US designates UK-based Palestine Action as foreign ‘terrorist group’

The United States has designated the UK-based Palestine Action group as a specially designated global terrorist organization, effective Wednesday. The move follows a UK government ban on the organization, which has resulted in thousands of arrests. Set up in 2020, Palestine Action's stated goal is to end global participation in Israel's genocidal and apartheid regime.

The organization gained attention after Israel launched a military campaign in Gaza following a Hamas attack in southern Israel on October 7, 2023. Rights groups have criticized the UK ban, arguing it aims to criminalize dissent. In addition to Palestine Action, Italy-based Autistici/Inventati and pro-Palestinian group Masar Badil have also been designated as terrorist organizations by the US.

US officials assert that these groups are violent far-left terrorist groups. Secretary of State Marco Rubio described Autistici/Inventati as a major far-left tech collective utilized by the most active and violent Antifa cells worldwide. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated that Washington will employ its full economic tools against these far-left groups, cutting off their financial support until they are eliminated.

Palestine Action's co-founder, Huda Ammori, called the UK ban and US terror designation a wake-up call for those who value free speech and civil liberties, emphasizing that the group's activities aim to save lives by disrupting Israel's war machine.