WASHINGTON — The United States designated the UK-based Palestine Action on Wednesday as a foreign terrorist group, as US President Donald Trump’s administration seeks to crack down on left-wing groups in its counterterrorism efforts.
The US also issued sanctions against the anti-Israel group, saying the move was for supporting “an act of terrorism.”
Set up in 2020, Palestine Action is appealing against an earlier UK government ban of its activities, which has led to thousands of arrests. Rights groups have decried the ban, which defines Palestine Action as a terror group, 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 for large protests and acts of vandalism after the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel sparked a two-year war in Gaza.
The action comes after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio last month told officials from more than 60 countries that Washington would seek to refocus international counterterrorism efforts on what he called “far-left terror.” The conference sparked concerns from US Democrats that President Donald Trump’s Republican administration is politicizing counterterrorism efforts and diverting resources from other extremist threats.
