Home Office probes Palestine Action over suspected Iran link
Palestine Action's donations are being probed amid fears that the Iranian regime is funding the campaign group via proxies
Palestine Action – which states its purpose is to 'dismantle the apartheid regime in Israel through targeted campaigns against companies that profit from the occupation and genocide of the Palestinian people' – admits on its website that as it is a grassroots movement, its funding may be 'sometimes inconsistent'. Donations can be made via its site, but the group does not publish financial information – although one of its few public donors is known to be James 'Fergie' Chambers, a US communist who is also the heir to the billion-dollar Cox Enterprises empire. NGO monitor, a research organisation that holds activist groups to account, has blasted Palestine Action for not revealing its funding sources, saying this 'reflects a lack of transparency and accountability'. And now the Home Office has waded in, with concerns about exactly where the group is getting the significant sums required for its legal costs. Dear oh dear…
Cooper told the Commons on Monday that her decision to proscribe the group was made in parr by considering Palestine Action long history of controversial and damaging stunt. In 2022, seven members of the group broke into the Bristol headquarters of Elbit Systems UK, a subsidiary of the Israel-based arms manufacturer, with sledgehammers. In the same year, the group attacked the Thales defence factory in Glasgow and Instro Precision in Kent. In March last year, a Palestine Action activist slashed a 1914 portrait of Lord Balfour at Trinity College, Cambridge. The following month, four activists were charged with causing some half a million pounds worth of damage at the Teledyne factory in Shipley, which supplies electronics to the defence sector. Earlier this year, Palestine Action sprayed Allianz Insurance's London offices with red paint and graffitied Donald Trump's Turnberry golf course in Scotland. They don't do things by halves, eh?
The Home Secretary will lay a draft proscription order next Monday, and MPs will vote on the motion the following Wednesday. If passed, it is down to the House of Lords to have the final say before the legislation comes into force on 4 July. Stay tuned…
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mirror
12 minutes ago
- Daily Mirror
Brit mum arrested in Mauritius with son, 6, and suitcase full of cannabis
British mum Nastashia Artug, 35, and her Romanian partner were arrested in Mauritius after an estimated £1.6 million worth of cannabis was reportedly found inside luggage A British mum who was arrested in a drugs bust in Mauritius with her six-year-old son claimed she was "coerced" into carrying a suitcase filled with cannabis. Her Romanian partner was also said to have drugs in his luggage. Natashia Artug, 35, was one of eight people apprehended who were accused of carrying an estimated 161kg of cannabis worth an estimated £1.6million, in their bags. Her son's luggage reportedly had 24 packs of the drugs wrapped in cellophane and weighed some 14kg. Natashia, from Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, was said to be "vulnerable" and had been coerced into travelling to the island nation by people who threatened her and her family, London-based non-profit Justice Abroad said. The group said the mum also did not know the bags had cannabis inside. Her partner Florian Lisman, 38, originally from Romania, was arrested and said to be carrying 32 drug packages, an iPhone and £260. Others who were detained included Patrick Lee Wilsdon, 22, Lily Watson, 20, Shannon Ellen Josie Holness 29, Laura Amy Kappen 28, and Shona Campbell, 32. Each of them carried between 30 and 32 packages, Mauritian newspaper Le Mauricien reported. All of them had been on the same British Airways flight from London Gatwick to Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam airport last month. They have all been charged with drug trafficking and remain in custody. "Justice Abroad is representing Natashia Artug, a British mother who is currently detained in Mauritius, facing serious drug charges after being arrested at Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam airport with her six-year-old son on arrival after having been forced to carry a suitcase containing cannabis without her knowledge," the non profit said. "Natashia is a single mother of two, who suffers from fibromyalgia [a condition characterised by cognitive difficulties] but who attends university to give her children a better future. She was coerced into travelling to Mauritius with her young son, and to carry the luggage which she did not know contained cannabis, by individuals involved in the drugs trade who took advantage of her vulnerability and made threats to cause serious violence to her and her family if she refused to obey their orders. "The luggage they were forced to carry was fitted with Apple tacking devices used by international drug trafficking gangs to help smugglers keep abs on their shipments." The boy, who was unaware of what was in his bag, has reportedly already flown back to the UK and is staying with his dad. Justice Abroad has since launched a Crowd Justice fundraising campaign in a bid to raise £5,000 toward her legal defence. A Foreign Office spokesperson told MailOnline: "We are supporting a British national detained in Mauritius and are in contact with the local authorities.
The National
an hour ago
- The National
Led by Donkeys stage Gaza protest outside Labour HQ
On Tuesday, Led by Donkeys erected a large poster opposite the Labour Party HQ in London, which showed an image of the Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza. On the poster were the words: "Protesting this isn't terrorism." (Image: Led By Donkeys, via Twitter/X) Led By Donkeys said: "We've turned their street into Jabaliya camp in Gaza. A genocide is happening, but the Labour government is supplying weapons, intelligence and diplomatic cover to the perpetrator. "Protesting this is not terrorism." READ MORE: 'If not now, when?': Cabinet ministers pressure Keir Starmer to recognise Palestine The campaign group later said two activists had been arrested and removed by police, sharing an image of a man being taken away by the police. (Image: Led By Donkeys, via Twitter/X) The Met Police has been contacted for further information. The reference to "terrorism" likely refers to the designation of Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation, which was brought in by the Labour Government earlier this month. It means that membership of or support for the group is a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison. READ MORE: Seamus Logan: I've been an SNP MP for a year. Here's what it's been like However, condemning Israeli actions in Gaza or showing support for Palestine does not automatically create any connection to a proscribed organisation such as Palestine Action. According to campaign group Defend Our Juries, nearly 200 people have been arrested within a fortnight in the UK under terror law since the proscription of Palestine Action came into effect. Most recently in Scotland, three people were arrested under the Terrorism Act following a national pro-Palestine demonstration on Saturday. The men, aged 78, 60 and 58, were arrested in Edinburgh "for showing support for a proscribed organisation". The Labour Party has been contacted for comment.
BreakingNews.ie
an hour ago
- BreakingNews.ie
More than 100 aid and rights groups call for action as hunger spreads in Gaza
More than 100 largely aid and rights groups on Wednesday called for governments to take action as hunger spreads in Gaza, including by demanding an immediate and permanent ceasefire and the lifting of all restrictions on the flow of humanitarian aid. In a statement signed by 111 organisations, including Mercy Corps, the Norwegian Refugee Council and Refugees International, the groups warned that mass starvation was spreading across the enclave even as tons of food, clean water, medical supplies and other items sit untouched just outside Gaza as humanitarian organisations are blocked from accessing or delivering them. Advertisement "As the Israeli government's siege starves the people of Gaza, aid workers are now joining the same food lines, risking being shot just to feed their families. With supplies now totally depleted, humanitarian organisations are witnessing their own colleagues and partners waste away before their eyes," the organisations said. "The Government of Israel's restrictions, delays, and fragmentation under its total siege have created chaos, starvation, and death." The organisations called for governments to demand that all bureaucratic and administrative restrictions be lifted, all land crossings be opened, access to everyone across Gaza to be ensured and for the rejection of military-controlled distribution and a restoration of a "principled, UN-led humanitarian response." "States must pursue concrete measures to end the siege, such as halting the transfer of weapons and ammunition." Advertisement Israel, which controls all supplies entering Gaza, denies it is responsible for shortages of food. More than 800 people have been killed in recent weeks trying to reach food, mostly in mass shootings by Israeli soldiers posted near Gaza Humanitarian Foundation distribution centres. The foundation, backed by the United States, has been fiercely criticised by humanitarian organisations, including the United Nations, for an alleged lack of neutrality. Israeli forces have killed nearly 60,000 Palestinians in airstrikes, shelling and shooting since launching their assault on Gaza in response to attacks on Israel by the Hamas group that killed 1,200 people and captured 251 hostages in October 2023. For the first time since the war began, Palestinian officials say dozens are now also dying of hunger. Gaza has seen its food stocks run out since Israel cut off all supplies to the territory in March and then lifted that blockade in May with new measures it says are needed to prevent aid from being diverted to militant groups. The Norwegian Refugee Council told Reuters on Tuesday its aid stocks were completely depleted in Gaza, with some of its staff now starving, and the organisation accused Israel of paralysing its work.
