Pro-Palestine activists in UK deny charges after alleged RAF base break-in
Five pro-Palestinian activists have pleaded not guilty to charges over an alleged break-in at a British military air base, where two aircraft were damaged in protest against the UK’s support for Israel.
The defendants are accused of entering RAF Brize Norton in central England in June last year and spraying red paint on two Voyager planes used for refuelling and transport.
Palestine Action, the campaign group that said it carried out the action, has since been proscribed by the UK government. The group said the protest was aimed at Britain’s shipment of military cargo and surveillance flights over Gaza.
Lewie Chiaramello, Jon Cink, Amy Gardiner-Gibson – also known as Amu Gib – Daniel Jeronymides-Norie and Muhammad Umer Khalid appeared at London’s Old Bailey via video link from prison. Four of the defendants took part in a recent hunger strike.
They deny charges of criminal damage and entering a prohibited place for a purpose prejudicial to the safety or interests of the UK. Their trial is scheduled to begin in January 2027.
UK taking political prisoners to evade accountability for Gaza genocide
In June 2025, the UK government proscribed the UK-based group Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation under the Terrorism Act 2000.
This was not a security decision, but a political one, marking an unprecedented escalation in the criminalisation of Palestine solidarity in the United Kingdom.
Palestine Action members have engaged in non-violent direct action aimed at disrupting the UK’s complicity in the Gaza genocide, targeting facilities linked to Israel’s arms industry operating in the UK, including Elbit Systems sites and elements of British military infrastructure.
Rather than confronting its own actions, the government has sought to divert attention from the central issue: the UK’s role in the Gaza genocide.
Throughout Israel’s assault on Gaza, the UK has provided sustained political and diplomatic support, supplied vital components for F-35 fighter jets, and conducted R1 surveillance flights over Gaza.
Taken together, these actions render the British government not merely complicit, but materially involved in the violence itself.
