The British government’s designation of Palestine Action as a “terrorist” organization is a blatant injustice—illegitimate, immoral, and a direct attack on the right to resist oppression.
We fully stand with the Palestine Action prisoners and their unwavering struggle, and we denounce the state’s underhanded attempts to silence and criminalize solidarity with the Palestinian cause. Such acts expose the true face of imperialist power: protecting occupiers while punishing those who defend their home.
“Bad laws are the worst sort of tyranny.”
The imperialists create laws to protect themselves and label those who resist as “terrorists.” In fact, the actual terrorists are those who massacre tens of thousands of people with their high-tech rockets, bombs, and bullets; those who act as their mercenaries; and those who supply them with money and weapons.
Back in the 1980s, the US and the UK were actively supporting a group called the Afghan Mujahideen and various Islamist armed groups in the Middle East and Central Asia. They even called them “freedom fighters.” Contras in Nicaragua, militias in other Latin American countries, and so-called “Islamist” groups in Libya and Syria were all equipped and supported by the CIA against popular revolutions or legitimate governments.
The Terrorism Act 2000 is the child of the Bush-Blair partnership, during the time when they themselves were spreading terror in countries like Iraq and Afghanistan. Later, they moved to Libya, Syria, Sudan, and Yemen—basically, countries where imperialist hegemony did not exist. Up until that point, the UK was mainly targeting the Irish Nationalist movement. Overnight, national liberation and revolutionary movements that had been struggling against fascism, imperialism, and Zionism were proscribed as “terrorist” organizations.
Since then, many people have been detained, arrested, harassed, and persecuted under this Act. Legitimate protests and fundamental human rights—like freedom of speech, the right to assemble, the right to demonstrate, and the right to organize—have been targeted. Similarly, other European countries, like Germany, use their laws for the same purpose.
Now, the same Act is being used against members of Palestine Action.
On 5 July 2025, Palestine Action members were persecuted and imprisoned under the Terrorism Act, and the group was declared a “terrorist organization,” while Israel continued to terrorize the Palestinians. None of the PA members ever raised a hand against a child, whereas the murderers of the Israeli army were targeting and shooting babies. None of the PA members dropped bombs, tortured, or humiliated prisoners.
Tens of thousands of people marched through London week after week to show support for the Palestinian resistance. The media, under direct state intervention, employed censorship at levels likely unmatched since the Poll Tax riots. Protestors were even portrayed as a nuisance.
The worst nightmare of imperialism—the USA, the UK, and the EU—is to see people united and organized against its policies and existence. This is what Palestine Action has demonstrated. Their effective methods of blockading the British/Israeli arms industry created fear for the British-Zionist partnership by putting theory into action.
The main target of Palestine Action was Elbit Systems Ltd., a major Israeli defence corporation supplying weapons, drones, and surveillance technologies to the Israeli military. The company markets its products as “combat-tested,” referencing their use in Israeli military operations against Palestinians. Elbit operates internationally, including in the UK, where its facilities have been targeted by Palestine solidarity campaigns challenging British complicity in Israel’s military-industrial complex. At the time of the proscription, the UK Ministry of Defence had ties with Palestine Action’s main target: Elbit Systems was close to winning a £2-billion contract for military training.
This is a short chronological summary of what has been happening.
After Palestine Action targeted a factory of the US defence company Teledyne Technologies in 2022, Richard Dannatt, a member of the House of Lords and paid adviser to Teledyne, asked the government to take action against the group. Documents obtained by Palestine Action showed that Israeli embassy officials asked the UK Attorney General’s Office (AGO) to intervene in cases involving the prosecution of UK protesters. Redactions were made to the FOI documents because disclosure “would be likely to prejudice the UK’s relations with Israel.”
Documents obtained by Palestine Action revealed government meetings aimed at “reassuring” Elbit Systems about Palestine Action’s campaign against it. The documents demonstrate that the Home Office tried to pressure police and prosecutors to crack down on activists targeting Elbit Systems.
In May 2024, the government’s adviser on political violence, Lord Walney, published a report recommending proscribing “extreme protest groups,” including Palestine Action, though under a new category distinct from proscribed terrorist organizations. Controversially, Palestine Action was bundled together in a single order for proscription with two neo-Nazi groups, Maniacs Murder Cult and Russian Imperial Movement. MPs and Peers were therefore obliged to proscribe all three together or none of them—a move described as “sneaky” in the House of Lords.
Since proscription, it is a criminal offense in the UK to be a member of the group, fundraise for it, or display items (such as clothing or flags) that suggest support for it. These offenses carry penalties ranging from fines to up to 14 years in prison.
On another note, In September 2025, a group of five pro Palestinian activists affiliated with Palestine Action Germany broke into a facility of the Israeli arms manufacturer Elbit Systems in Ulm, Germany, and damaged equipment and property in protest against the company’s role in supplying weapons used in the war in Gaza.
The activists entered the Elbit site carrying Palestinian flags, used paint and smoke devices, and caused damage before German police arrived and arrested all five without resistance. Since their arrest, the group—commonly referred to as the “Ulm 5”—has been held in pre trial detention by German authorities under charges including property damage and alleged participation in a criminal organisation, facing harsh detention conditions and legal scrutiny. Supporters and solidarity networks have protested their imprisonment and criticised the German state’s response as politically motivated repression of Palestine solidarity activism.
On 20 October 2025, a press release issued by Prisoners4Palestine stated that on 2 November 2025, six activists held pending trial for actions during events at Filton would start a hunger strike. All of the hunger strikers were expected to be held in detention for more than a year before their trial date—twice the custody time limit of six months. A seventh prisoner started a hunger strike in the first week of December. By 9 December, ten Palestine Action activists were on hunger strike in three prisons. This is the largest hunger strike in the UK since the IRA hunger strike of 1981. Nevertheless, the action received remarkably little media attention.
The demands of the hunger strikers are:
- An end to censorship in prison
- Trial without detention
- A fair trial
- The removal of terrorism charges
- The closure of Elbit Systems
The eight Palestine Action prisoners who began a hunger strike on 2 November 2025 have suffered serious and rapidly worsening health conditions. After more than 40–50 days without food, most have been hospitalized at least once, with symptoms including extreme weakness, significant weight loss, dizziness, fainting, chest pain, shortness of breath, muscle tremors, and difficulty speaking or thinking clearly. In at least one case, a prisoner collapsed in their cell before being taken to the hospital and then returned to prison despite ongoing symptoms. Doctors and human rights experts have warned that the strikers face a high risk of irreversible organ damage and death if the hunger strike continues without adequate medical care and resolution of their demands.
On 23 December 2025, the fourth Palestinian Action hunger striker, Amy Gardiner-Gibson, ended their strike after being taken to the hospital. However, the four remaining hunger strikers—Kamran Ahmed, Heba Muraisi, Teuta Hoxha, and Lewie Chiaramello—issued a statement saying they would continue their protest.
Since July, British police have arrested at least 2,489 individuals for showing support for Palestine Action, many as a result of sit-ins on Parliament Square and Trafalgar Square.
Huda Ammori, a British-Palestinian activist and co-founder of Palestine Action, challenged the designation in the High Court on 4 July. Her call for a temporary block was denied, but the application to consider a judicial review to quash the proscription order was granted a hearing on 21 July. On 30 July, the High Court granted permission for a judicial review to be heard in November. The Secretary of State for the Home Department appealed against this decision to grant a judicial review. The appeal was heard on 25 September 2025, along with a cross-appeal on behalf of Huda Ammori seeking to allow more of her original eight grounds for opposing proscription to be considered at the judicial review. The judgment on these appeals was given on 17 October, with the government losing its appeal.
One week before the challenge was set to be heard, Mr. Justice Chamberlain, who had granted Ammori permission to appeal against the proscription, was removed from the case without explanation and replaced by a panel of three new judges. Several campaigners raised concerns over the decision, noting that two of Chamberlain’s replacements had historically ruled in favour of government interests and the third—Dame Victoria Sharp—was the sister of Richard Sharp, who reportedly had financial interests in companies targeted by Palestine Action.
Jeremy Corbyn raised the issue in the British Parliament, calling on the Ministry of Justice to meet with the prisoners’ families and lawyers. The request was rejected by government representative Jake Richards, who stated that the government and the Ministry of Justice were “satisfied with the way the case is being handled.” According to those present, his response was delivered dismissively, provoking strong criticism from opposition MPs.
“The people crushed by law have no hopes but from power. If laws are their enemies, they will be enemies to laws; and those who have much to hope and nothing to lose will always be dangerous.”
As a result, British imperialism, as the sidekick of US imperialism, acts as the protector of Zionist occupiers. Zionism seeks to eradicate the Palestinian people from their land, Palestine. By supporting Israel and oppressing those actively supporting the Palestinian resistance, British imperialism has revealed its true face, acting alongside US imperialism to protect Zionist murderers.
They create laws for their own interests and to suppress opposition. Laws separate thoughts and actions as legal or illegal. The real distinction must be between right and wrong, moral and immoral, legitimate and illegitimate.
It is right, moral, and legitimate to resist occupiers; to challenge those who actively support the occupiers.
Therefore, it is also right, moral, and legitimate to support the resistance in Palestine.
We, the Anti-Imperialist Front, demand the abolition of the TA2000, freedom for the Palestine Action prisoners, and an end to the British state’s support for the Zionist occupiers.
ANTI-IMPEPRIALIST FRONT
