Declassified Report Belies UK 'Terrorism' Designation for Palestine Action

A declassified British intelligence report published Friday by The New York Times undermined the UK government's claims and rationale for banning the direct action group Palestine Action under the country's dubious anti-terrorism law.

Speaking earlier this week, UK State Security Minister Dan Jarvis defended the government's terror designation for Palestine Action under the Terrorism Act of 2000, accusing the group and its supporters of an "escalating campaign involving intimidation and sustained criminal damage, including to Britain's national security infrastructure."

The report was published by the Times as former Labour Party leader Neil Kinnock condemned the government of Prime Minister Keir Starmer's stance on Palestine Action, telling Middle East Eye that "simply, I can't see how belonging to or demonstrating for a group that is rightly extremely concerned about the appalling situation in Gaza is terrorism."

But the leaked report, issued March 7 by the UK's Joint Terrorism Analysis Center (JTAC) and first reported by journalist Craig Murray in August, acknowledges that "the majority" of activities by Palestine Action "would not be classified as terrorism" under the law because they typically involve relatively "minor" property damage, such as "graffiti, petty vandalism, occupation, and lock-ons."

The group's actions include damaging property belonging to weapons makers such as the Israeli firm Elbit Systems, spray-painting warplanes at a British military base, and defacing US President Donald Trump's Turnberry golf resort in Scotland—acts experts say do not constitute terrorism.

"UK domestic counterterrorism legislation defines terrorist acts broadly to include 'serious damage to property.' But, according to international standards, terrorist acts should be confined to criminal acts intended to cause death or serious injury or to the taking of hostages, for purpose of intimidating a population or to compel a government to take a certain action or not," United Nations human rights chief Volker Türk said in July.

Türk added that the UK legislation "misuses the gravity and impact of terrorism to expand it beyond those clear boundaries, to encompass further conduct that is already criminal under the law."

Still, JTAC asserted that Palestine Action "commits or participates in acts of terrorism" under the law by perpetrating "incidents that have resulted in serious property damage with the aim of progressing its political cause."

The report accuses Palestine Action members of "using weapons, including sledgehammers, axes, and whips, to cause a significant amount of property damage" in one action, during which "two responding police officers and a security guard were assaulted and suffered injuries."

However, JTAC noted that it is "highly unlikely" that Palestine Action would ever "advocate for violence against persons."

"Any such call for action would constitute a significant escalation" of Palestine Action's "strategy and intent," the report states.

At least 138 people have been charged with terrorism offenses under Section 13 of the Terrorism Act, which bans displays of symbols or wearing clothing that "arouse reasonable suspicion that [a person] is a member or supporter of a proscribed organization."

The Terrorism Act has long been condemned by civil liberties defenders, who decry the law's "vague and overbroad" definition of terrorism, chilling effect on free speech and expression, invasive stop-and-search powers, pre-charge detention and control orders, sweeping surveillance and data collection, and other provisions.

More than 1,600 people have been arrested during demonstrations of support for Palestine Action—mostly organized by the group Defend Our Juries—since the group's proscription, including nearly 900 attendees of a September 6 rally in London's Parliament Square.

Many of those arrested did nothing more than hold up signs reading: "I Oppose Genocide. I Support Palestine Action."

Arrestees include many elders, including 83-year-old Rev. Sue Parfitt, who argued that "we cannot be bystanders" in the face of Israel's US-backed genocide in Gaza, which has left more than 237,000 Palestinians dead, maimed, or missing, hundreds of thousands more starving by design, and around 1 million others under the threat of imminent ethnic cleansing as Israeli forces move to conquer and occupy the coastal strip.

"I know that we are in the right place doing the right thing," said Parfitt, who was arrested at a July 6 Defend Our Juries protest in Parliament Square against the terror designation for Palestine Action.

Last week, two Metropolitan Police officers speaking under condition of anonymity said they felt guilty and ashamed of having to arrest peaceful Palestine Action supporters.

“Instead of catching real criminals and terrorists," one of the officers told Novara Media, "we are arresting pensioners and disabled people calling for the saving of children’s lives."