UK Members of Parliament overwhelmingly vote to proscribe Palestine Action as a terrorist organization, with the order set to become law soon. The move criminalizes support for the group and follows incidents like the spray-painting of RAF planes.
The British Parliament has overwhelmingly approved legislation to proscribe Palestine Action as a terrorist organization, with Members of Parliament voting 385 to 26 in favor of the order on Wednesday, according to the BBC.
The measure, which amends the Terrorism Act 2000, is now expected to be formally signed by Home Secretary Yvette Cooper and implemented later this week.
Once in effect, the proscription will make it a criminal offense to be a member of or express support for Palestine Action, carrying a potential penalty of up to 14 years in prison.
The government’s decision to proscribe Palestine Action follows incidents such as the group’s break-in at RAF Brize Norton last month, where activists reportedly sprayed two planes with red paint. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer condemned the act as “disgraceful.”
The group also previously defaced a painting of Lord Balfour at Trinity College Cambridge, spraying the portrait with red paint and slashing it.
In another incident, Palestine Action members stole two busts of Israel’s first President, Chaim Weizmann, from a glass cabinet at Manchester University.
Wednesday’s proscription order also includes two other organizations: Maniacs Murder Cult, a white supremacist and neo-Nazi group, and the Russian Imperial Movement, identified as a white supremacist, ethno-nationalist organization.
The government maintains that Palestine Action meets the criteria for terrorism, defined as the use or threat of serious violence, or significant property damage, intended to influence government or intimidate the public for a political, religious, racial, or ideological cause.
Following the parliamentary vote, four individuals were arrested during a Palestine Action protest outside Westminster. The Met Police reported that those arrested included a man who “blocked the gates of Downing Street with his mobility scooter” and a woman who attempted to lock herself to a parliamentary entrance.
Palestine Action, in a statement released after the vote, criticized the home secretary for “bundled our domestic civil disobedience protest group in with two violent, neo-Nazi militias,” claiming many MPs felt they could not vote against the measure as a result. The group stated it was “confident that this unlawful order will be overturned.”
Legal challenges are already underway to temporarily block the order, with a High Court hearing scheduled for Friday in London.
