After Sydney Hanukkah massacre, UK police warn antisemitic chants will lead to arrests

Britain’s police authorities announced a new policy on Wednesday, implementing a tougher stance against anyone seeking to harm Jews. 

The decision follows the terror massacre at Sydney’s Bondi Beach on Sunday during a Hanukkah celebration that killed 15 people and wounded 40 others.

In a joint statement, London’s Metropolitan Police and Greater Manchester Police said, “We are aware that communities are concerned about placards and chants such as ‘globalize the intifada’ and those who use them at future protests should expect the Metropolitan Police and Greater Manchester Police to take action. Violent acts have occurred, the context has changed, words have meaning and consequences. We will act decisively and make arrests.”

Jewish organizations in Britain have been calling on authorities to take a stronger stance against violent slogans heard at pro-Palestinian demonstrations, especially since the Oct. 7 terror attack on Israel’s southern border. The slogans chanted at protests call for Israel’s destruction and the use of illegal symbols associated with Hamas and a Islamic global intifada have been regularly displayed. Both British and Australian Jews have reported rampant antisemitism over the past two years.

David Rich, the director of policy at the Community Security Trust, which protects British Jews from terrorism and antisemitism, spoke about the recent sharp rise in antisemitic incidents: “Is there a connection between adopting calls for death in the name of Palestinian rights and people killing others seemingly in the name of that same cause? The answer appears clear.” 

Britain’s Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis called on authorities to enforce the law and warned this week that illegal chants and slogans like, ‘globalize the intifada,' contributed to the attacks in Manchester and Sydney.

The British police announcement comes amid fierce criticism toward Australian authorities from the Jewish community and the Israeli government, who argue that officials did far too little to confront the rising antisemitism since Oct. 7. 

Over the past two years, as anti-Israel hate rallies have spread across Sydney and Melbourne, Jewish leaders have repeatedly warned of the imminent danger, saying it was only a matter of time before the Jews in Australia would suffer an attack.

Politicians and relatives of the victims gathered at the attack site on Wednesday where Australian Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese were met with shouts of “Shame!” and “You have blood on your hands!”. 

Michael, the father of 10-year-old Matilda, who was killed in the Bondi Beach massacre spoke about PM Albanese saying, “He betrayed Australian Jews and the entire world.” The family came to Australia as immigrants from Ukraine before the Russian invasion.

When former Australian treasurer Josh Frydenberg and Jewish member of the center-right Liberal Party, was asked on ABC this week why he holds Albanese responsible for the attackers’ actions, he replied: “From the first hours after October 7, we saw these scenes on the steps of the Opera House, where people celebrated the deaths of Jews. Since then we’ve seen the doxxing of Jewish creators, boycotts of Jewish businesses, Molotov cocktails thrown at synagogues across the country, daily protests.”

“All of this happened on the prime minister’s watch,” Frydenberg said. “And these events created a radicalized environment in Australia that resulted not only in Australian Jews being attacked, but in all of Australia being attacked now. The prime minister was warned repeatedly that stronger action was needed, including banning extremist Islamist organizations that are already outlawed in Britain and Germany.” 

Earlier, at the attack site, Frydenberg described the Bondi Beach massacre as “the greatest stain on this country,” warning that without a swift fight against antisemitism, another terror attack would follow.

Former Australian prime minister Tony Abbott also criticized Albanese’s government on Wednesday saying, “Sadly, the terrorist attack was only the latest escalation in the hatred of Jews that has descended on our country in the two years since the horrors of October 7.”

“From Australian leadership at all levels we have seen only weakness and shrugging shoulders,” Abbott said. “Not a single hate preacher has been prosecuted or deported, and not a single hate march has been banned, even though these marches went far beyond any conceivable expression of free speech or protest and became marches of harassment and intimidation.”

Susan Ley, the current leader of the Liberal Party and opposition leader, called on authorities to arrest protesters carrying flags and placards promoting organizations designated as terrorist groups in Australia. “If people come to this country with hatred of Jews in their hearts and terror in their minds, we need to know it and remove them,” Ley added at the Bondi Beach attack site.