On June 23, the UK government announced that it planned to proscribe a pro-Palestine advocacy group named Palestine Action as a terror group, which would effectively criminalise membership of or support for the group, putting it on a par with banned terror outfits such as Al Qaeda and Daesh.

The government’s announcement has drawn backlash from human rights groups and sparked public demonstrations. 

Critics say the decision is the latest example of anti-terror laws being weaponised to stifle free expression under pressure from the Israeli lobby.

“Terrorism and proscription laws are now brazenly enabling the continuation of a live-streamed genocide,” Naila Ahmed, Head of Campaigns at CAGE International, a London-based advocacy group, said.

“CAGE International has demanded for over two decades that these powers must be abolished, as they are a threat to our collective freedoms,” she added.

“We stand in absolute solidarity with Palestine Action in their campaign to dismantle the Zionist war machine and bring an end to the genocide in Gaza.”

What did Palestine Action do?

Founded in 2020, Palestine Action quickly rose to prominence by taking bold action against Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest arms company, whose UK headquarters they drenched in red paint to symbolise the bloodshed linked to its weaponry. 

Since then, the group has launched a sustained campaign of disruption, targeting companies allegedly complicit in Israel’s military occupation and apartheid policies, including a Lockheed Martin site and several Barclays branches, through actions like blockades, property damage, and public defacement.

Describing itself as a “a direct action movement committed to ending global participation in Israel’s genocidal and apartheid regime,” Palestine Action explicitly rejects the idea that meaningful change can come without confrontation. 

The state has responded with prosecutions. In 2022, five members were imprisoned after a protest at a Glasgow weapons factory caused over £1 million in damage. 

Another £1 million in damage was reported after an action at an Elbit site near Bristol in 2024, leading to 18 activists facing serious charges, including aggravated burglary and violent disorder. 

While some have pleaded not guilty, many await trial in a process that critics say is intended to criminalise dissent rather than protect the public.

The government’s rhetoric escalated after Palestine Action spray-painted two military aircraft at RAF Brize Norton, the largest station of the Royal Air Force located in Oxfordshire, an act that allegedly caused millions in damage. 

While officials decried the move as extreme, supporters see it as a necessary escalation in the face of the UK’s deepening military ties to Israel. 

The episode appears to have served as a pretext for the UK government’s latest crackdown on Palestine solidarity activists.

What could the proscription lead to?

The potential proscription of Palestine Action would mark a serious escalation in the UK’s crackdown on pro-Palestine activism with sweeping implications.

If the group is banned under anti-terror legislation, even expressing support for it could become a criminal offence. 

Peaceful demonstrations, like the one held on June 23, could trigger mass arrests.

For the government, this outcome would be a clear win. Forcing Palestine Action into compliance, or watering down its tactics to state-sanctioned marches and low-impact protests, would strip the group of the confrontational strategy that has drawn attention to Britain’s complicity in Israeli war crimes.

“The home secretary’s decision to proscribe Palestine Action and to lay an order so swiftly in parliament on Monday will be viewed as a dangerous acceleration to authoritarianism,” Suresh Grover writes for The Guardian.

“The drastic move to outlaw Palestine Action would set a dangerous precedent where all civil disobedience actions could be classified as terrorism,” he says.

“Its real crime is being fearless and audacious in exposing the British government’s complicity with the Israeli government at a time when it is being pursued by the international court of justice for genocide, and its leaders have had arrest warrants issued against them for war crimes and crimes against humanity.”