Peers told how Palestine Action attack in north-west London shook the entire community
Baroness Berger tells Lords of the impact of Palestine Action's attack on the community as peers back proscription move
Luciana Berger has spoken of the devastating impact of an attack by Palestine Action activists on a Jewish owned business in north-west London telling peers:”It reverberated throughout the entire community.”
Speaking in the Lords as peers backed the government’s move to proscribe the violent anti-Israel group, Labour ‘s Baroness Berger said”I bore witness to the attack on the Jewish business in north-west London.
“It reverberated throughout the entire community.
“I have never seen anything like the glass that was smashed and the paint that was daubed.
“It dominated the area for a whole weekend because it could not be cleared up because it took place over the weekend.
“In the interest of community cohesion, I point to that as a very strong example, coupled with all the other points people have made about why this is a violent organisation and how it directly intimidates and attacks people. Its impact goes far wider than what we are discussing today.”
Berger was referring to the attacks on Jewish-owned businesses in Hampstead High Street last October, which was labelled a hate crime by the Metropolitan Police.
There was also another attack by the group on a Jewish business in Stamford Hill in May.
Liberal Democrat peer Lord Palmer broke with his party’s scepticism over the proscription move to also referred to an attack by Palestine Action on a community owned business.
“The glass front of the building was smashed and the floor defaced with red paint and slogans including “Drop Elbit”—Elbit being a defence manufacturer,” he said.
“The attack can be classified as antisemitic under the IHRA definition as the business is solely Jewish, as I am. It has no links to Elbit or to Israel, and the actions suggest that Palestine Action held the owners responsible for Israel’s actions. ”
The Jewish peer added:” It is the violence that pushes it into terrorism, and I support the Government on this issue.”
The Lords followed the Commons support for proscription following their own debate.
The Green Party’s Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb argued she did not believe Palestine Action’s protests reached the threshold for terrorism, because they have not involved a pattern of serious violence, nor have they had devastating impact on society.
Lady Jones argued: “There’s a long and noble tradition of the use of direct action by protest movements, that includes the suffragettes.”
But her motion of regret was was rejected by 144 votes to 16, a majority of 128.
There were no subsequent objections to the proscription move.
Arguing for the ban under the Terrorism Act 2000 (Proscribed Organisations) (Amendment) Order 2025, Labour Lord Hanson of Flint said: “The group known as Palestine Action – the public attention it has garnered should not be confused with legitimacy.
“And nor should a group formed five years ago be conflated with the legitimate campaign for Palestinian rights and statehood which has existed in our country and indeed across both Houses of Parliament for more than five decades.”
Palestine Action’s campaign has “crossed the threshold from direct criminal action into terrorism”, Lord Hanson told peers.
He said: “I will always defend the rights of British people to engage in legitimate and peaceful process and to stand up for the causes in which they believe.
“But essential as these rights are they do not provide a blank cheque for this particular group to seriously damage property or subject members of the public to fear and violence.”
Lord Walney also backed the Home Office’s plan to ban Palestine Action, adding it to the list of 81 organisations which are already proscribed including Hamas, al Qaida and National Action.
He told peers it was “a nonsense” that groups which have advocated causing “damage”, such as Palestine Action, “have been able to operate freely for as long as they have”.
But the former independent adviser on political violence and disruption described a “gap in the law”, because the Government cannot proscribe protest groups which are “committing systematic criminality” without using terrorism powers.
“There is a gap in the law, it seems to me at the moment, where we ought to be able to place a restriction on an organisation that is committing systematic criminality in the name of a cause without necessarily branding them as terrorists,” he said.
Walney suggested a future law change could mean authorities do not “end up branding young people who are going to be committing terrorist acts, probably, by the weekend” as terrorists.
The Home Office’s order, using the Terrorism Act 2000, will make it a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison to be a member of Palestine Action or to support it.
The group claimed responsibility for a break in at RAF Brize Norton last month, when activists damaged two RAF Voyager aircraft using paint.
Crossbencher Lord Carlile of Berriew, a former independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, urged peers to “act responsibly” by “accepting this instrument”.
He said: “Every day the police prosecute people for theft. The maximum for theft – I’m not sure if it still is, but it was seven years at one time. Practically nobody gets seven years for theft.
“Most people get a non-custodial sentence. The assumption that everybody who’s prosecuted is going to be locked up for years and years and years is a misleading premise for this debate.”
Lord Hain was one of three Labour rebels who backed a motion to “regret” the Home Office’s plan, which Green peer Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb moved.
He was joined in the “content” lobby by Lord Hendy and former Trade Union Congress general secretary Baroness O’Grady of Upper Holloway.
“Frankly, I’m deeply ashamed,” Lord Hain told peers.
“This Government is treating Palestine Action as equivalent to Islamic State or al Qaida, which is intellectually bankrupt, politically unprincipled and morally wrong.”
Lord Hain earlier said: “In 1969-70, I was proud to lead a militant campaign of direct action to disrupt all-white, racist South African rugby and cricket tours, and we successfully succeeded in getting them stopped for two decades.
“No doubt, I would have been stigmatised as a terrorist today rather than vilified as I was then.
“That militant action could have been blocked by this motion, as could other anti-Apartheid activity, including militant protests to stop Barclays bank recruiting new students on university campuses, eventually forcing Barclays to withdraw from Apartheid South Africa.”
Home Office minister Lord Hanson of Flint said he had previously protested.
“Freedom of expression, freedom of assembly are cornerstones in our democracy,” he said.
“I have protested. I know of many other members who’ve protested against various things in our lives, and we have done so in a fair and open way.”
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