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United States announces financial sanctions on Palestine Action as a terrorist group
The US Treasury department described Palestine Action as having ;supported numerous acts of terrorism... including acts that have physically injured UK law enforcement personnel'
The United States government has announced that it is levelling economic sanctions on Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation following on from the UK’s proscription of the group last June, with the US Treasury Secretary saying that “political terrorism has no place in our society”.
In a statement on Wednesday, the US Department of the Treasury confirmed that Palestine Action would be designated pursuant to Executive Order 13224, which freezes all property and bank accounts belonging to the group, prevents US citizens and businesses from conducting any business with it, and can result in stiff penalties for any foreign financial institutions which aid it.
In the announcement, the US Treasury department described Palestine Action as having “supported numerous acts of terrorism since July 2020, including acts that have physically injured UK law enforcement personnel, as well as acts intended to intimidate lawful commercial enterprises and coerce the UK Government.
“The group’s actions include multiple high-profile instances of breaking into defence infrastructure and British military installations, and causing millions of dollars’ worth of damage to military equipment. Palestine Action has promoted its violent, criminal, and terrorist acts on social media, encouraging the use of similar tactics internationally, including within the United States and along the U.S.-Mexican border.”
Established in mid-2020, Palestine Action became infamous for targeting branches of Israeli defence companies operating in the UK, but extended its activities to target a wide range of businesses – from international banks to local companies – that it described as having aided Israel. Last summer, its activists filmed themselves infiltrating the UK’s largest RAF base, Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, and damaging military aircraft. Soon afterwards, Yvette Cooper, then the Home Secretary, proscribed Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation. Since then, the group has fought a series of legal battles against the proscription, with the Supreme Court due to hear the case later this year.
The US described its announcement of sanctions on the group as “complement[ing] the UK’s proscription. Palestine Action is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods and services to or in support of, an act of terrorism.”
At the same time, the US government imposed sanctions on an Italian group, Autistici Inventati, and Masar Badil, described as a front for Samidoun, which is itself a front for the PFLP (Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine).
In the event that the Supreme Court does overturn the government’s decision, companies based in the UK or elsewhere, as well as US citizens, may incur harsh penalties, including having secondary sanctions placed on them. if they associate with the group in any way.
“Far-left extremists, their fronts, and their enablers should be on notice: We will bring the full weight of our economic tools to bear,” said US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent.
“Political terrorism has no place in our society, and we will continue to cut the financial lifelines of these groups until they are eliminated.”
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