People who have been in jail since last year awaiting trial for alleged offences relating to Palestine Action activities say they have faced a crackdown since the group was proscribed, including being banned from wearing the keffiyeh and from prison jobs.
The prisoners were charged before Palestine Action was banned and none have been charged with Terrorism Act offences, although the Crown Prosecution Service has said there is a “terrorism connection”.
Nevertheless, they say they have had restrictions imposed since the direct action protest group was classified alongside the likes of Islamic State and Boko Haram.
Teuta Hoxha, 29, who is charged with criminal damage, aggravated burglary and violent disorder in relation to an action at Elbit Systems in Filton, near Bristol, last year, was removed from her library job at HMP Peterborough.
When she complained, she received a letter from the prison’s head of female services saying: “In July 2025, the home secretary proscribed Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation under the Terrorism Act 2000. The offences you are held on remand for are linked to Palestine Action and impact roles that are considered appropriate for you. The library orderly role is not considered appropriate.”
Hoxha, who recently went on hunger strike for four weeks, said she had a striped green, white, red and black scarf she made in knitting class taken away because it was the colours of the Palestinian flag.
Hoxha said her sister was removed from her prisoner call list because of her sister’s political views, said to align with those of Palestine Action, after she and two other inmates held in relation to Filton were told they had been categorised as terrorists by the joint extremism unit.
Palestine Action, which predominantly targeted the UK sites of the Israeli arms manufacturer Elbit Systems and companies that do business with it, was proscribed on the basis of intelligence assessments, one of which said it was “mainly due to its use or threat of action involving serious damage to property”.
Audrey Corno, 23, who is on bail awaiting two trials for alleged Palestine Action protests pre-proscription, said: “She [Hoxha] was arrested in November 2024, way before proscription so it’s completely banal for them to apply this retrospectively, and it’s completely punitive the way that they’re using this.”
Zoe Rogers, 21, who is awaiting trial on the same Filton-related alleged offences as Hoxha, complained after she did not receive a keffiyeh, which had been sent to her at HMP Bronzefield.
The response said the headscarf, commonly worn to express Palestinian identity or solidarity, had been withheld “because it features branding associated with the Palestine Action Group (PAG)”.
It continued that Rogers, who has been in jail since August last year, was awaiting trial for offences connected with PAG, which “has been formally recognised and is now treated under the Terrorism Act 2000 … In light of this, I considered the decision to withhold the item to be reasonable and proportionate under given circumstances.”
Other prisoners at HMP Bronzefield subsequently had their keffiyehs taken away. Corno said the headscarf “pre-dates Palestinian Action by centuries”.
A spokesperson for Sodexo, which runs HMPs Bronzefield and Peterborough, said, they did not comment on individual cases but that they managed prisoners in line with policies governing the entire prison estate, including “specialist multi-agency processes to assess individual terrorist risk and security status”.
They said: “The removal of Palestinian keffiyehs has been carried out in accordance with the prisoner property framework, which sets standards on acceptable items of clothing and headwear across the estate.”
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said all prisoners were subject to the same rules, adding: “Flags, symbols and other items that might threaten safety, order or security can be confiscated.”
