What is the Palestine Action group, and why is the UK banning it?

The United Kingdom said connected June 23 that it would prohibition a pro-Palestinian run radical called Palestine Action nether anti-terrorism laws. This would enactment the organisation connected par with equipped groups similar al-Qaeda and ISIL (ISIS) successful the UK, making it a transgression offence to beryllium portion of Palestine Action.

The government’s announcement has prompted disapproval from quality rights organisations and triggered protests. On Tuesday, 13 radical were arrested and 7 were charged aft protesters successful London clashed with Metropolitan Police officers. The charges included assaulting exigency workers and a racially aggravated offence.

What is Palestine Action?

Palestine Action describes itself arsenic a question “committed to ending planetary information successful Israel’s genocidal and apartheid regime”. The radical was launched successful July 2020.

The radical says it seeks to usage “disruptive tactics” to people “corporate enablers” and companies progressive successful weapons manufacture for Israel, specified arsenic Israel-based Elbit Systems, Italian aerospace institution Leonardo, French multinational Thales and United States institution Teledyne. The radical has targeted British facilities linked to these companies.

“Palestine Action is simply a nonstop enactment radical who person majoritively focused connected weapons factories that are operating connected British ungraded and are complicit successful the existent genocide successful Gaza, but besides successful the longer-term benignant of oppression of the Palestinian people,” Manaal Siddiqui, a spokesperson for Palestine Action, told Al Jazeera.

In 2022, the radical broke into a Thales instrumentality mill successful Glasgow, causing harm to weapons worthy much than 1 cardinal pounds ($1.4m).

In 2021, members of Palestine Action protested connected the rooftop of Elbit Systems’ subsidiary UAV Tactical Systems successful Leicester for six days, until a fig of them were arrested by the police.

Why is the UK banning Palestine Action?

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said successful a statement connected Monday that she had decided to proscribe the radical nether the Terrorism Act 2000.

Cooper’s connection came days aft June 20, erstwhile immoderate Palestine Action activists broke into RAF Brize Norton, the largest presumption of the Royal Air Force successful Oxfordshire, and sprayed 2 subject planes with reddish paint.

In the astir high-profile determination made by the radical truthful far, the activists sprayed reddish overgarment into the turbine engines of 2 Airbus Voyager aircraft, utilized for air-to-air refuelling, and damaged them with crowbars.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer condemned the incidental successful an X station the aforesaid day. “The enactment of vandalism committed astatine RAF Brize Norton is disgraceful,” helium wrote.

The constabulary person said the Palestine Action activists’ enactment resulted successful millions of pounds of transgression damage.

“The disgraceful onslaught connected Brize Norton successful the aboriginal hours of the greeting connected Friday 20 June is the latest successful a agelong past of unacceptable transgression harm committed by Palestine Action,” Cooper said successful her Monday statement.

Siddiqui, however, said Brize Norton stores craft “which are going to beryllium utilized astir the world, but peculiarly successful Gaza”. She added that they person besides been utilized successful Syria and Yemen.

Israel’s warfare successful Gaza, which began connected October 7, 2023, has killed much than 56,000 Palestinians.

“These craft tin beryllium utilized to refuel and person been utilized to refuel Israeli combatant jets,” Siddiqui said, adding that planes from Brize Norton spell to the British aerial unit basal successful Cyprus, from wherever they are “dispatched connected spy missions and that quality is shared with the Israeli authorities and the Israeli aerial forces”.

Last year, the British aerial unit said it participated successful large-scale assistance airdrops to Gaza. The aerial unit said connected April 9, 2024, it was progressive successful airdropping hundreds of tonnes of aid.

“The magnitude of assistance being dropped is an implicit driblet successful the ocean,” Siddiqui said, adding that the UN says astir 2,300 tonnes of assistance are required to conscionable Gaza’s regular needs.

The enactment of vandalism committed astatine RAF Brize Norton is disgraceful.

Our Armed Forces correspond the precise champion of Britain and enactment their lives connected the enactment for america each day.

It is our work to enactment those who support us.

— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) June 20, 2025

How has Palestine Action reacted to the prohibition threat?

In a connection posted connected its X illustration connected Tuesday, Palestine Action said: “The existent transgression present is not reddish overgarment being sprayed connected these warplanes, but the warfare crimes that person been enabled with those planes due to the fact that of the UK government’s complicity successful Israel’s genocide.”

The connection besides accuses Starmer of “hypocrisy” since the PM, backmost successful 2003, supported protesters who broke into an RAF basal to halt US bombers heading to Iraq. At the time, Starmer was a lawyer.

“I deliberation it’s a precise knee-jerk absorption from an embarrassed government, and it’s an overblown reaction,” Siddiqui said.

Siddiqui said it was unprecedented for Palestine Action to look the ban. “The bulk of the proscribed groups are international. The bulk of them instrumentality actions successful very, precise antithetic ways. Palestine Action would beryllium a implicit outlier. It’s a Draconian attack for the authorities to stifle protests that they conscionable don’t like. It’s genuinely terrifying for anyone who cares astir civilian liberties successful the UK.”

In all, 81 groups are proscribed successful the UK nether the Terrorism Act 2000. They see governmental movements with equipped wings, similar Hamas and Hezbollah, arsenic good arsenic equipped groups similar ISIS (ISIL), al-Qaeda and Tehreek-e Taliban Pakistan.

What are different reactions to the imaginable ban?

On Monday, Sacha Deshmukh, main enforcement of Amnesty International UK, said successful a quality release: “The UK has an overly wide explanation of coercion and proscribing a direct-action protestation radical similar Palestine Action risks an unlawful interference with the cardinal rights of state of expression, relation and peaceful assembly.”

He said regular transgression instrumentality and due quality rights protections were capable to respond to nonstop enactment protesters specified arsenic those affiliated with Palestine Action.

Deshmukh added that the determination to prohibition Palestine Action risks “the escaped code rights of galore different activists who are profoundly acrophobic astir the plight of Palestinians successful the discourse of Israel’s ongoing genocide successful Gaza”.

London-based advocacy organisation CAGE International has besides reacted to the announcement. In a connection published connected its website, Naila Ahmed, caput of campaigns astatine CAGE International, said: “We basal successful implicit solidarity with Palestine Action successful their run to dismantle the Zionist warfare instrumentality and bring an extremity to the genocide successful Gaza. Terrorism and proscription laws are present brazenly enabling the continuation of a livestreamed genocide.”

Irish writer Sally Rooney, known for books including her 2018 caller Normal People, wrote an sentiment portion published by The Guardian connected Sunday titled “Israel kills guiltless Palestinians. Activists spray-paint a plane. Guess which the UK authorities calls terrorism.”

Rooney wrote that the activists who vandalised Brize Norton knew what they were doing was illegal. “From the suffragettes to the cheery rights question to the anti-apartheid struggle, genuine governmental absorption has ever progressive intentional law-breaking.

“But proscribing an full organisation nether the Terrorism Act is not the aforesaid happening arsenic prosecuting peculiar individuals for circumstantial transgressions … adjacent supporting the radical purely successful words – arsenic I americium doing present – could besides represent a superior ineligible offence, punishable with a condemnation of up to 14 years successful prison.”

What’s next?

Cooper has said a draught of a proscription bid against Palestine Action volition beryllium presented to the British Parliament connected June 30.

If passed, the prohibition would go law, making it amerciable to go a subordinate of the radical oregon to invitation enactment for it.

According to the Terrorism Act, the penalties see up to 14 years successful situation and a fine.

Siddiqui said the radical would situation the projected bid legally. Palestine Action said successful an X station that the radical had “instructed lawyers who volition combat against the Home Secretary’s effort to prohibition our movement”. The radical has created an online fundraiser for ineligible action, accepting donations from supporters. As of 08:00 GMT connected Wednesday, the radical had received much than 79,000 pounds ($107,000) retired of its 100,000-pound ($140,000) goal.

“At this point, Palestine Action is not yet a banned organisation and we volition proceed to beryllium Palestine Action. I deliberation it is highly important for each radical who attraction for civilian liberties to beryllium warring against specified acts,” Siddiqui said.