Home Office Minister Dan Jarvis defended the decision, asserting that Palestine Action’s activities—including damage to national security infrastructure and use of smoke bombs—go beyond lawful protest. “People engaged in lawful protests don’t need weapons,” he said, stressing that the proscription would not hinder peaceful advocacy for Palestine.

The order also includes bans on the white supremacist groups Maniacs Murder Cult (MMC) and the Russia Imperial Movement (RIM), a move critics say bundled unrelated cases to push the measure through Parliament.

Legal and Rights-Based Objections

The decision has drawn strong condemnation from legal circles and international observers. Human rights lawyers, the Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers, and several UN special rapporteurs warned that equating property damage with terrorism erodes fundamental civil liberties. “Spraying red paint and disrupting Elbit Systems is not terrorism,” a Palestine Action spokesperson said, calling the decision unlawful and politically motivated.

Yasmine Ahmed, UK director at Human Rights Watch, described the move as “a grave abuse of state power” and an alarming attempt to criminalise dissent. “The idea that a non-violent protest group could be classed in the same category as Islamic State or al-Qaida is utterly preposterous,” she added.