Palestine Action – what is a ‘Proscribed Terrorist Group’?
Update: 8 July 2025
Since the publication of this blog the measure to proscribed Palestinian Action as a terrorist group was passed by the House of Lords and the legal action to block this was rejected by the High Court and leave to appeal to the Court of Appeal was refused.
As of Saturday 05/07/2025 Palestinian Action is now a proscribed terrorist group, and it is an offence to be a member, express support or wear or display articles associated with the group as set out in this blog.
Police have already enforced this, arresting 29 people at a protest in Bristol on the day the group became proscribed, including 83-year-old Reverend Sue Parfitt. It is clear the police intend to enforce this new proscription vigorously and should you find yourself arrested or asked to attend a police interview it is vital you arrange a solicitor to represent you.
5 July 2025
‘Proscribed Terrorist Group’ is a term that has been in the news quite a bit lately. Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, stage name Mo Chara, of Irish language rap group Kneecap was recently charged with displaying an article in support of a proscribed terrorist group. It is alleged Mo flew a Hezbollah flag at a gig in November last year. He plead not guilty at Westminster Magistrates Court on the 18th June and is due back in Court in August.
This led to calls from the government for the group to be banned from Glastonbury festival. The group did end up playing but the BBC did not broadcast their performance live, although it was available on iPlayer.
More recently, the Home Secretary has brought in legislation to proscribe Palestinian Action who have engaged in direct action against organisations it says support Israel’s current military action in Gaza. This is usually in the form of spraying red paint. A recent incident which saw the group break into RAF Brize Norton seems to have been a catalyst for the Home Secretary’s decision. The government won a vote in the House of Commons by 385 votes to 26, pending ratification in the House of Lords Palestinian Action is due to become a proscribed terrorist group at midnight on 09/07/2025. There is then also the possibility of a legal challenge.
The basis of this legal challenge will be that Palestinian Action cannot be said to be an organisation which is ‘concerned in terrorism’. Whilst their actions are said by the authorities to be criminal (4 individuals have now been charged with criminal damage following the Brize Norton incident), it is likely to be disputed that they can properly be called terrorist acts. Critics point out that banning the organisation will have a chilling effect on free speech. Should the group be banned it will sit alongside other terrorist groups such as Al-Qaeda, who have a long history of bombings and killings, whereas Palestinian Action’s activities have been restricted to protest and criminal damage. Critics have pointed out that if the Suffragette Movement existed in the modern age then their tactics were such that they would likely to be outlawed in the same way.
But what exactly is a proscribed terrorist group? The legal term was brought in by the Terrorism Act (2000), the legislation included a number of groups to be proscribed initially and gave the Home Secretary powers to add groups moving forward. The act of proscribing a group as a terrorist organisation required only that the home secretary believe the group is ‘concerned in terrorism’ which means they must believe the group is committing acts of terrorism, preparing to do so, is promoting or otherwise encouraging terrorism or is otherwise concerned in terrorism.
Once a group is proscribed there are three separate offences relating to the group covered by sections 11-13 of the same act. It is an offence to:
- Be a member of a proscribed organisation
- Support a proscribed organisation
- Wear the uniform of a proscribed organisation
The maximum sentences for both the offences of membership and support are 14 years in prison. Membership is defined as being a member or professing to be a member of the group. The definition of support is quite wide ranging and includes inviting support from others for the group or professing a supportive or positive belief about a proscribed group and being reckless as to whether others would be encouraged to then support the organisation themselves. This can cover social media posts in support of the proscribed organisation.
The third offence covers wearing a uniform or displaying, wearing, or carrying an article associated with a proscribed group in such a way someone may suspect you are a member of support the organisation. This also cover wearing t shirts, carrying banners of waving flags that are associated with the proscribed group. This is the offence that Mo Chara is charged with, it is a less serious offence than support or membership and carries a maximum sentence of six months in prison.
You might not think someone would get a lengthy custodial sentence based purely on social media posts but in a very recent case Zakir Hussain, who published comments on X supporting Hamas and Hezbollah, was sentenced on 26/06/2025 at the Old Bailey to five years and 8 months for four counts of supporting a proscribed organisation as well as seven counts of publishing threatening, abusive or insulting material contrary to section 19 of the Public Order Act .
Because of this if you are arrested on suspicion of any of these offences or asked to attend a voluntary interview by the police it’s extremely important you have legal representation in your interview.
We can offer confidential consultations with our specialist solicitors at short notice and remotely if needed, call us on 0191 232 9547 to make an appointment.
