Explainer
British MPs voted to ban the group as a terrorist organisation, but what could they actually do?
Members of the UK parliament this week voted overwhelmingly to ban Palestinian action, a campaign group as a terrorist organisation under anti-terrorism law, placing groups comparable to armed groups such as al-Qaeda and ISIL (ISIS).
The draft to amend the 2000 Terrorist Act passed the House of Representatives by 385 votes Wednesday to do this, brought by Interior Secretary Yvette Cooper.
Police said Cooper posted the orders in Parliament a few days after Palestinian activists broke into Raf Brides Norton, the largest station in the Royal Air Force in Oxfordshire.
On Friday, the London High Court heard a challenge to the order. Palestinian Action co-founder Huda Ammori is seeking a temporary block on the law.
Prime Minister Kiel denounced the Airbus Voyager incident on the X-Post, saying “the vandalism committed at Rough Brides Norton is dishonorable.”
Palestinian actions describe themselves as “a pro-Palestinian organization that takes direct action and disrupts the UK’s arms industry.” “We are committed to ending Israeli massacre and global participation in the apartheid regime,” he said.
The government claims it is a “terrorist” outfit.
But what did the group actually do?
What happened at Brides Norton?
In the best move ever made by the group, activists sprayed red paint on the turbine engines of two Airbus Voyager aircraft used for air refueling.
According to Manaal Siddiqui, a spokesman for Palestinian Action, [Royal Air Force] The aircraft can be used to refuel and are used to refuel Israeli fighter jets. He added that Brize Norton’s plane will fly to a Royal Air Force Base in Cyprus, where “it will be dispatched on a spy mission, and information will be shared with the Israeli government and the Israeli Air Force.”
What else did the group do?
Since its establishment in July 2020, Palestinian Action (PA) has carried out hundreds of protests across the UK aimed at thwarting businesses that accused them of profiting from Israeli military operations, with a focus on Israeli arms maker ELBIT System.
Tactics for Palestinian Action members usually include invading facilities, chaining to machines, molting buildings with red paint, and destroying equipment.
They include the following incidents:
The group began a series of damages at Elbitt Ferranti Site in Oldham near Manchester, northern England. Between 2020 and early 2022, the site was repeatedly occupied and destroyed, culminating in January 2022 with Elbit, closing the facility. In 2021, the group occupied the Lester Drone Factory run by UAV Tactical Systems, a subsidiary of ELBIT. Activists were chained to the roof for almost a week. Ten people were arrested but later found acquittal. Throughout 2022, PA behavior has become more frequent. In April they blocked another Elbitsite in Brownstone, Leicestershire. In June they invaded the Thales UK factory in Glasgow, causing more than 1 million pounds ($1.37 million) of damage in smoke bombs and property destruction. Five activists have been jailed. After the Israeli War on Gaza began in October 2023, Palestinian Action intensified its efforts. To protest against London, they targeted the BBC headquarters in London to the BBC headquarters in London, protesting against lockdown facilities by arms manufacturers such as Lockheed Martin, a US aerospace and defense group with bases in London, and Lockheed Martin, including defense and security group Leonardo. Palestine’s actions are also expanding internationally. In November 2023, the newly launched US branch occupied the roof of the Elbitt facility in Merrimack, New Hampshire, and three activists were arrested and later released on misdemeanors. In August 2024, activists drove the van to Elbitt’s headquarters in Bristol, raiding the building, causing great damage. At about the same time, they painted the Department of Defense in central London red and tainted the statue of Arthur Balfour, carrying tomato ketchup inside the house. Balfour was a former conservative prime minister and in 1917 he served the Foreign Secretary and wrote the Balfour Declaration, which supported the establishment of Jewish homelands in Palestine. In June 2025, the group penetrated one of the most provocative actions of all time: Raf Brize Norton, the UK’s largest air force base. Activists used electric scooters to break security and destroyed military aircraft with red paint.
What do you say about the ban on Palestine’s actions?
In a statement posted on X Profile, Palestinian Action said: “The real crime here is not the red paint sprayed on these fighter planes, but the war crimes made possible on those planes due to the accomplices of the British government in the Israeli genocide.”
The group added that government moves could risk criminalizing legitimate protests.
The statement also accused the prime minister of “hypocrisy” and prioritized the prime minister as supportive of protesters who invaded RAF bases in 2003 to stop US bombers heading to Iraq. At the time, my priorities were lawyers.
“It’s a very kneeling reaction from the embarrassing government, and I think it’s an exaggerated response,” Siddiki said.
Siddiqui said it is unprecedented for Palestinian actions to be banned as a terrorist organization. “The majority of the banned groups are international. Most of them act in very different ways. Palestinian behavior is completely extraordinary. It’s a tough approach to curbing protests that the government hates. It’s really scary for those who care about British civil liberties.”
In total, 81 groups are prohibited in the UK under the 2000 terrorist attacks law. It includes armed winged political movements such as Hamas and Hezbollah, as well as armed groups such as ISIS (ISIL), al-Qaeda and Tehrik-E Taliban Pakistan.
