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lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial
ARTICLE VIEW:
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3 min read
UK lawmakers vote to ban pro-Palestinian activist group under
anti-terror law despite condemnation
By Billy Stockwell, CNN
Updated:
5:25 PM EDT, Wed July 2, 2025
Source: CNN
UK lawmakers voted Wednesday to ban Palestine Action, a UK-based group
that aims to disrupt the operations of weapons manufacturers supplying
the Israeli government.
Members of Parliament voted 382 to 26 in favor of the measure against
the group after two Palestine Action activists broke into Britain’s
largest air base in central England, damaging two military aircraft.
The draft proscription order will reach the House of Lords on Thursday.
If approved by the upper house, the ban would go into effect in the
following days.
A full ban would mean that it would be illegal under UK law to be a
member of – or invite support for – Palestine Action. It would put
the group on par with terrorist organizations such as Hamas, al Qaeda
and ISIS – sparking condemnation from United Nations experts, human
rights groups, and politicians.
British Home Secretary Yvette Cooper confirmed the government’s
intention to proscribe the group on June 23, after two Palestine Action
activists sprayed red paint into the turbine engines of two Airbus
Voyagers.
Video from the scene showed activists spraying red paint into the
turbine engines of two Airbus Voyagers, which the group said were
targeted for their alleged role in carrying military cargo and for
their use in refueling Israeli, American and British military aircraft.
A Ministry of Defence source told CNN at the time that RAF Voyagers do
not carry anything for the Israeli forces or refuel Israeli aircraft.
Palestine Action announced on Monday that it had started legal
proceedings against the government’s decision. The group’s
co-founder Huda Ammori said the clampdown mirrored “many
authoritarian regimes around the world who have used counter-terrorism
to crush dissent.”
If the ban goes into effect, it would likely be the first time in UK
history that a direct action protest group has been proscribed under
anti-terror legislation, according to several human rights advocates.
Those who defy the ban could face up to 14 years in prison, according
to UK counter-terrorism police and the government. Even wearing items
of clothing which “arouse reasonable suspicion” that an individual
is a member or supporter of the group could result in six months in
prison or a fine, police say.
‘Grave misuse of anti-terrorism powers’
Human rights organisations have vehemently criticised the
government’s move, saying it is the latest in a series of draconian
measures taken by the state to clamp down on legitimate protest in the
country.
Sacha Deshmukh, Amnesty International UK chief executive, said on June
23 that proscribing Palestine Action could risk an “unlawful
interference” with the fundamental rights of peaceful assembly and
freedom of expression.
She wrote to parliamentarians on Tuesday to warn that outlawing the
group would be a “grave misuse of anti-terrorism powers.”
“Proscribing Palestine Action will mean that by the weekend, millions
of people living in the UK will have limitations on their freedom of
speech,” she said.
Experts from the United Nations also added to the growing chorus of
criticism on Tuesday, saying they were worried about the “unjustified
labelling of a political protest movement as ‘terrorist’.”
Others have previously shared messages of solidarity with the group:
“We are all Palestine Action,” Labour MP Zarah Sultana posted June
24 on X. Former Labour shadow chancellor John McDonnell said the
government’s proscription plan was “not what the counter terrorism
laws were introduced for.”
Palestine Action called the government’s reaction to its air base
action “unhinged.”
“The real crime here is not red paint being sprayed on these war
planes, but the war crimes that have been enabled with those planes
because of the UK Government’s complicity in Israel’s genocide,”
the group said in a statement on June 24.
CNN’s Kara Fox contributed to this report.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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