The Labour government proscribed the group in July under the Terrorism Act, placing it alongside about 80 other banned organisations, including Al-Qaeda and Daesh…reports Asian Lite News
The British government is facing mounting criticism over its decision to ban the pro-Palestinian activist group Palestine Action under terrorism laws, after a secret intelligence assessment concluded that most of the group’s activities “would not be classified as terrorism,” according to The New York Times.
The Labour government proscribed the group in July under the Terrorism Act, placing it alongside about 80 other banned organisations, including Al-Qaeda and Daesh. The move criminalised membership, support, and funding for the group, triggering hundreds of arrests of protesters showing solidarity.
Dan Jarvis, the Minister of State for Security, defended the designation, saying it followed “clear advice and intelligence” after what he described as an “escalating campaign involving intimidation and sustained criminal damage.”
Founded in 2020, Palestine Action has carried out break-ins and vandalism at facilities linked to Elbit Systems, an Israeli weapons manufacturer. In June, its activists damaged aircraft during a raid on Britain’s largest air base.
However, a declassified 7 March report by the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre, part of MI5, seen by the NYT, offered a more cautious assessment. While acknowledging cases of serious damage, including one where a protester attacked police officers with a sledgehammer, the report concluded that “a majority of the group’s activity would not constitute an act of terrorism.” It noted that common tactics included graffiti, sit-ins and minor vandalism, and said it doubted the group would encourage attacks on people, a hallmark of proscribed groups.
The report identified only three incidents potentially meeting the terrorism threshold, all involving property damage at Elbit-linked sites. One, a high-profile break-in at a Glasgow factory, was later prosecuted merely as a “breach of the peace.” Police Scotland records cited by The Times said the activity “has not been close to meeting the statutory definition of terrorism.”
Legal experts and former officials say the case highlights how broadly terrorism laws are now being applied. Alan Greene of Birmingham Law School told the NYT the ban “marks a radical departure from what came before” by focusing on property destruction rather than threats to life.
Volker Türk, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, urged Britain to reverse the measure, warning it expanded terrorism “beyond clear boundaries.”
Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary who advanced the ban, told Parliament the Glasgow raid had caused more than £1 million in damage to submarine parts, though court evidence placed the figure at around £190,000, with the remainder attributed to lost revenue.
MPs were also required to vote on Palestine Action’s designation alongside two violent white-supremacist groups, which critics said made opposing the measure politically unviable.
Palestine Action formally dissolved after the ban, but supporters continue to campaign against its proscription. The group is challenging the decision in London’s High Court, with a hearing scheduled for 25 September.
The report’s revelations came as campaigners prepared a wave of protests against the ban. Defend Our Juries, which has led opposition to the proscription, announced a week of demonstrations beginning at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool on 28 September and ending with a mass rally at Parliament Square in London on 4 October.
It follows the arrest of 857 people under the Terrorism Act outside Parliament last week, where demonstrators carried signs declaring, “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action.”
Organisers described the coming protests as a “major escalation” and said more than 1,100 people had pledged to risk arrest. “The blame lies squarely with the government for pursuing this authoritarian ban, plunging an overstretched police force, courts and prisons into further chaos,” a spokesperson said. They urged Cooper to listen to MPs, peers, UN experts and party members demanding the measure’s repeal.
Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, was accused of “grotesque double standards” for meeting Isaac Herzog, the President of Israel, this week while activists faced arrest for displaying cardboard placards.
Defend Our Juries has also urged nationwide acts of solidarity, asking supporters to place signs in their windows. This followed a viral video of former Labour Party councillor Keith Hackett being told by police he could legally display a Palestine Action poster at home but not in public.
Since the ban took effect, more than 1,600 people have been arrested, including religious leaders, doctors, veterans and elderly activists. That figure already surpasses the total number of arrests in the UK during the entire post-2001 War on Terror. Most detainees have not been charged, though seven alleged organisers appeared in court last week.
Meanwhile, the Trades Union Congress this week unanimously passed a motion demanding the ban’s repeal, calling it a “significant abuse of counterterrorist powers and a direct attack on our right to protest against the genocidal Israeli regime.”
