Hundreds of protesters gathered in Trafalgar Square on Monday to show support for Palestine Action, a campaign group which may soon be proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the UK government.
The move comes after members of Palestine Action allegedly sprayed red paint on two planes at an RAF base in Oxfordshire.
Yvette Cooper, Secretary of State for the Home Department, has since issued a statement explaining her decision to proscribe Palestine Action under section 3 of the Terrorism Act 2000.
The Home Secretary can proscribe an organisation if they believe it is concerned in terrorism.
The UK government defines terrorism as “the use or threat of action which: involves serious violence against a person; involves serious damage to property; endangers a person’s life (other than that of the person committing the act); creates a serious risk to the health or safety of the public or section of the public or is designed seriously to interfere with or seriously to disrupt an electronic system”.
It specifies that “the use or threat of such action must be designed to influence the government or an international governmental organisation or to intimidate the public or a section of the public, and must be undertaken for the purpose of advancing a political, religious, racial or ideological cause”.
The plan to proscribe the group must first be debated and approved by MPs and peers.
“This decision is specific to Palestine Action and does not affect lawful protest groups and other organisations campaigning on issues around Palestine or the Middle East,” Mrs Cooper wrote in the statement.
“The disgraceful attack on Brize Norton in the early hours of the morning on Friday 20 June is the latest in a long history of unacceptable criminal damage committed by Palestine Action. The UK’s defence enterprise is vital to the nation’s national security and this Government will not tolerate those that put that security at risk.”
There are currently 81 organisations that are proscribed international terrorist groups, including Hamas and al Qaida.
Palestine Action member Saeed Taji Farouky told the BBC that proscribing the group is "absurd".
He said that Cooper’s decision "rips apart the very basic concepts of British democracy and the rule of law" and added "it's something everyone should be terrified about”.
A draft proscription order will be presented in Parliament on Monday June 30. If it is passed, it will be illegal to be a member of Palestine Action or show support for it.
The Standard have approached Palestine Action for comment.
Who are Palestine Action?
Palestine Action is a pro-Palestinian protest network that seeks to disrupt Israeli weapons factories in Britain.
The group was founded by Huda Ammori and Richard Barnard in 2020. That year, members of the group allegedly climbed onto the roof of Elbit factory in Staffordshire with sledgehammers and whips, reportedly causing £1m worth of damage.
Elbit Systems manufactures 85 per cent of Israel’s drones. Two factories have permanently closed and its London headquarters has been abandoned following Palestine Action’s disruption.
“We’re very clear that our primary purpose is disruption. Naturally we use social media to broadcast our actions, to inform people about what’s going on in these factories and encourage others to join us. But the point is not simply to ‘raise awareness’ or put pressure on politicians. We bypass politicians and go straight to the aggressors,” Ammori wrote in a post on New Left Review.
She added that disruption had two forms. Firstly, focusing on stifling Israel’s ability to carry out its military aims and secondly, disrupting Israel’s economy.
The group have claimed responsibility for over 300 incidents at buildings such as universities and British-based defence facilities, resulting in the imprisonment of several members.
In August 2024, five Palestine Action members were jailed for a total of five years and two months, after reportedly causing more than £1,130,783 of damage at a weapons factory in Glasgow.
A spokesperson for Palestine Action said: “When our government fails to uphold their moral and legal obligations, it is the responsibility of ordinary citizens to take direct action. The terrorists are the ones committing a genocide, not those who break the tools used to commit it.”
Palestine Action founders
Huda Ammori
Huda Ammori was born in Bolton to a Palestinian father, who is a surgeon, and an Iraqi mother. She went on to study international business and finance at the University of Manchester, where she founded the university’s Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign.
The 31-year-old said that her Palestinian great-grandfather was killed by British soldiers in the 1936 uprising against the British.
Ms Ammori has been outspoken about the risk she is willing to take through her activism. “When you do these types of actions, you do it with an understanding that you could end up in prison,” she told Prospect.
Richard Barnard
Raised Catholic, Barnard was once part of a Christian anarchist group called the Catholic Worker, which seeks to “comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable”. He has broken into American Air Force bases in Germany nine times, alongside local monks, Prospect has reported.
Today, Mr Barnard identifies as Muslim. As well as co-founding Palestine Action, he’s also a member of Extinction Rebellion.
He’s currently facing three charges for two speeches he gave on October 8 and October 11 2023, for which he is asking for donations to help cover legal costs.
He wrote on Crowd Justice: “I've been accused of one count of inviting support for a proscribed organisation, namely Hamas, under section 12(1A) of the Terrorism Act and two counts of encouraging 'criminal damage' against Israeli weapons factories under s44 of the Serious Crime Act.”
