By Jim Stead
On 4 July 2025 the British parliament proscribed Palestine Action with just 26 MP’s voting against, Jeremy Corbyn (independent left MP) asked, unsuccessfully, for the proscription vote to be taken in three parts because the bill included two proposed proscriptions – a violent neo-Nazi group ‘Maniacs Murder Cult’ and an ultranationalist white supremacist ‘Russian Imperial Movement’.
The UN experts had urged the United Kingdom not to ban the “direct action” group Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation under the Terrorism Act 2000. Banning Palestine Action makes criminal offences out of actions relating to the group, including membership, inviting support for it, arranging a meeting in support of it and publicly wearing clothing or carrying articles associated with the group. Disproportionate penalties of up to 14 years in prison could apply. [i]
PA was a non-violent protest organisation against the genocide of Palestinians and against the use of British military equipment enabling Israel’s genocidal attacks and bombing of men women and children and the wholesale destruction of Palestine. The ‘final straw’ for the Labour government was PA members spray painting two RAF planes with red paint.
PA had great support from the youth and Palestinian activists across the country. Many link this struggle with the direct action of the suffragette movement before WWI, and the women of Greenham Common (who took direct action against the storage of nuclear weapon) at an RAF base.
Hypocritically as MPs vote to proscribe PA, 200 female MPs gather in parliament to pay tribute to the suffragette movement wearing sashes in the colours of the suffragettes.
On 5 July many unions attended demos, with their flags. Mass protests continue in support of Palestine as state repression attacks the right to protest. The London Police have increasingly used criminal law to harass pro-Palestine activists and journalists, most commonly for what speakers say. Under the Criminal Justice Act 2003, courts are imposing bail conditions and exclusion zones around protest sites, as imposed on climate protesters. Universities have called on the police to arrest BDS campaigners rather than engage with their demands and use court injunctions, which can trigger contempt of court decisions leading to up to two years imprisonment if ignored.
The British government is reshaping the law to demonise, persecute, punish and intimidate pro-Palestine activists, as they fail to say why ‘criminal’ acts cannot be prosecuted under criminal laws.
Proscription of Palestine Action goes way beyond current used
The proscription of Palestine Action constitutes an authoritarian move, criminalising non-violent protest and freedom of expression, setting a very dangerous precedent for the rights and freedoms of all in the UK.
A survey recently found 57% of the British public supports a full arms embargo on Israel.[ii] Hundreds of thousands regularly join protests calling for an immediate end to arms exports to Israel.
Anti-Terror laws expand state repression further by weaponising vague terms like ‘support’ (Section 12 of the Terrorism Act 2000) and ‘glorification’ to criminalise dissent, turning protest chants, social media posts, and even solidarity into ‘terrorism’.
What is happening poses a grave danger to the working class and anyone fighting for justice, as none of us can be free until Palestine is free.
As many workers and activists are calling for a new party its programme must include free Palestine as a responsibility of the working class and its organisations. At the same time unions need to build larger and wider democratic united fronts with all the oppressed and workers to combat the attacks on workers and democratic rights nationally and across the world and we call on all unions to build bigger union blocks on Palestinian demos!
Support BDS!
Leaflet your and other workplaces to support Palestine.
Stop military equipment and all trade with Israel!
Expel the Israeli embassy from Britain!
[i] https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/07/un-experts-urge-united-kingdom-not-misuse-terrorism-laws-against-protest
[ii] https://palestinecampaign.org/polling-reveals-huge-public-support-for-arms-embargo/
