Palestine Action designated terrorist group by US

The United States designated the UK-based Palestine Action group as a terrorist organization on Wednesday, adding a group already banned by the British government to a widening campaign by the Trump administration against what it calls “far-left” groups.

The 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 called the three groups “violent far-left terrorist groups.” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio described Autistici/Inventati as “a major far-left tech collective” whose services he said were used by “the most active and violent Antifa cells in the United States and across the world.”

Rubio wrote on X that there would be “no refuge” for violent extremists who “wage war on our civilization” or seek to undermine law and order, destroy infrastructure, assault political opponents or conceal crimes.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Washington would use “the full weight of our economic tools” against far-left groups “to cut the financial lifelines” until they are eliminated.

Palestine Action was set up in 2020 and is appealing against the UK government ban, which has led to thousands of arrests. Rights groups have criticised the ban, saying it was aimed at criminalising dissent.

Huda Ammori, a co-founder of Palestine Action, said the UK ban and US designation “should be a wake-up call to anyone who cares about free speech and civil liberties.” She said the group's activities in the United States and elsewhere had been about “saving lives” by disrupting what she called the Israeli war machine.

Israel welcomed the US decision. The Israeli Foreign Ministry said on X that terrorist organizations had exploited Western civil society under political and humanitarian pretenses to mask violent operations, radicalise youth and channel illicit funding.

Palestine Action says on its website that its goal is to end “global participation in Israel's genocidal and apartheid regime.” The group gained visibility after Israel launched a military campaign in Gaza following the October 7, 2023, attack by Hamas fighters in southern Israel.

US President Donald Trump, since coming to power for his second term, has directed his government to designate what it terms “far-left” groups as terrorist organizations. Amnesty International said in April that leaders of the United States, Israel and Russia were seeking to impose what it called a new “predatory” world order in crackdowns on dissent.