A row has broken out over pro-Palestinian protests in London after Sir Sadiq Khan appeared to suggest that the slogan “From the river to the sea” was not antisemitic.
During Mayor’s Question Time at City Hall on Thursday, Susan Hall, the leader of the City Hall Conservatives, asked Sir Sadiq about the marches and protests that took place last week, on the same evening as the terror attack on the Manchester synagogue.
Ms Hall: “Do you think to scream ‘From the river to the sea’, which they’re doing during these hate marches, is appropriate? Do you think it is antisemitic?”
The London mayor replied: “I don’t think it is antisemitic, and I think it’s all about context.
“Some slogans can be antisemitic, but it’s all about context. And in certain contexts, yes, those slogans are antisemitic. In other contexts, they’re not.”
The protests – like the attack – happened on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.
In London, they were held in Whitehall, including near the Cenotaph, and at Liverpool Street station, where Ms Hall said protesters were “screaming chants at passing commuters”.
Liverpool Street right now, it’s grim to be a Jew in the UK. I’m absolutely sick , the police is here doing nothing while people chant ‘from the river to the sea’ and glorifying violence.
— Tal Ofer טל עופר تل عوفر 🎗️ (@TalOfer) October 2, 2025
Prime Minister, you are responsible pic.twitter.com/bggjH0LCYC
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has said the protests "should not have gone ahead" and described them as “un-British”.
“From the river to the sea” is a reference to the land between the River Jordan and the Mediterranean sea. It is normally followed by a second line: “Palestine will be free.”
Critics say it calls for the destruction of the state of Israel. Supporters say it refers to the right of Palestinians – including those in the West Bank as well as Gaza – to freedom and peace.
Ms Hall told the mayor: “Protesters could be heard chanting ‘From the river to the sea’ and describing Israel as a ‘terror state’.”
She asked him: “On the day of the Manchester terror attack, was that behaviour appropriate?”
He replied: “No, I don’t think it was.”
Ms Hall then asked if the behaviour of the protesters at Whitehall and Liverpool Street was antisemitic.
He replied: “You’re asking a general question about individuals’ behaviour – I think it [their behaviour] is insensitive.”
Pressed on whether it was antisemitic, Sir Sadiq said: “No, I don’t think marching is antisemitic.”
Ms Hall then asked: “So you don’t think that screaming ‘From the river to the sea’ and calling it a ‘terror state’ is antisemitic?
“We all hear ‘From the river to the sea’ and we know what that means, and that is antisemitic.”
A spokeswoman for Sir Sadiq told The Standard after the meeting: “The mayor was saying that it’s not antisemitic to attend pro-Palestine protests.
“Some people consider the phrase ‘From the river to the sea’ to be antisemitic because it’s interpreted as calling for Israel to be wiped out completely – which clearly is antisemitic.
“Others argue that this is not what the chant is calling for or what they mean when they say it.
“The mayor has repeatedly said over his mayoralty that those who protest should act lawfully, peacefully and safely.
“At a time of heightened fear for Jewish people he has also repeatedly said people should all be mindful of their words and how they impact other Londoners - and not use chants that make Jewish Londoners scared.”
During the question time exchange, Ms Hall claimed Sir Sadiq had failed to criticise the pro-Palestinian protests – in alleged contrast to the “duplicity of his remarks” on the Unite the Kingdom march last month led by Tommy Robinson.
She waved a small Union Flag in the chamber, saying it did not make her Far Right but “very patriotic”.
Sir Sadiq said he would “fight to the death for the right to protest” – even if this benefited people such as Tommy Robinson.
Ms Hall said it was only the Jewish community in London that had to lock its children in schools for their own safety, and only Jewish people who were too frightened to come to central London because of the protests and “hostility towards them”.
She asked Sir Sadiq: “Do you not see that in London, to have one community that is so badly disadvantaged by what is going on, with these antisemitic chants, that you as mayor should do something about that? Shame on you, because our Jewish community need looking after.”
The mayor replied: “I have gone out of my way since [the Hamas attacks on Israel on] September 7, 2023, to reassure Jewish Londoners.
“We are going to make sure we do what we can to keep Jewish people safe.”
