UK rights campaigner Tatchell arrested at pro-Palestinian protest

It follows two of Britain's biggest police forces announcing last month that officers would detain people who publicly chant or display the slogan, a change prompted by Australia's Bondi Beach attack.

London's Metropolitan police and the force in Manchester, northwest England, warned of the "assertive" move in mid-December to counter alleged antisemitism and incitement to violence.

Tatchell, a veteran human rights campaigner best known for his LGBTQ advocacy, was detained as he attended a pro-Palestinian demonstration which featured attendees marching through central London, according to his foundation.

The 74-year-old branded it "an attack on free speech" in a statement the foundation sent to media outlets, which noted he had been taken to a south London police station.

"The police claimed the word intifada is unlawful. The word intifada is not a crime in law. The police are engaged in overreach by making it an arrestable offence," the statement said.

"This is part of a dangerous trend to increasingly restrict and criminalise peaceful protests."

Tatchell had posted on X a photograph of himself on the protest route carrying a placard with several different slogans on them including "Globalise the intifada".

"He was seen carrying a sign including the words 'globalise the intifada."