Keir Starmer’s Crackdown on Palestine Action Protesters Draws Backlash

posted on: Sep 10, 2025

By: Jake Harris / Arab America Contributing Writer

Palestine Action was recently designated as a terrorist organization by the UK government. The activist group protests UK aid to Israel. The group’s intent is to be disruptive but not violent. Palestine Action follows a similar protest model to another UK activist group called Just Stop Oil. Just Stop Oil engages in acts of civil disobedience, trespassing, and sometimes vandalism of targets they see as opposed to their goal of saving the planet from human caused environmental destruction. Acknowledging the possibility of arrest is accepted as a cost to pay to make the movement noticed. Civil Disobedience was a common practice encouraged by figures such as Mahatma Gandhi and Dr Martin Luther King Jr.

Keir Starmer’s “New Labour”

The Labour Party led by Keir Starmer was elected back into power in a landslide victory in the 2024 UK General Election. Labour had faced consistent electoral setbacks for a decade. It had been 14 years out of power for the party. Throughout Boris Johnson’s tenure as conservative prime minister, Jeremy Corbyn was the Labour Party leader. Corbyn was the furthest to the left that the party had gone, a stark contrast to the days of Tony Blair, who governed as a centrist and supported George W Bush’s invasion of Iraq. He was, and continues to be an outspoken supporter of the Palestinians and has been hugely critical of Israel. Corbyn was ousted from party leadership following an antisemitism scandal within the party. 

Since the end of Corbyn’s leadership, the Labour Party has moved back towards the center. They’ve moved closer to a neoliberal economic platform, tougher on immigration, and a more pro-Israel foreign policy in the Middle East, at least in comparison to Corbyn’s insistence that the UK cut all assistance to Israel. 

Palestine Action Banned

Palestine Action was designated as a terrorist group in June 2025 following an act of vandalism on planes at the UK’s largest Royal Air Force base. This puts the group in the same category under UK law with Al-Qaeda and ISIS. 

The designation also came around the time of a major controversy involving the large music festival at Glastonbury. An artist who goes by the name of Bob Vylan set off a chant saying “Death to the IDF”. An Irish band called Kneecap proclaimed support for Palestine Action at the festival. The whole ordeal drew massive condemnation from the UK government and even the Israeli government. There were even reactions within the US government. Far-right congressman Randy Fine of Florida moved immediately to ban Vylan from travelling to the US. 

International Condemnation

International human rights organizations as well as domestic organizations within the UK condemned the move. Amnesty UK called the designation a “unprecedented legal overreach”. The argument being made by the group is not the illegality of vandalism or a criticism of Palestine Action’s tactics, but the draconian measures to persecute those who even proclaim they agree with the organization. Volker Türk, the UN Human Rights Chief criticized how broad the UK government’s definition of terrorism had become. Türk said it “misuses the gravity and impact of terrorism to expand it beyond those clear boundaries, to encompass further conduct that is already criminal under the law”. Supporting Palestine Action, or being a member of the group can carry a prison sentence of up to 14 years. 

Palestine Action Supporters Arrested

Within the last week a staggering 900 people were arrested at an event in London protesting the law. Many of which were simply arrested for proclaiming support for Palestine Action. Defend Our Juries, the organizers of the protest claimed officers violently assaulted people simply for holding signs, including the elderly. 

Western Governments at a Crossroads

Western governments are grappling and trying to understand a harsh reality: Bipartisan support for Israel is far away from being a guarantee anymore. President Trump himself has admitted as such. The backlash against Netanyahu’s actions in Gaza have caused a PR disaster for Israel and its allies. Netanyahu himself has admitted as such, albeit with the caveat that he blamed online bots for being the cause of anti-Israel sentiment. Governments have a choice to double down on policing speech and demonstrations, or find another alternative avenue.

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