Draft order to amend Terrorism Act 2000, proscribe 3 groups, including Palestine Action, passes in House of Commons
British lawmakers voted Wednesday in favor of banning the pro-Palestinian activist group Palestine Action as a terrorist organization.
The draft order to amend the Terrorism Act 2000 and proscribe three organizations, including Palestine Action, which was formally presented by Home Secretary Yvette Cooper earlier this week, was passed in the House of Commons by 385 votes to 26.
The order also bans two neo-Nazi groups, the Maniacs Murder Cult (MMC) and the Russian Imperial Movement (RIM).
On Tuesday, the government announced that Palestine Action, the Maniacs Murder Cult and the Russian Imperial Movement were set to be banned "following advice from cross-government experts."
During Wednesday's voting, Home Office Minister Dan Jarvis said: "By implementing this measure, we will remove Palestine Action's veil of legitimacy, tackle its financial support and degrade its efforts to recruit and radicalize people into committing terrorist activity in its name."
It came after plans announced by Home Secretary Yvette Cooper as a draft order had been formally presented in parliament to ban the groups.
The intention to ban Palestine Action came after activists from the group broke into the Royal Air Force's Brize Norton base in Oxfordshire and damaged two aircraft on June 20 to protest the UK's support for Israel and its attacks on the Gaza Strip.
Many politicians and human rights organizations have expressed concern since the government announced its plan to ban the group.
Recently, a group of more than 400 cultural figures urged the British government to step back from its intention to ban Palestine Action and to "stop arming Israel."
UN human rights experts on Tuesday also called on the government to abandon its plan to classify Palestine Action as a terrorist organization under the Terrorism Act 2000, warning that such a move would violate international standards and suppress legitimate dissent.
Following the vote, a spokesperson for Palestine Action said: "We are confident that this unlawful order will be overturned. As United Nations experts have made clear, spraying red paint and disrupting the British-based operations of Israel's largest weapons firm, Elbit Systems, is not terrorism."
The order will go to the House of Lords, and final approval is expected to come within days.
If passed, the order will make it a criminal offence to be a member of one of the groups or to invite or recklessly express support for them and make it an offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison to belong to or support the groups.
Meanwhile, thousands of people gathered at Downing Street outside the Prime Minister's Office on Wednesday to oppose the government's decision.
Speaking at the rally, Saeed Taji Farouky from Palestine Action said: "The very principle of solidarity with Palestine is being criminalized."
"This will not end with Palestine Action. Palestine Action is the beginning. (This is) the first layer of oppression, and it will continue. And this is what terrifies me the most. Not only that the movement of Palestine Action is being targeted itself, but that the very principle of solidarity with Palestine is being criminalized," he said.
Zarah Sultana, the Independent MP for Coventry South, said that if this order goes through, people could face 14 years in prison "for simply being here in support of Palestine Action.”
"I could go to jail, everyone here could go to jail for wearing a badge, sharing a post," she noted.
"It's about fear. It's about silencing this beautiful international diverse movement that we have built,” she added.
