"Won't Tolerate...": Rishi Sunak On "Jihad" Chants At UK's Pro-Palestine Rallies

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said anti-semitism will not be tolerated in the UK days after London and other cities of Birmingham, Cardiff, and Belfast saw a series of protests across on Saturday over the Israel-Hamas war and as a show of solidarity with Palestinians.

Asserting that 'calls for jihad are a threat to the Jewish community and UK's democratic values', he said: "This weekend we saw hate on our streets. Calls for Jihad are not only a threat to the Jewish community but to our democratic values. We will never tolerate antisemitism in our country. And we expect the police to take all necessary action to tackle extremism head-on."

This weekend we saw hate on our streets.

Calls for Jihad are not only a threat to the Jewish community, but to our democratic values.

We will never tolerate antisemitism in our country.

And we expect the police to take all necessary action to tackle extremism head on. pic.twitter.com/ET3ZouqwUj

— Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) October 23, 2023

In a statement issued by the Met Police, which serves the Greater London area, the force said there had been "pockets of disorder and some instances of hate speech" during the demonstrations and five officers suffered minor injuries. 

Officers also reviewed a video from a Hizb ut-Tahrir protest in which a man can be seen chanting "jihad, jihad", they said.

"The word has a number of meanings but we know the public will most commonly associate it with terrorism. Specialist officers have assessed the video and have not identified any offences arising from the specific clip," the police said.

Nearly 1,00,000 people gathered at the demonstrations across London on Saturday and a few thousand across the other cities.

Sunak was in Israel last week, standing in solidarity with Israel and the people. "I'm here to express my solidarity with the Israeli people. You have suffered an unspeakable, horrific act of terrorism and I want you to know that the United Kingdom and I stand with you," he said upon his arrival.

He said he "absolutely" supports Israel's "right to defend itself and to go after Hamas".

In Tel Aviv, Sunak met Benjamin Netanyahu and, addressing a joint conference with Netanyahu, said, "I know you are taking every precaution to not harm civilians, unlike the Hamas. Thank you for the evacuation of British citizens. We recognise Palestinians are the victims of Hamas too. Glad you opened areas for humanitarian aid."