Palestine Action

Palestine Action is a British pro-Palestinian direct action network. Founded in 2020 with the stated goal of ending global participation in Israel's "genocidal and apartheid regime", the organisation also became active in the Gaza war protests in the United Kingdom, in the wake of the ongoing Gaza genocide. It is currently proscribed as a terrorist group under the Terrorism Act 2000, making membership of, material support for, or displaying items in support of the group a criminal offence. The group uses direct action to disrupt the UK arms industry, which it accuses of being complicit with Israel in conducting a genocide. Palestine Action have mounted 45 documented direct actions in the United Kingdom. Key targets have been British factories of Israeli weapons manufacturer Elbit Systems and RAF Brize Norton base. In their campaigns, Palestine Action have used protest, occupation of premises, destruction of property, and vandalism, which sometimes resulted in its members being arrested. An action in Filton on 6 August 2024 resulted in a lengthy legal process during which the defendants were held on remand for 18 or more months and some undertook a hunger strike. In May 2026, mixed verdicts were returned after a retrial. The British Government controversially proscribed Palestine Action as a terrorist group on 5 July 2025 under the UK's Terrorism Act 2000, a month after members of the network vandalised Royal Air Force aircraft at Brize Norton. Between proscription and the end of April 2026, British police arrested at least 3,070 individuals for showing support to Palestine Action, many of these resulting from sit-ins in Parliament Square on 9 August 2025 and 6 September 2025, and in Trafalgar Square on 4 October 2025. Further silent vigils were held in November 2025, and during the wave of silent action over 600 more arrests were made. Civil liberties groups criticised the ban as conflating protest with terrorism. Lawyers for Palestine Action have said the group can be compared to the suffragettes. Huda Ammori, co-founder of Palestine Action, said the "votes-for-women movement" would have faced the same ban, if today's terrorism laws had been in place more than 100 years ago. On 13 February 2026, the High Court of Justice ruled that the proscription was unlawful but would temporarily remain in place to allow the government to appeal.