LONDON: The British government’s decision to ban the pro-Palestinian activist group Palestine Action under terrorism laws is facing scrutiny after a secret intelligence assessment found most of the group’s activity “would not be classified as terrorism,” .
The Labour government outlawed the group in July under the Terrorism Act, putting it on the same footing as around 80 other organizations, including Al-Qaeda and Daesh.
The move criminalized membership, support and financing of the group, and hundreds of protesters have since been arrested for showing solidarity.
Minister of State for Security Dan Jarvis defended the designation, citing “clear advice and intelligence” after what he called an “escalating campaign involving intimidation and sustained criminal damage.”
Palestine Action, founded in 2020, has carried out break-ins and vandalism at facilities linked to Israel’s weapons manufacturer Elbit Systems, and in June activists damaged aircraft during a raid on Britain’s largest air base.
But a declassified March 7 report seen by the NYT, from the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre which is part of MI5, painted a more cautious picture.
It noted that activists had caused serious damage, including one case where a protester attacked police officers with a sledgehammer. It also found the group’s underground manual encouraged sabotage.
However, it concluded “a majority of the group’s activity would not constitute an act of terrorism,” with common tactics being graffiti, sit-ins, and minor vandalism. The assessment also said it doubted the group would encourage attacks on people, something typical of other proscribed groups.
The report identified three incidents that could meet the terrorism threshold, all involving property damage at Elbit-linked sites.
One, a high-profile break-in at a Glasgow factory, was later prosecuted only as a “breach of the peace.” Scottish police records cited by The Times newspaper said the activity “has not been close to meeting the statutory definition of terrorism.”
Former officials and legal experts say the case highlighted how broadly terrorism laws were now being applied.
Alan Greene of Birmingham Law School told the NYT the Palestine Action ban “marks a radical departure from what came before” by relying on property destruction rather than threats to life.
UN human rights chief Volker Turk urged Britain to reverse the measure, warning it expanded terrorism “beyond clear boundaries.”
Home secretary Yvette Cooper, who advanced the ban, told Parliament the Glasgow raid had caused more than £1 million ($1.35 million) in damage to submarine parts, though court evidence put the figure at about £190,000 with the remainder attributed to lost revenue.
British politicians were also forced to vote on Palestine Action’s designation alongside two violent white-supremacist groups, which critics said made opposing the measure politically unfeasible.
Palestine Action formally dissolved after the ban, but supporters continue to campaign against its proscription, which the group is challenging in London’s High Court, with a hearing set for September 25.
The report’s findings were released as campaigners opposing the government’s decision to ban the group said they were preparing a week of demonstrations, beginning at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool later this month and ending with a mass rally in London’s Parliament Square on Oct. 4.
The protest wave was announced on Friday by Defend Our Juries, a group that has led opposition to the proscription, .
It comes a week after 857 people were arrested under the Terrorism Act outside Parliament, where demonstrators displayed signs reading “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action.”
Organizers described the next phase as a “major escalation” that would pose an “unprecedented challenge” for police, claiming more than 1,100 people have already pledged to risk arrest.
“The blame lies squarely with the government for pursuing this authoritarian ban, plunging an overstretched police force, courts and prisons into further chaos,” a spokesperson said. They urged Cooper to heed MPs, peers, UN experts and party members calling for the measure to be lifted.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer was accused of “grotesque double standards” for meeting Israeli president Isaac Herzog this week while activists faced arrest for displaying cardboard placards. Organizers vowed to target Labour’s conference, beginning Sept. 28, in defiance.
Defend Our Juries has also encouraged nationwide acts of solidarity, asking supporters to place signs in their windows. The move followed a viral video of former Labour councillor Keith Hackett being told by police he could legally display a Palestine Action poster at home but not in public.
Since the ban came into force, more than 1,600 people have been arrested, including religious officials, doctors, veterans and elderly activists. The figure already exceeds arrests made in the UK during the entire post-2001 “War on Terror.” Most detainees have not been charged, though seven alleged organizers appeared in court last week.
The Trades Union Congress this week unanimously passed a motion demanding the ban’s repeal, calling it a “significant abuse of counterterrorist powers and a direct attack on our right to protest against the genocidal Israeli regime.”
