'Intifada' Chants Arrestable Only After Bondi Bloodbath
Met and GMP pivot post-15 Jewish deaths in Sydney
UK's largest police forces criminalise 'globalise the intifada' after years of tolerance, triggered by Sydney massacre killing 15 Jews including a British rabbi. Reactive shift exposes prior institutional hesitation on anti-Semitic threats.
Police treat “globalise the intifada” chants as arrestable offences after a Sydney massacre killed 15 Jews.
England’s Metropolitan Police and Greater Manchester Police announced the shift on December 17, 2025.
The decision follows gunmen Naveed Akram and his father Sajid opening fire on a Hanukkah crowd at Bondi Beach, slaughtering 15 including a British rabbi and a 10-year-old child.
Previously, the Crown Prosecution Service deemed such chants below prosecution thresholds.
Police now cite an “escalating threat context” from the Sydney attack and an October assault on Heaton Park Synagogue.
Delayed Threshold
Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley and Chief Constable Sir Stephen Watson stated words “have real world consequences.”
They promised “decisive” arrests and Public Order Act enforcement near synagogues.
Frontline officers receive briefings on the recalibration.
This marks a departure from years of protest tolerance where anti-Jewish slogans proliferated unchecked.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer labelled the chant an anti-Semitic call for violence against Jews.
Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis demanded it be outlawed outright.
Former BBC executive Danny Cohen described it plainly as a summons to murder Jews worldwide.
Institutional Hesitation
UK police forces absorbed Crown Prosecution Service guidance that ignored Jewish fears.
Protests featuring the chant surged after October 7, 2023, with minimal interventions.
Only foreign bloodshed and accumulated domestic incidents prompted action.
Metropolitan Police data from prior years show thousands of such demonstrations passed without mass arrests.
Greater Manchester Police mirrored this restraint amid rising synagogue threats.
Patterns of Prioritisation
The pivot exposes prior calculations: avoid escalation with chanting crowds over minority protection.
A Telegraph insider previously revealed forces weighed Muslim disorder risks above Jewish safety.
This Bondi response confirms the asymmetry endured across governments.
Home Office asylum policies and integration lapses fuel the underlying tensions.
Net Jewish emigration from the UK accelerated, with 2024 figures showing community flight amid hate spikes.
Systemic Exposure
Functional policing would assess chant risks proactively, not reactively after 15 corpses.
Crown Prosecution Service thresholds bent only under massacre pressure.
No resignations follow years of inaction; leaders retain posts.
Political signalling from Starmer reinforces the late adjustment without addressing root delays.
Taxpayers fund enhanced patrols, yet trust in institutions frays further.
Jewish communities demanded safeguards for years; delivery arrives post-carnage.
Britain’s streets host imported hatred, policed unevenly until thresholds snap.
Police recalibration admits prior failure without owning it.
The UK tolerates anti-Jewish incitement until Australian gunmen underscore the cost.
This reactive pivot underscores deepening social fractures: minorities endangered, institutions lagging, cohesion eroded across administrations.
Commentary based on Arrests will be made over 'globalise the intifada' chants, police chiefs confirm in wake of Bondi Beach attack by Fraser Knight on LBC.