Latest news with #antiTerrorismLaws
Bloomberg
a day ago
- Politics
- Bloomberg
Protesters Supporting Banned Palestine Action Arrested in UK
LONDON (AP) — More than 20 people were arrested Saturday on suspicion of terrorism offenses after protesters gathered in central London in support of Palestine Action. The protest in Parliament Square came hours after the pro-Palestinian activist group was banned in Britain under anti-terrorism laws.
France 24
a day ago
- Politics
- France 24
UK police arrest supporters of banned Palestine Action group at London protest
More than 20 people were arrested Saturday in the UK on suspicion of terrorism offenses after protesters gathered in central London in support of Palestine Action. The protest in Parliament Square came hours after the pro-Palestinian activist group was banned in Britain under anti-terrorism laws. The group lost a last-minute court battle late Friday seeking to block the British government's ban, which came into effect at midnight. Activists and their supporters have said the group is non-violent and advocates civil disobedience, and condemned the government decision as authoritarian. A small group of protesters stood beneath a statue of Mahatma Gandhi and held placards reading, 'I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action.' Police surrounded them and several people were taken away. One woman seen lying on the ground in handcuffs was carried by officers to a police van. 'Palestine Action is a proscribed group and officers will act where criminal offences are committed,' the Metropolitan Police said in a statement. The designation as a proscribed group under the Terrorism Act 2000 means that membership of the group and support of its actions a criminal offense punishable by up to 14 years in prison. Under UK law, offences include inviting support, expressing approval, or displaying symbols of a banned group and are punishable by up to 14 years in prison and/or a fine. Britain has proscribed 81 groups under anti-terrorism laws, including Hamas, al Qaeda and the Islamic State (IS) group. The government moved to ban Palestine Action after activists broke into a Royal Air Force base in Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, England, on June 20, damaging two planes using red paint and crowbars in protest at the British government's ongoing military support for Israel in its war in Gaza. Police said that the incident caused around 7 million pounds' ($9.4 million) worth of damage. Four people between 22 and 35 years old were charged Thursday with conspiracy to commit criminal damage and conspiracy to enter a prohibited place for purposes prejudicial to the interests of the U.K. No pleas were entered at Westminster Magistrates' Court in central London and the four are scheduled to appear on July 18 at the Central Criminal Court. Palestine Action has targeted Israel-linked companies in Britain in its protests, with British Interior Minister Yvette Cooper saying that violence and criminal damage have no place in legitimate protest and that the group's activities justify proscription. Critics of the decision, including some UN experts and civil liberties groups, have argued that damaging property does not amount to terrorism. At another protest on Saturday, the police arrested five pro-Palestine protesters from the Youth Demand group who threw red paint over a truck involved in London's Pride parade and glued themselves to the vehicle. The parade later resumed.
Al Jazeera
3 days ago
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
Palestine Action: What has the group done, as it faces a ban?
Members of Parliament in the United Kingdom voted overwhelmingly this week to proscribe the campaign group, Palestine Action, as a terrorist organisation under anti-terrorism laws, putting the group on a par with armed groups such as al-Qaeda and ISIL (ISIS). A draft order to amend the Terrorism Act 2000 to do this, brought by Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, passed through the House of Commons on Wednesday by 385 votes to 26. Cooper tabled the order in parliament just days after Palestine Action activists broke into RAF Brize Norton, the largest station of the Royal Air Force in Oxfordshire, and sprayed two military planes with red paint, resulting in millions of pounds of criminal damage, according to police. On Friday, the High Court in London is hearing a challenge to the order. Palestine Action co-founder Huda Ammori has asked for a temporary block on the legislation. Prime Minister Keir Starmer condemned the Airbus Voyager incident in an X post, saying: 'The act of vandalism committed at RAF Brize Norton is disgraceful.' Palestine Action describes itself as 'a pro-Palestinian organisation which disrupts the arms industry in the United Kingdom with direct action'. It says it is 'committed to ending global participation in Israel's genocidal and apartheid regime'. The government claims it is a 'terrorist' outfit. But what has the group actually done? What happened at Brize Norton? In the highest-profile move made by the group so far, activists sprayed red paint into the turbine engines of two Airbus Voyager aircraft, used for air-to-air refuelling. According to Manaal Siddiqui, a spokesperson for Palestine Action, 'These [Royal Air Force] aircraft can be used to refuel and have been used to refuel Israeli fighter jets.' He added that planes from Brize Norton fly to the British air force base in Cyprus, from where they are 'dispatched on spy missions and that intelligence is shared with the Israeli government and the Israeli air forces'. What else has the group done? Since its founding in July 2020, Palestine Action (PA) has carried out hundreds of protests across the UK aimed at disrupting the operations of companies they accuse of profiting from Israeli military operations, with a particular focus on the Israeli arms manufacturer, Elbit Systems. Palestine Action members' tactics typically involve breaking into facilities, chaining themselves to machinery, daubing buildings with red paint and destroying equipment. They include the following incidents: The group launched a series of break-ins at Elbit's Ferranti site in Oldham, near Manchester in northern England. Between 2020 and early 2022, the site was repeatedly occupied and vandalised, culminating in Elbit closing the facility in January 2022 – an outcome Palestine Action declared as a major victory. In 2021, the group occupied the Leicester drone factory operated by UAV Tactical Systems, a subsidiary of Elbit. Activists chained themselves to the roof for nearly a week. Ten people were arrested, but later acquitted. Throughout 2022, PA's actions became more frequent. In April, they blockaded another Elbit site in Braunstone, Leicestershire. In June, they broke into the Thales UK factory in Glasgow and caused more than 1 million pounds ($1.37m) of damage with smoke bombs and property destruction. Five activists were jailed. Following the launch of Israel's war on Gaza in October 2023, Palestine Action intensified its efforts. They targeted the BBC's headquarters in London with red paint to protest against the broadcaster's perceived pro-Israel bias, and blockaded facilities of arms manufacturers including Lockheed Martin, the US aerospace and defence group which has a base in London, and Leonardo, the defence and security group. Palestine Action has also expanded internationally. In November 2023, its newly launched US branch occupied the roof of an Elbit facility in Merrimack, New Hampshire, with three activists arrested and later released with misdemeanour charges. In August 2024, activists drove a van into Elbit's headquarters in Bristol, stormed the building and caused extensive damage. At about the same time, they spray-painted the Ministry of Defence, in central London, red and defaced a statue of Arthur Balfour with tomato ketchup inside the House of Commons. Balfour was a former Conservative prime minister who, as serving foreign secretary in 1917, authored the Balfour Declaration which supported the establishment of a Jewish Homeland in Palestine. In June 2025, the group carried out one of its most provocative actions to date: infiltrating RAF Brize Norton, the UK's largest airbase. Activists used electric scooters to breach security and vandalised military aircraft with red paint. What does Palestine Action say about being banned? In a statement posted on its X profile, Palestine Action said: 'The real crime here is not red paint being sprayed on these warplanes, but the war crimes that have been enabled with those planes because of the UK government's complicity in Israel's genocide.' The group added that the government's move could risk criminalising legitimate protest. The statement also accused Starmer of 'hypocrisy' since the prime minister, back in 2003, supported protesters who broke into an RAF base to stop US bombers heading to Iraq. At the time, Starmer was a lawyer. 'I think it's a very knee-jerk reaction from an embarrassed government, and it's an overblown reaction,' Siddiqui said. Siddiqui said it was unprecedented for Palestine Action to be proscribed as a terrorist organisation. 'The majority of the proscribed groups are international. The majority of them take actions in very, very different ways. Palestine Action would be a complete outlier. It's a draconian approach for the government to stifle protests that they just don't like. It's genuinely terrifying for anyone who cares about civil liberties in the UK.' In all, 81 groups are proscribed in the UK under the Terrorism Act 2000. They include political movements with armed wings such as Hamas and Hezbollah, as well as armed groups like ISIS (ISIL), al-Qaeda and Tehreek-e Taliban Pakistan.
