Latest news with #directaction
Yahoo
15-07-2025
- Yahoo
Three women arrested under Terrorism Act after van driven into Edinburgh factory fence owned by defence company
Three women have been arrested under the Terrorism Act after a van was driven into an Edinburgh-based defence company's fence. Police Scotland said the three women - aged 31, 34 and 42 - were arrested after a disturbance in the Crewe Road North area of on Tuesday. The force said a van was driven into an external fence of a business premises, and that its Counter Terrorism Unit was leading the investigation. It added: "Enquiries are ongoing. We are treating this as targeted, and we do not believe there is any wider threat to the public." Direct action campaign group Shut Down Leonardo - which said it aims to target aerospace, defence and security company Leonardo's headquarters in Edinburgh - posted a photo of the van. It shows police on the roof of the vehicle, which has a Palestine flag hanging off the back. Shut Down Leonardo claims the factory makes components for Israel's F-35 fighter jets. In a separate post, the group said "we're taking action to shut down Leonardo's weapons factory in Edinburgh" and shared a video of an "action taker" explaining why the site has been targeted. Read more: A Leonardo spokesperson told the PA news agency: "Leonardo UK is subject to UK government export controls and does not supply equipment direct to Israel. "The right to peaceful protest is an important principle in our society, however, aggressive and violent activity should have no place in protest. "The intimidation of our people, who work hard to support the security and defence of the UK, is not acceptable. "Our main customer is the UK Armed Forces. We are proud to manufacture technology that supports our service personnel and helps keep them safe. Their dedication underpins the freedom on which our society is based." Palestine Action - now proscribed as a terrorist group - had also targeted Leonardo's Edinburgh site, cutting off the electricity supply to the factory in March.
Al Jazeera
10-07-2025
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
Is direct action for Palestine ‘terrorism'? The UK says it is
The United Kingdom has outlawed Palestine Action – an organisation that disrupts the arms industry in the UK with direct action in the form of strikes and protests – grouping it with ISIL (ISIS) and al-Qaeda. Supporters of the group now risk up to 14 years in prison, and arrests of protesters opposed to the listing have already begun. What does the decision reveal about the UK's approach to protest and civil disobedience, and how might it reshape the wider Palestine solidarity movement?
Times
07-07-2025
- Politics
- Times
Palestine Action is malign, but terror status goes too far
At midnight on Saturday, Palestine Action became officially proscribed under the Terrorism Act. In that ignoble status, it joins al-Qaeda, Hamas and Isis. Voicing support for, or being a member of, Palestine Action is now punishable by up to 14 years in prison. Predictably enough, a number of adherents of the anti-Israeli direct action group do not seem to have been chastened. Following a failed last-minute High Court effort to block the group's proscription, dozens of protestors were arrested over the weekend on suspicion of supporting the organisation. They included an 83-year-old priest, as well as others thought to be 'wearing clothing or displaying articles' indicating membership of a terrorist organisation. That Palestine Action is a malign force is beyond doubt. Its members include sinister ideologues, deeply confused in their geopolitical outlooks and their assessment of the best way to secure their objectives. The group's 'disruptive tactics' involve calculated acts of criminal damage, illegal occupation of premises, and intimidating acts of vandalism. Since its founding in 2020, the group has had a hand in around 500 distinct instances of 'direct action', often targeting firms and property suspected of having links to Israel. The most serious act for which the group claimed credit was when four people were arrested on suspicion of causing £7 million of damage to two military transporter aircraft at RAF Brize Norton. It was this that prompted Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, to judge that the group had 'crossed the threshold established in the Terrorism Act'. • Police defend arrest of 83-year-old Palestine Action activist Yet, however wanton its criminality, it remains a stretch to brand Palestine Action a terror group. Its members are qualitatively different from those of al-Qaeda, and pose a substantially different kind of threat to public order and national security. Their tactics more closely resemble those of extremist environmentalist groups like Just Stop Oil and Extinction Rebellion than those of Islamist terrorists. In recent months, a combination of public ill will, effective prosecution and proportionate sentencing have made it unviable for climate activists to persist with their criminal antics. In March this year, Just Stop Oil announced an end to its practices of criminal vandalism, claiming implausibly to have achieved its objectives. In reality, they were prosecuted into submission by legitimate use of the criminal law. The heavy-handed branding of Palestine Action as terrorists risks seeming absurd when bona fide hostile military groupings like the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps remain unproscribed. The destruction of property that Palestine Action has made its calling card can already be prosecuted. There are legitimate concerns that such measures risk suppressing dissent on the part of those politically opposed to the government's support of Israeli defence policy. Palestine Action's members may be misguided, but Britain must remain a country in which the right to express unpopular and dissenting political views is not subject to outright prohibition. The emergence in recent years of activist groups that make criminal forms of destruction and public nuisance their modus operandi does raise challenges for law enforcement. Lord Walney, the government's former independent adviser on extremism, has recently mooted an amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill which would give police greater power to curb the illegal antics of extremist groups that fall shy of terrorist organisations. These might include powers to block their ability to fundraise, organise on social media, or live-stream acts of criminality. These lighter-touch measures would be an obviously apt response to the level of threat posed. Palestine Action are an antisocial menace to public order; but politicians should not do them the service of taking them as seriously as they take themselves.
Telegraph
06-07-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Revealed: Palestine Action sets up secret website to recruit new members
Palestine Action has attempted to thwart the Government's terror ban by creating a secret website to recruit activists for further direct action, The Telegraph can reveal. The protest group said it would continue its activity 'regardless of the name it falls under', as it directed potential recruits to a vetting form for a 'new collective' set up an hour before Palestine Action was officially designated a terrorist organisation. The move to ban the group was spurred by it claiming responsibility for the vandalism of two Voyager aircraft at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire in June, which police said caused around £7 million of damage. Support or membership of Palestine Action is now a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison. The group's website has also been blocked in the UK. On Saturday, hours after the midnight deadline brought the ban into effect, an 83-year-old retired priest was among 29 protesters arrested on suspicion of terror offences. The activists had displayed signs supporting Palestine Action outside Parliament. In a statement before the protest, Scotland Yard had warned that showing support for the group would lead to prosecution. But the group's ringleaders have now been privately messaging potential recruits encouraging them to 'join the frontline against Zionism' by signing up to a 'new collective' called Direct Action Training. The message, sent on Signal, an encrypted messaging app, on Saturday, said: 'While Palestine Action is banned, we do not want this draconian move from the Home Secretary to deter your dedication to your solidarity with Palestine. 'Direct action is for everyone, regardless of the name it falls under. We do believe that by staying focused and targeting the heart of the war machine again and again, the people will be able to shut the Zionist supply chain.' Following Saturday's arrests, Sir Mark Rowley, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, was asked on the BBC's Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg whether arresting an 83-year-old priest was a good use of police time. He said: 'The law doesn't have an age limit, whether you're 18 or 80. If you're supporting proscribed organisations, then the law is going to be enforced. 'Officers, you could see, did it with great care and tried to preserve that person's dignity, but they're breaking a serious law.' The website for Direct Action Training was set up at 10.41 pm on Friday and has its internet protocol address in Iceland, a country which is not a part of any major international surveillance alliances and is renowned for its strong data protection laws. The new group, which describes itself as 'training to bring the Zionist machine down brick by brick, wall by wall', said it condemned the 'active participation of the UK' in nearly two years of 'ethnic cleansing and genocide in Gaza '. The group's website landing page said: 'Direct action has proven time and time again to be the most effective route to create the material conditions for the change we want'. To register an 'expression of interest', prospective protesters are asked 14 questions ranging from queries about their personal details to testing their 'dedication to the Palestinian cause'. The form clarifies that training 'will be specifically aimed at dismantling the Zionist war machine in the UK' and 'for this, your dedication to the Palestinian cause is key'. Candidates must disclose their full name, mobile number, email address, date of birth and where they are based. Recruits must also divulge their social media handles, the name of anyone who could 'vouch' for them, their membership of any other direct action or political groups, their understanding of direct action and any experiences of it. After this, the recruits are then asked if they have a 'political ideology that led you here' and any relevant skills. The new collective then asks recruits about their 'current knowledge of the Palestinian context,' before adding: 'Don't worry, you don't need to be an expert.' 'What led you into solidarity with Palestine?' the questionnaire probes, adding: 'What other causes are you passionate about?' The form was created using the same software as another questionnaire, seen by The Telegraph, which Palestine Action used to recruit members before it was proscribed. It also poses similar questions. In the previous 21-question form, Palestine Action said vetting had to be conducted in the 'interests of keeping cops, Zionists and other bad-faith actors out of the movement'. The Direct Action Training recruitment form also specifies that the group is looking for expertise in areas such as 'climbing' and 'organisational skills', and asks if candidates have a driving licence and would be prepared to drive for the group, given that it could risk 'points on your licence'. It also asks whether participants would be 'willing to take action that risks arrest' and if there were any actions they 'wouldn't consider'. Potential recruits are further questioned about which Palestine Action protests had particularly inspired them. Last month, The Telegraph accessed a Palestine Action workshop in which its host discussed a range of tactics, including 'accountable' and 'covert' actions. The former is carried out with the aim of getting caught and raising publicity, such as locking or glueing yourself to something. The latter, the host said, involves 'covering up anything that might make you identifiable, doing the action at a certain time, making sure it is as quick as possible, and essentially trying to get away at the end of it.' She later added: 'If you're very fast on your feet then it might be worth taking the risk to do covert and run away.'
Yahoo
04-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Palestine Action ban would be ‘authoritarian abuse' of power, High Court told
Banning Palestine Action as a terror group would be 'ill-considered' and an 'authoritarian abuse' of power, the High Court has been told. Huda Ammori, the co-founder of Palestine Action, is asking the High Court to temporarily block the Government from banning the group as a terrorist organisation before a potential legal challenge against the decision to proscribe it under the Terrorism Act 2000. The move is set to come into force at midnight after being approved by both the House of Commons and the House of Lords earlier this week, and would make membership and support for the direct action group a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison. It comes after an estimated £7 million worth of damage was caused to two Voyager planes at RAF Brize Norton on June 20, in an action claimed by Palestine Action. The Home Office is opposing bids to delay the ban from becoming law, and the potential launch of a legal challenge against the decision. At a hearing on Friday, Raza Husain KC, for Ms Ammori, said that his client had been 'inspired' by a long history of direct action in the UK, 'from the suffragettes, to anti-apartheid activists, to Iraq war activists'. Quoting Ms Ammori, the barrister continued that the group had 'never encouraged harm to any person at all' and that its goal 'is to put ourselves in the way of the military machine'. He continued: 'We ask you, in the first instance, to suspend until July 21 what we say is an ill-considered, discriminatory and authoritarian abuse of statutory power which is alien to the basic tradition of the common law and is contrary to the Human Rights Act.' Mr Justice Chamberlain said that if he decided to temporarily block the ban, he could do that with either an 'interim declaration' or by making an injunction 'requiring the Secretary of State to make an order'. A further hearing to decide whether Ms Ammori will be given the green light to challenge the decision to ban Palestine Action is expected to be heard later this month. The 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'. Police said that the incident caused around £7 million worth of damage, with four people charged in connection with the incident. Amy Gardiner-Gibson, 29, Jony Cink, 24, Daniel Jeronymides-Norie, 36, and Lewis Chiaramello, 22, are accused of 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. They were remanded into custody after appearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court and will appear at the Old Bailey on July 18. The hearing before Mr Justice Chamberlain will conclude later on Friday, with the High Court judge expected to give his decision at the end of the hearing.
