group’s action at RAF Brize Norton
12/10/2025
This followed the group’s action at RAF Brize Norton, where activists sprayed red paint into the engine of a Voyager aircraft. The decision, pushed through by Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, now makes it a criminal offence not only to participate in or support the group’s actions, but to be affiliated with it at all, even through symbols or verbal expressions of solidarity. Many have been arrested as a result of this.
Since its founding in 2020, Palestine Action has carried out more than 300 actions of sabotage and occupation against UK-based arms firms, especially Elbit Systems which supply drones and weapons to Israel. Its actions have included rooftop occupations, factory shutdowns, and symbolic interventions like defacing a portrait of Earl Balfour in Cambridge.
These actions have caused millions of pounds’ worth of damage, forced site closures, led to investors and suppliers abandoning the company, and brought the UK’s involvement in the Gaza genocide into the public mind. People might agree or not with the tactics employed by Palestine Action, but a recent YouGov poll showed that 55 percent of British people oppose Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, with 45 percent of British adults recognising it as genocide.
So why is the government so keen to proscribe Palestine Action as terrorists? Could it be the influence of a powerful pro-Israeli lobby? Declassified UK reports revealed in February 2024 that 20%, about 80 Labour Party MPs including 13 members of the cabinet, have received funding from pro-Israeli groups or individuals, totalling £280,000 in donations.