gaza. He defended the right to protest but said some marches may need to be banned due to their cumulative effect on antisemitic incidents. 'When you see, when you hear some of those chants — 'globalize the intifada' would be one I would pick out — then clearly there should be tougher action in relation to that,' Starmer told the BBC. The Arabic word intifada translates to 'uprising.'A 45-year-old man was charged Friday with attempted murder after stabbing two Jewish men Wednesday in Golders Green, a hub of Britain's Jewish community. Police described the attack as terrorism, part of a series including recent arson on synagogues and Jewish sites in London. The UK's terror threat level was raised from substantial to severe, the second-highest level, signaling a highly likely attack in the next six months from Islamist or extreme right-wing threats.Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mark Rowley warned Friday that British Jews face their greatest threat ever, targeted by extremists across the spectrum. 'The ghastly fact is that Jews are on everybody's list, all of those hateful groups, whether you're extreme right, whether you're extreme left, whether you're Islamist terrorist, whether you're right-wing terrorist, and some hostile states as well now with some sort of Iranian-related threats,' he told The Times.Antisemitic incidents have surged since Hamas's October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, with the Community Security Trust recording 3,700 in 2025, up from 1,662 in 2022. Local residents expressed fear. 'It's utter horror... We have to live in fear — constantly looking behind our backs,' one Orthodox Jewish resident told CBS News.
