Washington (United States) (AFP) – The United States on Wednesday named the UK-based Palestine Action group, which has been banned by the British government, as a “terrorist” organization, as the Trump administration intensifies its campaign against left-wing movements. Set up in 2020, Palestine Action is appealing against the UK government ban, which has led to thousands of arrests. Rights groups have decried the ban, saying it was aimed at criminalizing dissent. Palestine Action’s stated goal on its website is to end “global participation in Israel’s genocidal and apartheid regime.” It gained visibility after Israel launched a devastating military campaign in Gaza following the unprecedented October 7, 2023, attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas in southern Israel.
Since returning to power for his second term, US President Donald Trump has directed his government to designate what it terms “far-left” groups as terrorist organizations. Wednesday’s US action also designated Italy-based Autistici/Inventati (also known as A/I Collective) and the pro-Palestinian group Masar Badil as “terrorist” organizations. US State Department spokesperson Tommy Piggot declared all three groups, including Palestine Action, as being “violent far-left terrorist groups.” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio described Autistici/Inventati as “a major far-left tech collective whose services are used by the most active and violent Antifa cells in the United States and across the world.”
“There will be no refuge for violent extremists who wage war on our civilization and plot to undermine law and order, destroy critical infrastructure, assault political opponents, or conspire to conceal their crimes from authorities,” Rubio wrote in a post on X. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Washington would bring “the full weight of our economic tools to bear” against far-left groups “to cut the financial lifelines…until they are eliminated.” Huda Ammori, co-founder of Palestine Action, said that the UK ban and the US terror designation “should be a wake-up call to anyone who cares about free speech and civil liberties.”
“Palestine Action’s activities in the US and elsewhere have always been about saving lives by disrupting the Israeli war machine, which is committing a genocide in Gaza with the support of the US Government,” Ammori said. Israel welcomed the decision, with the Foreign Ministry emphasizing on X that “terrorist organizations have systematically exploited Western civil society, using political and humanitarian pretenses to mask violent operations, radicalize youth, and channel illicit funding.” In April, Amnesty International declared that the leaders of the United States, Israel, and Russia were seeking to impose a new “predatory” world order in their crackdowns on dissent.
© 2024 AFP
