Palestine Action ‘to be banned’ as terror group, home secretary says
Palestine Action will be proscribed as a terrorist organisation, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has said.
The action has been taken after the activist group claimed responsibility for breaking into RAF Brize Norton last week.
Footage released online by Palestine Action showed two people inside the Oxfordshire military base.
The clip showed one riding an electric scooter up to an Airbus Voyager air-to-air refuelling tanker and appearing to spray paint into its jet engine – with reports of damage totalling millions of pounds.
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Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said “the disgraceful attack on Brize Norton” on Friday was “the latest in a long history of unacceptable criminal damage committed by Palestine Action”.
She said a draft proscription order will be laid in parliament next week and if passed, it will make it illegal to be a member of, or invite support for, Palestine Action.
Proscription can lead to prison sentences of up to 14 years for some offences, although some breaches are punishable with fines.
Saeed Taji Farouky, a member of the group, told Sky News the proscription was “completely irrational” and “without precedent”.
He branded it a “knee-jerk reaction from the government” because the group “was able to humiliate them and show serious flaws in the defences of the RAF base”.
Armed forces minister Luke Pollard said a “full review” of security at military bases was under way, and the government was working alongside counter-terror police to find the activists who broke into the Oxfordshire base.
The group has also claimed responsibility for several incidents involving red paint being sprayed on businesses.
A protest in support of Palestine Action took place on Monday in London.
Sir Mark Rowley, the head of the Metropolitan Police, said he was “shocked and frustrated” that the action was going ahead.
The Metropolitan Police said 13 people were arrested at the protest in Trafalgar Square – six for assaulting an emergency worker and one person for a “racially aggravated public order offence”.
Four people were arrested for breaching Public Order Act conditions after refusing to disperse following the imposed 3pm cut-off, and two more were held for obstructing a constable in the execution of their duty.
A Met spokesperson said officers at the protest were “surrounded on each occasion they tried to deal with an incident”.
In her statement to parliament, Ms Cooper said Palestine Action “publicises and promotes its attacks involving serious property damage”.
She said the group had claimed responsibility for an attack on a Jewish-owned business in north London, as well as causing millions of pounds of damage to defence businesses.
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The home secretary said, however, that if parliament supports the proscription, the right to “peaceful protest” will remain unaffected.
“It is vitally important that those seeking to protest peacefully, including pro-Palestinian groups, those opposing the actions of the Israeli government, and those demanding changes in the UK’s foreign policy, can continue to do so,” she added.