The UK Parliament has designated the pro-Palestinian direct-action network Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation, approving a proscription order under the Terrorism Act 2000. The measure cleared the House of Commons by 385 votes to 26 on 2 July and passed the House of Lords 144–16 the following day, making membership or public support punishable by up to 14 years in prison once it takes effect.
Ministers accelerated the ban after Palestine Action claimed responsibility for a 20 June break-in at RAF Brize Norton, Britain’s largest air base. Activists armed with crowbars and red paint entered the flight line on electric scooters and damaged the engines of two Airbus A330 Voyager tanker aircraft, causing roughly £7 million ($8.9 million) in damage and briefly grounding the jets.
Counter-Terrorism Policing South East has charged four people—Amy Gardiner-Gibson, Daniel Jeronymides-Norie, Jony Cink and Lewie Chiaramello—with conspiracy to enter a prohibited place for a purpose prejudicial to UK security and conspiracy to commit criminal damage. Prosecutors told Westminster Magistrates’ Court the alleged offences have a terrorist connection; the defendants were remanded in custody until a further hearing at the Old Bailey on 18 July.
Palestine Action has filed for an urgent High Court review seeking to suspend the proscription, calling the government’s response an “abuse of power.” United Nations special rapporteurs have urged London to reconsider, warning that treating property damage as terrorism could chill legitimate protest. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the group’s repeated “violence and criminal damage” leave no room for tolerance.
The proscription order also adds two far-right organisations—the neo-Nazi Maniacs Murder Cult and the Russian Imperial Movement—to Britain’s list of banned terrorist groups, underscoring the Labour government’s pledge of zero tolerance toward movements it deems a threat to national security.
As the UK moves to ban Palestine Action as a terrorist group, British MP Zarah Sultana proudly declares, “We are all Palestine Action.”
If you’re a Brit opposing mass migration, you’re arrested. If you’re an Islamist MP backing terrorists? You walk free.
Majority of British MPs have voted to proscribe the direct action group Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation, though several MPs condemned the move as “grotesque” and said they were pressured into voting for the measure
