'Repressive': UK government confirms Palestine Action terror proscription as hundreds rally
British Home Secretary Yvette Cooper confirmed her plan to ban Palestine Action under anti-terror legislation, as hundreds protested in central London on Monday.
The police banned protesters from assembling outside parliament, so hundreds rallied in Trafalgar Square where scuffles took place between protesters and the police.
London's Metropolitan Police said that three people were arrested.
If the decision to proscribe the activist group is passed by parliament, the move will designate the group a terrorist organisation, making membership and support illegal.
The announcement came after activists broke into a RAF Brize Norton airbase on scooters and sprayed war planes with red paint.
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In a statement, Cooper branded the action as “disgraceful", adding that “the UK’s defence enterprise is vital to the nation’s national security and this government will not tolerate those that put that security at risk”.
She claimed the group’s activities have targeted “key national infrastructure and defence firms that provide services and supplies to support Ukraine”.
'Has there been additional pressure on this government by a third country?'
- Simon Pook, lawyer for Palestine Action
Cooper said a draft proscription order will be laid before parliament next week. If passed, it would effectively ban the group.
“This is completely unprecedented and totally shocking,” Palestine Action spokesperson Max Geller told Middle East Eye.
“This is was an incredibly rushed decision, and it came on the heels of a staggering humiliation of the British military establishment by two activists on scooters, and this seems like the end result of a rush job with no consultation."
Geller, who is not a British citizen and carries American nationality, said that the move could threaten his ability to stay in the country.
“I have two little British children and a British wife. If this thing happens, I’m not sure I’ll be able to stay in the country because the forms ask you to say if you’ve ever been a member of a terrorist organisation.”
Additional pressure
According to the Home Office website, when deciding whether proscription is proportionate, the home secretary will consider “the nature and scale of an organisation’s activities” and “the specific threat that it poses to the UK” and “the specific threat that it poses to British nationals overseas”.
“I don’t see how Palestine Action fit the criteria,” Simon Pook, a lawyer who represents Palestine Action activists currently facing trial, told MEE.
“Has there been additional pressure on this government by a third country?”
In May, freedom of information disclosures suggested that the UK had shared contact details of counterterrorism police with the Israeli embassy during ongoing investigations into Palestine Action (PA) activists.
Past disclosures revealed apparent requests by the Israeli embassy for intervention in individual cases.
“What was said? Did they ask for proscription?” Pook said.
Pook said that the case is similar to that of the Fairford Five - a group of activists who broke into an RAF airbase and sabotaged US bombers before they flew to Iraq in 2003.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer, then a barrister who defended one of the protesters, argued that their actions were justified as an attempt to prevent war crimes.
Starmer represented Josh Richards, who was allegedly found with a mixture of petroleum and washing-up liquid intended to set fire to a military jet.
“People may be outraged about spraying red paint on military jets. In my view, that is far less serious than having a can of petrol,” Pook said.
Pook further raised concerns about the implications of proscription on families and support teams of activists held in prison, who could be deemed as supporting a terrorist organisation.
"What happens to those people travelling to court, waiting at police stations to take people home?" he asked.
“It's a very grey area and they can easily find themselves before a court."
Clare Hinchcliffe, the mother of Zoe Rogers, a Palestine Action activist who is currently in prison and awaiting trial, spoke at the demonstration wearing a T-shirt calling for her daughter’s release.
“This is an issue very close to my heart, and I think it's a massive, repressive, devastating move,” She told MEE.
Speaking about her daughter’s continued imprisonment, she said Rogers had been refused bail three times, despite meeting the conditions.
“She’s got no previous convictions or charges against her. She’s only 21 years old,” she said.
“I'm going to continue to advocate for my daughter. It's ridiculous.”
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