UK moves to designate Palestine Action a 'terrorist' group after aircraft damage at base

The UK government said on Monday it would use anti-terrorism laws to ban the campaign organisation Palestine Action, making it a criminal offence to belong to the group after its activists damaged two UK military planes in protest at London's support for Israel.

The proscription would put the pro-Palestinian group on a par with Hamas, al-Qaeda or Islamic State [IS] under British law, making it illegal for anyone to promote it or be a member. Those who breached the ban could face up to 14 years in jail.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said "the disgraceful attack" on Brize Norton on Friday was "the latest in a long history of unacceptable criminal damage committed by Palestine Action".

"In several attacks, Palestine Action has committed acts of serious damage to property with the aim of progressing its political cause and influencing the government," she said in a statement.

The Home Secretary will reportedly present a draft proscription order in parliament next week, which, if passed, will make it illegal to be a member or a supporter of Palestine Action under Britain’s Terrorism Act of 2000.

Cooper stressed that the decision only pertains to Palestine Action, and not to any other groups protesting on behalf of the Palestinian cause or other issues in the Middle East.

Palestine Action, however, called the decision "an unhinged reaction to an action spraying paint in protest at the UK Government arming Israel's slaughter of the Palestinian people".

"The real crime here is not red paint being sprayed on these war planes, but the war crimes that have been enabled with those planes because of the UK Government's complicity in Israel's genocide," they added in a statement to The New Arab.

The group also criticised Keir Starmer for "caving in" to pro-Israel lobby groups, as the UK prime minister, who formerly worked as a human rights lawyer, had previously defended protesters breaking into an RAF base in 2003 in protest against the Iraq War.

"It is plainly preposterous to rank us with terrorist groups like ISIS, National Action and Boko Haram."

A pre-planned protest against the decision is currently taking place in London’s Trafalgar Square. The UK’s Met Police was seen charging into crowds, as demonstrators yelled "Shame on you!" in videos shared on social media.

Others chanted "We are all Palestine Action" in solidarity with the group.

Several Labour MPs earlier expressed concern over the proscription of Palestine Action, after Cooper said she was planning on taking necessary steps to categorise them under anti-terror laws on Friday.

The Labour MP for Nottingham East, Nadia Wittome, said targeting non-violent protests in this way is "a misuse of terrorism-related powers".

"It sets a dangerous precedent, which governments in future could use against their critics," she added.

Baroness Shami Chakrabarti told BBC Radio 4 on Monday that proscribing them would be a "serious escalation".

Zarah Sultana, the Labour MP for Coventry South, said on X: "You can repair a plane. You can replace a broken window. But you can’t bring back the dead".

"We must defend the right to protest," she added.

Palestine Action was founded in 2020 by Huda Ammori and Richard Barnard. Its members have used several forms of direct action tactics to protest UK complicity in Israel’s occupation and violence in the Palestinian territories. The group has primarily targeted UK branches of Israeli weapons manufacturer Elbit Systems, among others.

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