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(This May 2 story has been repeated with no changes to the text)<\/p>\n
LONDON, May 2 (Reuters) – British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the \u200cgovernment could ban pro-Palestinian marches in some circumstances because of the “cumulative effect” \u200cthe demonstrations had on the Jewish community after two Jewish men were stabbed in London on \u200bWednesday.<\/p>\n
Starmer told the BBC that he would always defend freedom of expression and peaceful protest, but chants like “Globalise the Intifada” during demonstrations were “completely off limits” and those voicing them should be prosecuted.<\/p>\n
Pro-Palestinian marches have become a regular feature in London since the \u200cOctober 2023 attack by Hamas \u2060on Israel that triggered the Gaza war. Critics say the demonstrations have generated hostility and become a focus for antisemitism.<\/p>\n
Protesters have \u2060argued they are exercising their democratic right to spotlight ongoing human rights and political issues related to the situation in Gaza.<\/p>\n
Starmer said he was not denying there were “very strong \u200blegitimate views \u200babout the Middle East, about Gaza”, but \u200bmany people in the Jewish \u200ccommunity had told him they were concerned about the repeat nature of the marches.<\/p>\n
Asked if the tougher response should focus on chants and banners, or whether the protests should be stopped altogether, Starmer said: “I think certainly the first, and I think there are instances for the latter.”<\/p>\n
“I think it’s time to look across the \u200cboard at protests and the cumulative effect,” he \u200bsaid, adding that the government needed to look \u200bat what further powers it could \u200btake.<\/p>\n
Britain raised its terrorism threat level to “severe” on Thursday amid \u200cmounting security concerns that foreign states \u200bwere helping fuel violence, \u200bincluding against the Jewish community.<\/p>\n
“We are seeing an elevated threat to Jewish and Israeli individuals and institutions in the UK,” the head of counter-terrorism policing, \u200bLaurence Taylor, said in \u200ca statement, adding that police were also working “against an unpredictable global situation \u200bthat has consequences closer to home, including physical threats by state-linked \u200bactors.”<\/p>\n
(Reporting by Paul SandleEditing by Keith Weir)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n