The UK’s decision to proscribe Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation has been met with alarm well beyond its borders, with Irish artists, writers and musicians prominent among those denouncing the move. For many, the issue is not just about support for the group’s tactics and objectives but also whether the UK is abandoning its own liberal traditions.
Palestine Action is only five years old. Its activists have targeted Elbit Systems, Israel’s biggest arms manufacturer, through rooftop occupations, graffiti and the destruction of equipment. They have also broken into an RAF base, causing millions of pounds of damage to aircraft. These campaigns have been controversial and have led to prosecutions but the organisation says it will never use violence against human beings.
Proscription means that membership, fundraising or even public endorsement of the group can lead to prison sentences. Until now such powers were directed at paramilitary organisations engaged in armed violence. To apply them to a protest movement – however unruly – marks a clear departure.
The absurdity of the decision is highlighted by the double standards applied in Northern Ireland, where public displays of support for proscribed paramilitary groups are often tolerated in the name of political stability.
READ MORE
The UK once prided itself on offering refuge to political dissidents, from European revolutionaries to anti-colonial activists. London in particular was famed as a haven for radicals who could not speak freely at home. The spectacle of the country now jailing people for wearing a t-shirt with the wrong slogan is difficult to reconcile with that tradition.
There is a broader context. In recent years governments have grappled with the rise of political extremism online. Social media platforms have been pressured to suppress racist and violent content, while new hate speech laws have been proposed. Even when well-intentioned, however, such laws raise troubling questions about heavy-handed policing of expression. This week’s detention of Irish writer Graham Linehan by armed police officers at Heathrow airport over comments he had posted on social media have prompted widespread accusations of overreach.
Similar questions arose in Ireland last year during the debate over new curbs on hate speech, which were ultimately abandoned. There is a risk that the line between countering genuine incitement and narrowing the space for dissent is becoming dangerously blurred.
The proscribing of Palestine Action is therefore more than a quarrel about one radical group. It is a test of whether the UK still accepts that noisy, disruptive protest has any place in democratic life. Keir Starmer’s government has overreached. The proscription should be withdrawn.
