Politics
Anti-genocide groups mobilise over use of ‘intifada’
On 25 February 2026, Jewish anti-Zionist groups and other anti-genocide humanitarians will hold a demonstration outside Westminster Magistrates Court. The protest will be in support of three defendants charged with using the word ‘intifada‘. ‘Intifada’ is Arabic for ‘shaking off chains’, commonly translated in English as ‘uprising’.
Despite its ordinary meaning, the UK Israel lobby in and out of government is determined to present the word as an antisemitic call for the ‘killing of all Jews’ instead of a call for Palestinian freedom from occupation and self-determination. The ‘First Intifada’ was a campaign of non-violent resistance, but the deliberate misuse of the word is part of the Starmer regime’s ‘lawfare’ war against free speech on Israel’s crimes and the rights of Palestinian people.
Holocaust survivor descendant Mark Etkind said:
Where will this attack on free speech end? Will people next be arrested for using words like ‘democracy’ or ‘freedom’? With some countries already banning the slogan ‘From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!’, the answer to that question is, probably: ‘yes’.
Claims by Keir Starmer and other politicians that such slogans are antisemitic have no basis in fact. They are just cynical inventions to justify repression of a pro-Palestine movement which has always had numerous Jewish participants.
Starmer’s other anti-democratic persecutions of anti-genocide activists and writers have mostly failed so far. For the sake of justice, this one must too – but given the reputation of magistrates as presiding over ‘kangaroo courts’, it may not.
The protest starts from 9.30am.
Featured image via the Canary