Jonathan Sacerdoti

And it doesn't mean that it doesn't have some level of accepted meaning to other people.

The same applies to other words like intifada.

So there are those who will defend their use of that phrase by saying it means an uprising, a resistance.

It doesn't necessarily mean violence.

But I think the fact that it's understood that way by so many people, and I would say correctly understood that way, justifiably understood that way, logically understood that way, means that when you are saying it, certainly now you know it is deeply offensive and problematic and may well have contributed to the actual wave of violence, which is trying to and sometimes succeeding in killing Jews.

then perhaps you would think twice about using it, but apparently not.

Apparently this is a point of principle, that if you want to stand up for so-called Palestinian rights, you insist on using these phrases which deliberately hark back to times when Jews are being killed wantonly, when civilians are being slaughtered, when people were being blown up.

I'm not sure why you would use that phrase unless your intention is to echo those moments, to make Jews afraid, to make non-Muslims afraid, whatever it might be.

I'm not generally in favour of banning protests or banning speech.

Of course, there is a but coming.

And I would say that in this case, these are not normal protests.

So to have massive protests and marches every two weeks or however often it is for over two years is obviously an extraordinary thing.

It's extraordinary in many ways.

I mean, it requires massive police resources to police it.

It requires police forces from around the country to be pulled wherever they're needed and to have their leave cancelled.

And for...

probably millions of pounds of taxpayers' money to be spent on all of this.

And for what?

For people who want to go out and at least if we give them the benefit of the doubt to express their dissatisfaction with, their trauma at, their sadness about, their disgust with the way Israel is conducting itself in a war, which was started by Palestinian Arabs who invaded southern Israel.

on October the 7th, 2023, slaughtering, kidnapping, raping, mutilating, killing innocent people from their homes, from a dance party.