Met Police issue warning after Palestine Action ban comes into force
Palestine Action lost a late-night Court of Appeal challenge on Friday, which sought to stop the protest group being banned, less than two hours before the new legislation came into force at midnight.
The designation as a terror group means that membership of, or support for, Palestine Action is a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison.
It comes as a group said it is set to gather in Parliament Square on Saturday holding signs supporting Palestine Action, according to campaign group Defend Our Juries.
Proscription makes it a criminal offence under the Terrorism Act 2000 (TACT) to invite or express support for an organisation through chanting, wearing clothing or displaying articles such as flags, signs or logos, the Met said.
The Met also said it is a criminal offence to:
– belong, or profess to belong, to a proscribed organisation in the UK or overseas (Section 11 TACT);
– invite support for a proscribed organisation (Section 12(1A) TACT);
– express an opinion or belief that is supportive of a proscribed organisation (Section 12(1A) TACT);
– arrange, manage or assist in arranging or managing a meeting in the knowledge that the meeting is to support or further the activities of a proscribed organisation, or is to be addressed by a person who belongs or professes to (Section 12(2) TACT);
– wear clothing or carry or display articles in public in such a way or in such circumstances as to arouse reasonable suspicion that the individual is a member or supporter of a proscribed organisation (Section 13 TACT);
– publish an image of an item of clothing or other article, such as a flag or logo, in the same circumstances (Section 13(1A) TACT)
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The National
2 hours ago
- The National
Proscription of organisation won't end the debate around terror laws
This proscription has sweeping consequences – not only for activists formerly associated with the group, but for anyone expressing supportive views about its activities, sceptical feelings about its proscription, or displaying logos associated with the group. All of these activities can potentially expose you to significant criminal liability and risk of punishment under the Terrorism Act. In defence of this decision, Yvette Cooper argued that 'proscription is ideologically neutral', and that the UK Government is only 'demonstrating its zero-tolerance approach to terrorism, regardless of its form or underlying ideology'. READ MORE: More than 20 people arrested at protest in support of Palestine Action This is reflected, she said, by the simultaneous bans imposed on two neo-Nazi groups, including a group describing itself as the Russian Imperial Movement and another called the Maniacs Murder Cult. But you might well think that one of these organisations is not quite like the others. Founded in July 2020, Palestine Action describes itself as a 'grassroots, direct action network' committed to disrupting arms sales from Britain to Israel. One of the founders of the organisation, Huda Ammori, made an emergency application to the High Court last week, asking for the proscription order to be suspended. Ammori's application for interim relief failed, and as of yesterday, Palestine Action is now a proscribed terrorist organisation. In her evidence, Ammori characterised the organisation's aims as 'to prevent serious violations of international law by Israel against the Palestinian people, including war crimes, crimes against humanity, apartheid and genocide, and the aiding, abetting and facilitation thereof by others, including corporate actors' and 'to expose and target property and premises connected to such crimes and violation'. This disruption has most recently extended to RAF property, with the group claiming responsibility for gaining access to the Royal Air Force Base at Brize Norton last month, taking the opportunity to damage the engines and exteriors of two Voyager jets with red paint and crowbars. The Home Secretary also cites Palestine Action's 2022 at Thales UK in Govan as justification for the proscription. A small group of activists scaled a roof wearing red overalls, unfurled banners, and set off smoke bombs at the military equipment manufacturer. They have since been convicted of public order and property offences in Glasgow Sheriff Court, without any need to mobilise the Terrorism Act at all. Terrorism may be conventionally understood as the use of violence, especially against civilians, to pursue ideological ends, but as the High Court pointed out this week, UK law adopts a much broader definition of who can properly be classified as a terrorist. Blair-era legislation provides that actions taken for the purpose of advancing a political cause can be sanctioned as terrorism, 'if it involves serious damage to property, even if it does not involve violence against any person or endanger life or create a risk to health or safety'. 'In this respect,' as Mr Justice Chamberlain observed on Friday, 'the statutory concept is wider than the colloquial meaning of the term.' This gap has potential consequences. While Chamberlain emphasised that it is not the 'court's function to comment on the wisdom of the use of the power in this case,' it is difficult not to detect a degree of judicial scepticism in the reflection that the Home Secretary's decision to exercise this power 'in respect of a group such as Palestine Action may also have wider consequences for the way the public understands the concept of terrorism and for public confidence in the regime of the 2000 Act'. This point was picked up in the evidence of Professor Ben Saul, reflecting on the international context. Saul is the Challis Chair of International Law at the University of Sydney and the UN Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms while Countering Terrorism. In his submission to the High Court, Saul pointed out that 'most responsible States globally have limited terrorism designations to extremist actors engaged in grave large scale atrocities' and 'treating 'direct action' against property interests as 'terrorism' seriously over-classifies the nature of the conduct, and is fundamentally contrary to best practice international standards on the nature and scope of terrorist acts'. Doing so, he suggests, puts the UK 'out of step with comparable liberal democracies,' where 'mere property damage has seldom been a sufficient basis for designating groups as terrorist'. The Home Secretary – and the overwhelming number of MPs who voted on the proscription order – disagreed. READ MORE: David Pratt: The shadowy figures behind US-Israeli aid operation Because it is now an offence for anyone to 'belong or profess to belong' to Palestine Action, exposing anyone who does so to a fine or prison term of up to 14 years. 'Inviting support' for the organisation is now also a criminal offence. So too is expressing any 'opinion or belief that is supportive' of Palestine Action in a way which is 'reckless' and might be interpreted as encouraging an audience to support the proscribed organisation. As civil liberties organisations Amnesty International and Liberty pointed out in their High Court intervention this week, 'there is a real risk that advocacy for the de-proscription of Palestine Action could amount to one or more offences under the 2000 Act.' The consequences don't end there. The Terrorism Act and the police officers charged with enforcing it are also going to have a new interest into what you are wearing. Once an organisation has been proscribed by the British state, wearing a T-shirt, wearing a badge, or carrying a banner 'in such a way' as to 'arouse reasonable suspicion' that you support Palestine Action becomes a crime. This restriction also extends to selfies or social media posts, picturing banners or signs which could be interpreted as sympathetic to the organisation. Under section 13 of the Act, publishing an image which arouses 'reasonable suspicion that the person is a member or supporter of a proscribed organisation' can attract a prison sentence of up to six months or a fine – not to mention the wider stigmatic consequences of carrying a conviction under the Terrorism Act around with you. Anyone who organises an event after this weekend which supports a proscribed organisation, which 'furthers its activities', or which is 'addressed by a person who belongs' to such an organisation will also now commit a terrorism offence. Section 14 of the Terrorism Act defines 'terrorist property' as including any resources of a proscribed organisation. Contributing resources or donations to the organisation could now land you up to 14 years imprisonment, transforming what would have been a crowdfunding donation on Monday into 'fundraising for the purposes of terrorism' today. I came to political consciousness as an adult during the 'War on Terror' of the early Noughties. I can all too clearly remember the circular debates about how the concept of terrorism should be defined in law, concerns about ambiguous definitions, government insistence that public safety and security demanded the state and law enforcement agencies should be given more and more unstructured power above and beyond the ordinary criminal law, undiscouraged by concerns about the dangers of draconian enforcement and executive overreach. Last week's decision is guaranteed to revive these debates – but at least in terms of Palestine Action, under the long shadow of the criminal law.
The Guardian
7 hours ago
- The Guardian
Met police arrest activists holding signs referring to Palestine Action
Twenty-nine people have been arrested after protesters gathered in central London holding signs referencing Palestine Action a day after the group was banned as a terrorist organisation. The direct action protest group was banned on Friday after a last-minute legal attempt to suspend the group's proscription under anti-terrorism laws failed. It means that, from Saturday, being a member of, or expressing support for, the organisation became a criminal offence, punishable by up to 14 years in prison. The campaign group Defend Our Juries, which organised the demonstration, said 'a priest, an emeritus professor and a number of health professionals' were among those arrested. More than two dozen people gathered close to the statue of Mahatma Gandhi in Parliament Square, holding signs that appeared to express support for the group. At about 1.40pm, Metropolitan police officers began arresting people who were holding the signs. In a statement on X, the Met said: 'Officers have arrested more than 20 people on suspicion of offences under the Terrorism Act 2000. They have been taken into custody. Palestine Action is a proscribed group and officers will act where criminal offences are committed.' The force posted another update on X on Saturday evening to say 29 arrests had been made and added that those arrested remain in custody. A spokesperson for Defend Our Juries said: 'We commend the counter-terrorism police for their decisive action in protecting the people of London from some cardboard signs opposing the genocide in Gaza and expressing support for those taking action to prevent it. It's a relief to know that counter-terrorism police have nothing better to do.' On Friday, the group wrote to the Met commissioner, Mark Rowley, to give him advance warning of the demonstration. Before officers made arrests, the Guardian spoke to some of the demonstrators. Tim Crosland, of Defend Our Juries, said: 'What we're doing here as a group of priests, teachers, health workers, human rights lawyers [is] we're refusing to be silenced. Because it goes to the core of what we believe in: that we oppose genocide – I didn't think that was that controversial – and we support the people who resist genocide. 'In theory we are now terrorist supporters and can go to prison for 14 years, which is kind of crazy. I think what we are here to do is just expose the craziness of that.' An environmental campaigner, Donnachadh McCarthy, said: 'To proscribe an organisation of peaceful direct action as terrorists is a huge red line for our democracy. It means that all the rest of us, whether we're climate activists, Greenpeace, women's suffragettes, disabled activists, it means that the government can now declare any act of property damage to be terrorism, which gives you a sentence of 14 years. 'This is worse than Putin's Russia. I don't say that lightly. It's 10 years for doing what we're doing today in Russia; it's 14 years in the UK, because of Yvette Cooper's outrageous betrayal of democracy, liberalism, and what is in my view a step towards fascism.' A retired priest, Sue Parfitt, 83, said the group's ban was 'a very dangerous move that has to be challenged'. 'We are losing our civil liberties, we must stop that for everybody's sake. Whatever you want to protest about,' she said. Cooper, the home secretary, announced plans to ban Palestine Action late last month, days after activists from the group broke into RAF Brize Norton and defaced two military aircraft with spray paint. MPs voted in favour of proscribing the group on Wednesday. The House of Lords backed the move without a vote on Thursday. UN experts, civil liberties groups, cultural figures and hundreds of lawyers have condemned the ban as draconian and said it sets a dangerous precedent by conflating protest with terrorism. The ban means Palestine Action has become the first direct action protest group to be banned under the Terrorism Act, placing it in the same category as Islamic State, al-Qaida and the far-right group National Action.
Rhyl Journal
9 hours ago
- Rhyl Journal
Arrests made at protest in support of banned Palestine Action
The Metropolitan Police posted on X on Saturday afternoon saying officers are responding to the protest in Parliament Square and making arrests. Palestine Action lost a late-night Court of Appeal challenge on Friday which sought to stop the protest group being banned, less than two hours before the new legislation came into force at midnight. Officers are responding to a protest in support of Palestine Action in Parliament Square. The group is now proscribed and expressing support for them is a criminal offence. Arrests are being made. Further updates will be shared here. — Metropolitan Police (@metpoliceuk) July 5, 2025 The designation as a terror group means that membership of, or support for, Palestine Action is a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison. The move to ban the organisation was announced after two Voyager aircraft were damaged at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire on June 20, an incident claimed by Palestine Action, which police said caused around £7 million of damage. The force posted on X saying: 'Officers are responding to a protest in support of Palestine Action in Parliament Square. 'The group is now proscribed and expressing support for them is a criminal offence. 'Arrests are being made. 'Further updates will be shared here.' A group had earlier said it was set to gather in Parliament Square on Saturday holding signs supporting Palestine Action, according to campaign group Defend Our Juries. In a letter to the Home Secretary, protesters said: 'We do not wish to go to prison or to be branded with a terrorism conviction. But we refuse to be cowed into silence by your order.' Leslie Tate, 76, a Green councillor from Hertfordshire, said: 'Palestine Action are not a violent organisation, and the proscription is wrong. 'You do know, of course, that they were proscribed by Parliament with two other groups involved – all three at once – so that was a trick to make sure the Bill went through. 'The evidence from their actions that they've taken from the start of Palestine Action is that they all have been non-violent. 'This protest is necessary to defend our democracy, and this is the creeping edge of totalitarianism, frankly. 'We thought they (the police) would probably take pictures of people. 'It's the obvious thing to do, to photograph them, then they have their identity, rather than make arrests.' Metropolitan Police circled around dozens of protesters standing quietly beneath the statue of Mahatma Gandhi, with placards that said: 'I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action'. Occasional chants of 'free Palestine' broke out from the surrounding onlookers, and some criticised the police attending. The protest started at about 1.10pm and officers were seen taking people away shortly after 1.30pm. An elderly woman in a clerical collar, who was sat in a camp chair with one of the placards at her feet, appeared to be taken away by officers. Another person was seen lying on the floor in handcuffs as police gathered over her. A woman seen lying on the floor in handcuffs was carried away in the air by officers and put in a police van. While suspended and flanked by a large group of police, she said calmly: 'Free Palestine, stop the genocide, I oppose genocide, I support the rights of the Palestinian people, I support freedom of speech, I support freedom of assembly.' A mass of people crowded around to film the scene. Officers placed her in the vehicle parked on the road behind the square before returning to the Mahatma Gandhi statue, where almost no protesters remained. Chants of 'shame' broke out, directed at the police, and officers moved behind the Gandhi statue. Most of the police dispersed at around 2.10pm. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced plans to proscribe Palestine Action on June 23, stating that the vandalism of the two planes was 'disgraceful' and that the group had a 'long history of unacceptable criminal damage'. MPs in the Commons voted 385 to 26, majority 359, in favour of proscribing the group on Wednesday, before the House of Lords backed the move without a vote on Thursday. Four people – Amy Gardiner-Gibson, 29, Jony Cink, 24, Daniel Jeronymides-Norie, 36, and Lewis Chiaramello, 22 – have all been charged in connection with the incident at Brize Norton. They appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Thursday after being charged with conspiracy to enter a prohibited place knowingly for a purpose prejudicial to the safety or interests of the United Kingdom, and conspiracy to commit criminal damage, under the Criminal Law Act 1977.
