Corbyn condemns UK gov’t move to ban Palestine Action
Jeremy Corby, former Labour Party leader in the UK, said the Independent Alliance, the five-MP group in parliament, “unequivocally oppose” the proscription of activist group Palestine Action.
The UK government is in the midst of a formal process to ban the group as a “terrorist” organisation. The proscription would trigger a range of criminal offences relating to support for the group.
“The use of Terrorism Act is an outrageous clampdown on civil disobedience. We implore MPs to recognise this gross misuse of state power for what it is: an assault on the democratic rights of us all,” read a statement by the Independent Alliance.
MPs are due to debate and vote on the proscription order today.
Some Palestine Action activists broke into RAF Brize Norton, the largest station of the Royal Air Force in Oxfordshire, and sprayed two military planes with red paint due to “UK government’s complicity in Israel’s genocide”.
UK approves ban on Palestine Action
British lawmakers have voted to ban the group Palestine Action, proscribing it as a “terrorist organisation”.
The designation, approved by the House of Commons in a 385-26 vote, makes it a criminal act to support the group and places it in the same category as violent groups such as ISIL (ISIS) and al-Qaeda.
Some Palestine Action activists broke into RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, the largest UK air force station, and sprayed two military planes with red paint due to the “UK government’s complicity in Israel’s genocide”.
It also disrupted operations at facilities of the Israeli weapons manufacturer Elbit Systems.
The push to designate Palestine Action as a “terrorist” group has raised alarm among civil liberties and Palestinian rights advocates, who call it an escalation in a campaign to criminalise dissent against Israel’s war in Gaza.
The designation will be voted on in the upper house of the UK Parliament, the House of Lords, on Thursday.
385-26, UK is far worse than I thought, wtf. UK is on my ban list as well.
Palestine Action accuses UK government of ‘undemocratic abuse of power’
Palestine Action has accused the UK government of an “undemocratic abuse of power” after lawmakers in the House of Commons approved a ban on the group.
The vote passed 385 to 26 on Tuesday, but campaigners say MPs were denied the chance to vote specifically on Palestine Action’s designation as a “terrorist group”.
Instead, the group was bundled into a broader motion alongside two violent neo-Nazi militias in which MPs voted to ban all three groups in one single vote.
“We don’t know – and we will never know – if MPs approve the Home Secretary’s authoritarian ban on Palestine Action,” the group said in a statement. “Instead, [UK Home Secretary] Yvette Cooper bundled our domestic civil disobedience protest group in with two violent, neo-Nazi militias and ‘murder cults’, meaning that MPs voting against Palestine Action’s proscription would have to vote against the proscription of these two extremist groups.
“Many MPs told us that as a consequence, they felt they did not have the option to vote against the measure.”
Palestine Action, which regularly targets Israeli weapons manufacturer Elbit Systems, called the move a “Trumpian” tactic of executive overreach.
The measure still requires approval from the House of Lords, which is expected to debate it on Thursday.
“We are confident this unlawful order will be overturned,” Palestine Action said, arguing its civil disobedience tactics are not “terrorism” but protest against UK complicity in “Israel’s war crimes”.
