British lawmakers voted on Wednesday to designate the anti-Israel activist group Palestine Action as a terrorist organization after its followers vandalized two aircraft at a Royal Air Force base on June 20, according to Reuters.
United Kingdom Home Secretary Yvette Cooper had sought the proscription under section 3 of the Terrorism Act 2000. The measure, passed by a significant majority in the House of Commons (385 to 26), would make it a crime to belong to or support Palestine Action, placing it on the same legal footing as groups like Al Qaeda and Islamic State under U.K. law.
The upper chamber, the House of Lords, was scheduled to take up the motion on Thursday. If approved, the ban would take effect within days. Palestine Action has announced plans to challenge the decision in court.
The Terrorism Act 2000 makes it a criminal offense to belong to a proscribed group, with a penalty of up to 14 years in prison or a fine. Wearing clothing or displaying items supporting such a group could result in six months in prison and/or a fine of up to £5,000 (~$6,700).
On June 20, Palestine Action, a U.K.-based anti-Israel group that has engaged in numerous acts of violence, broke into RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire and damaged two Voyager aircraft used for cargo and refueling. A video of the incident released by the group shows a vandal riding an electric scooter onto the base and spray-painting the engine of one of the planes, while pro-Palestinian Arabic music plays in the background.
According to Palestine Action, which claimed responsibility for the vandalism, two activists “used repurposed fire extinguishers to spray red paint into the turbine engines of two Airbus Voyagers and caused further damage using crowbars.” The red paint, intended to symbolize “Palestinian bloodshed,” was also sprayed across the runway, the group said. A Palestine Liberation Organization flag was left at the scene, and the activists reportedly managed to evade both security and arrest.
Palestine Action said it had targeted and damaged the planes because they were used to support what it called Israel’s “genocide” in the Gaza Strip. The U.K. government has denied that the aircraft were involved in operations in Gaza. It has previously stated that Shadow R1 reconnaissance planes have been flown from Cyprus to assist in efforts to locate Israeli hostages held by Hamas.
