The 11 MPs still supporting Palestine Action
Jeremy Corbyn and Diane Abbott are among 11 MPs who have voiced support of Palestine Action despite the organisation set to be proscribed by the Government as a terrorist group.
Days after Palestine Action protestors clashed with police in central London, the former Labour leader, who sits as an independent MP, said banning the group was 'an outrageous and authoritarian crackdown on the right to oppose genocide'.
Ms Abbott, the former shadow home secretary, accused the Government of being confused between protest and terrorism.
She tweeted: 'To clarify, what Israel is doing is terrorism. What Palestine Action is doing is protesting it.' On Wednesday, she compared banning the group to prosecuting the suffragettes as terrorists.
Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary announced plans to ban Palestine Action this week, putting it on a par with terrorist groups such as Hamas, Al Qaeda and Islamic State.
The move came just three days after Palestine Action broke into Brize Norton RAF base and vandalised two military planes at a potential cost of millions of pounds.
Ms Cooper said the 'disgraceful' act was only the latest in a 'long history of unacceptable criminal damage' that has targeted defence firms, universities and charities.
It means that anyone who is a member of the group or who supports it could face up to 14 years in jail. The order proscribing the group will be laid next Monday and could become law by next Friday, putting MPs at risk of prosecution if they continue to back the organisation.
Among others who have spoken out in support of Palestine Action are two Green Party MPs, the Westminster leader of Plaid Cymru and Zarah Sultana, a Labour MP who is currently suspended.
In a tweet on X, Ms Sultana said 'We are all Palestine Action', a statement which if posted after their official designation as a terror group would be a criminal offence.
Ex-Labour MP Lord Walney, the former Government adviser on political violence, said that any MP expressing defiant support for an organisation about to be proscribed as terrorists in the UK is incredibly serious. He urged Labour to expel Ms Sultana.
He said: 'Ms Sultana is still bound by the Labour Party's code of conduct, even while she is suspended, so it is about time the party formally expels her, particularly given Palestine Action's record of violence and intimidation of workers.'
She is, however, not the only Labour MP to support the group. Kim Johnson, Labour MP for Liverpool Riverside, said: 'Palestine Action targets property, not lives. This is a dangerous attack on civil liberties. We must defend the right to protest.'
Richard Burgon, also an expelled Labour MP, claimed there is 'a long tradition in our country of people using non-violent direct action to oppose war – like the women at the Greenham Common base'. However, Palestine Action has been accused of using violent action.
He added: 'Even those opposed to such tactics should see that proscribing Palestine Action – treating them as terrorists – is a dangerous step.'
Green Party MP Sian Berry said: 'Proscribing Palestine Action sets a dangerous and worrying precedent.'
Green MP Ellie Chowns said the move to add Palestine Action to the terror organisation list is 'a shocking overreaction to a couple of protestors using paint'.
Apsana Begum, who lost the Labour whip after voting to scrap the two-child benefit cap, said: 'Proscribing Palestine Action as 'terrorists' while continuing to send arms to a state that is committing the gravest of crimes against humanity in Gaza is not just unjustifiable, it is chilling.
'The ongoing crackdown on the right to protest is a threat to us all.'
Other MPs who said similar include Liz Saville Roberts, Nadia Whittome, and John McDonnell.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: 'Palestine Action uses violence, intimidation and criminal damage to try to achieve their political aims.'
'That is not how we do things in this country. We debate issues and we vote in elections to decide issues – we don't use violence.
'These MPs who support PA's violent methods are advocating mob rule and should hang their heads in shame. Just because you disagree with someone doesn't give you the right to smash up their property. Mob rule has no place in a civilised country.'
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