The United States has imposed a Palestine Action terrorist designation on the British direct-action group, as the organisation fights a parallel legal battle in the UK courts over its proscription there.
Treasury secretary Scott Bessent announced the move on Wednesday, saying: ‘Far-left extremists, their fronts, and their enablers should be on notice: We will bring the full weight of our economic tools to bear. Political terrorism has no place in our society, and we will continue to cut the financial lifelines of these groups until they are eliminated.’
The US designation is part of a wider wave of sanctions the Trump administration is imposing against what it describes as far-left terror organisations around the world.
Palestine Action terrorist designation: what the US alleged
The Department of Treasury accused Palestine Action of having supported ‘numerous acts of terrorism since July 2020, including acts that have physically injured UK law enforcement personnel, as well as acts intended to intimidate lawful commercial enterprises and coerce the UK government’.
Palestine Action co-founder Huda Ammori rejected the designation in a social media post, saying: ‘As a Palestinian and Iraqi, the fact the country which destroyed both my homelands is calling me a terrorist, is beyond hypocritical.’
In a statement to the BBC, Ammori said the group’s actions had ‘always been about saving lives’, adding that the ban should be a ‘wake-up call to anyone who cares about free speech and democracy’.
UK proscription: arrests, jail terms and a Supreme Court challenge
Palestine Action was banned in the UK in 2025 under anti-terrorism legislation. Under that ban, membership or support for the group became a criminal offence carrying a maximum sentence of up to 14 years in prison, according to Middle East Eye. The same source reports that some 3,500 people have been arrested for allegedly supporting Palestine Action since the proscription came into force.
Four members of the group were jailed in June after a break-in at a defence firm caused more than £1m worth of damage. One person was sentenced for causing grievous bodily harm on a police officer who was struck with a sledgehammer.
The group has been contesting its UK ban through the courts. In June, Court of Appeal judges ruled that the government had made a ‘justified and proportionate’ interference with freedom of expression rights.
However, according to The Guardian, Palestine Action has since been granted permission to challenge that ruling before the Supreme Court, making it the first organisation banned under anti-terrorism law to be given a court trial to challenge its proscription.
The legal proceedings took a further turn on 13 February 2026, when the Divisional Court ruled that the Home Secretary’s original decision to ban the group was an unlawful interference with the right to protest, as protected under Articles 10 and 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights, according to Garden Court Chambers.
Palestine Action, which used direct-action tactics against Israeli-linked arms companies operating in the UK, has maintained throughout that its campaign is lawful protest rather than terrorism. The Supreme Court hearing will be the next stage in that argument.
