Another 47 charged for supporting Palestine Action: UK police

LONDON (AFP): London’s Metropolitan police said Monday it had charged another 47 people with supporting Palestine Action, bringing the number of activists accused of backing the banned “terrorist” group to 114.

The accused, aged between 18 to 81, will appear in court on October 27 and 28, and face a possible maximum sentence of six months’ imprisonment if found guilty, the Met said in a statement.

The UK government proscribed Palestine Action as a terror group in July after two planes were vandalized at a Royal Air Force base, causing an estimated £7 million ($9.3 million) of damage.

Rights groups and UN experts have condemned the ban as legal overreach and a threat to free speech, and several protests have been held in London to denounce the move.

More than 700 people have been arrested, mostly at demonstrations, since the group was outlawed under the Terrorism Act 2000. A total of 114 of those detained have been charged.

Interior minister Yvette Cooper has said the group had a “long history of unacceptable criminal damage.”

And she has insisted “many people may not yet know the reality of this organization,” adding it “is not non-violent.”

Founded in 2020, Palestine Action says it is a “direct action” network aimed at denouncing what it alleges is British “complicity” with Israel, particularly over the issue of arms sales.

It has also targeted arms companies in the UK, including a branch of the Israeli group Elbit, and in March stormed a Scottish golf course belonging to US President Donald Trump writing “GAZA IS NOT FOR SALE” on the grass.

Palestine Action co-founder Huda Ammori has launched a court bid to overturn the UK government’s ban and a hearing is set for November.