UK must designate Palestine Action as a terrorist organization to curb violence - comment

British law enforcement last week announced charges for 10 activists who violently attacked a Bristol area defense firm facility, but the incident was part of a broader campaign of terrorist activity by an anti-Israel organization that regularly carries out attacks on banks and businesses. To end this campaign, UK-based Palestine Action should no longer be afforded impunity or be permitted to engage in political violence and vandalism. Western states should proscribe it as a terrorist organization.

At least 10 activists raided Elbit Systems UK’s Horizon facility in South Gloucestershire on August 6, ramming their way into the building with a prison van and wounding two police officers and at least one employee with weapons that included sledgehammers, axes, and whips.

The incident is an escalation in the operations of Palestine Action but is not an exceptional departure from their standard operating procedure. In the United Kingdom, the group engages in almost daily acts of destruction and vandalism.

Activists rammed the gates of a Wirral Teledyne factory on July 5 so they could vandalize machinery and vehicles because they believed it would stop the production of parts meant for Israeli Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II aircraft. JP Morgan’s Edinburgh and Manchester offices were vandalized in June because the investment bank ostensibly invested in Israeli defense firms. Kite Packaging, whose products were allegedly found by the group during a June 17 raid on a Kent Elbit facility, had their new store graffitied and their windows smashed, though they said that Elbit was not even one of their customers.

Palestine Action has branches throughout Europe and the United States. On July 15, an Austrian Elbit Systems subsidiary’s factory was defaced by a chapter of the activist network.

A Saturday Instagram post for an online workshop advertised lectures from Palestine Action leaders from Germany, Netherlands, and Italy.

Violence against Israeli affiliation 

Institutions that have any perceived financial or organizational ties with Israel or Israelis are valid targets of Palestine Action and risk having their storefront painted red, their windows smashed, or their equipment destroyed. The objective of the violence is to force companies and organizations to completely disassociate with the Jewish state.

The result of anti-Israel intimidation can be seen in Barclay’s consideration of plans to withdraw from future Israeli government bond auctions due to anti-Israel activist pressure, as reported by the Financial Times. Palestine Action activists attacked Barclays Altrincham and Chatham branches on June 24 and claimed to have vandalized 20 other branches across England and Scotland earlier that month.

While the August 6 suspects were charged with multiple offenses that the Crown Prosecution Service said “have a terrorist connection,” other activists associated with Palestine Action have been spared from being charged with terrorism offenses. Far from receiving harsh treatment, their cases are regularly dropped, ended with “not guilty” verdicts, or met with light sentencing. After four years of operation, the activists are not just undaunted by slaps on the wrist, they are escalating.

Under the UK 2000 Terrorism Act, terrorism consists of the use or threat of serious violence, property damage, or endangering of life designed to influence the government or the public or to advance political, religious, racial, or ideological agendas.

The US State Department defines terrorism as “a violent act or an act dangerous to human life, property, or infrastructure” that “appears to be intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population; to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination, kidnapping, or hostage-taking.”

In light of this, Palestine Action’s operations fall under both definitions of terrorism. It is seeking to coerce companies and members of the public to cut all ties with citizens and representatives of another state under the threat of serious damage to their livelihoods and businesses. The August 6 attack demonstrates that its members do not shy away from enacting physical violence against anyone who stands in their way.

Enforcing the Terrorism Act

The so-called “actionist” operations, for instance, appear to fall under several British offenses associated with terrorism. Section 5 of the Terrorism Act holds that the preparation of terrorist acts is a crime. Palestine Action’s infiltration operations are highly choreographed and planned, indicating that the group engages in such premeditated activity.

Moreover, the organization regularly publishes its actions on social media, glorifying its operations and encouraging others to join them, such as an August 1 Instagram post that told supporters to meet them at a target’s address. This appears to violate the 2006 Section 1 amendment on the encouragement of terrorism.

It is an offense in the UK to provide training for the preparation of terrorism, yet Palestine Action openly provides training days for “direct action” in multiple cities. Case in point, on August 5, it advertised training days in Manchester on August 11 and in London on August 14 and 25.

Classifying the offenses of the August 6 attackers as having a “terrorist connection” to foster harsher sentencing and potentially label them as terrorists if convicted is a first step to addressing the violence of Palestine Action.

However, only by proscribing the organization as a terrorist group will Palestine Action be fully deterred. This will allow the law to discourage it by inditing the organization with severe charges or by putting its members behind bars, where they will no longer be a threat to society.