What is Palestine Action?
Palestine Action is in the news today because a UK court has ruled that the government’s decision to ban the group under anti-terrorism legislation is unlawful.
The group describes itself as a movement “committed to ending global participation in Israel’s genocidal and apartheid regime”. The group was launched in July 2020.
![Activists hold a banner saying ‘Palestine Action’ in Brandon, United Kingdom [File: Martin Pope/Getty Images]
The group says it seeks to use “disruptive tactics” to target “corporate enablers” and companies involved in weapons manufacture for Israel, such as Israel-based Elbit Systems, Italian aerospace company Leonardo, French multinational Thales and United States company Teledyne. The group has targeted British facilities linked to these companies.
In 2022, the group broke into a Thales equipment factory in Glasgow, causing damage to weapons worth more than 1 million pounds ($1.4m).
In 2021, members of Palestine Action protested on the rooftop of Elbit Systems’ subsidiary UAV Tactical Systems in Leicester for six days, until a number of them were arrested by the police.
Elbit Systems describes its drones, which have been used extensively by Israel in Gaza to deadly effect, killing large numbers of Palestinians, as “the backbone” of Israel’s drone fleet.](https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/066/312/710/695/887/original/c80479ebde43f489.png)