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US designates UK-based Palestine Action as terrorist group

The United States has designated UK-based Palestine Action as a specially designated global terrorist, alongside Italy-based Autistici/Inventati and transnational group Masar Badil. The move draws criticism from the group's co-founder and rights advocates, while the UK ban on Palestine Action faces a Supreme Court challenge.

By Tertius News AI Desk 5 outlets · 5 distinct · 5 articles Version 1 Coverage Aug 26–27, 2026 Published 1h ago

US sanctions target Palestine Action and allies

The United States has imposed sanctions on the UK-based direct action group Palestine Action, labelling it a "specially designated global terrorist" organisation, according to multiple reports. The US Treasury Department announced the designation on Wednesday, which allows Washington to freeze the assets of foreign individuals and entities.

The action also designated Italy-based Autistici/Inventati (also known as A/I Collective) and the transnational pro-Palestinian group Masar Badil as terrorist organisations, according to reports. The US State Department spokesperson Tommy Piggot declared all three groups as "violent far-left terrorist groups," while Secretary of State Marco Rubio described Autistici/Inventati as "a major far-left tech collective whose services are used by the most active and violent Antifa cells in the United States and across the world."

The designations come as part of the Trump administration's broader campaign against left-wing movements. 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," a move that has sparked Democratic concerns over politicization of counterterrorism efforts, according to the Jerusalem Post.

Treasury Secretary's statement

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced the sanctions, saying: "Far-left extremists, their fronts, and their enablers should be on notice: we will bring the full weight of our economic tools to bear. Political terrorism has no place in our society and we will continue to cut the financial lifelines of these groups until they are eliminated."

The Treasury's website said Palestine Action had "supported numerous acts of terrorism since July 2020, including acts that have physically injured UK law enforcement personnel," according to The Guardian.

Palestine Action's response

Palestine Action co-founder Huda Ammori rejected the sanctions, saying the group's activities "have always been about saving lives by disrupting the Israeli war machine." In a statement to Reuters, Ammori said: "The fact that Trump is now taking inspiration from Britain's repression of the movement for Palestinian freedom exposes just how dangerous this ban is and should be a wake-up call to anyone who cares about free speech and civil liberties."

Ammori called on UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham to reverse the ban on the group imposed by his predecessor Keir Starmer. "By banning a direct action protest group under terrorism legislation for the first time in British history, Keir Starmer's Government has created a blueprint for authoritarian governments around the world to suppress political dissent, and to criminalise British citizens who travel or live abroad," she told Al Jazeera.

The UK civil rights group Defend Our Juries echoed Ammori's comments, saying in a statement: "We've warned since July 2025 that Keir Starmer's unprecedented ban on Palestine Action would embolden autocrats and demagogues around the world. Today that warning has proved to be well-founded. Whilst bowing down to the arms industry and Israel lobby, the UK government has encouraged Trump to escalate his domestic crackdown on civil liberties."

UK context and legal challenge

Palestine Action, set up in 2020, became the first direct action group to be proscribed under the UK's Terrorism Act in July last year, placing it alongside groups such as Islamic State and Boko Haram, according to The Guardian. The UK ban is subject to a legal challenge that will be heard by the UK Supreme Court in November.

The group gained visibility after Israel launched a military campaign in Gaza following the October 7, 2023, attack by Hamas, and has increasingly targeted Israel-linked defence companies in Britain, especially Israel's largest defence firm Elbit Systems. In March last year, Donald Trump's Turnberry golf course in Scotland was targeted by protesters who graffitied the clubhouse and dug up the course, The Guardian reported.

The US Treasury also imposed sanctions on Masar Badil, saying it operates as a front for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a group already designated by the US as a Foreign Terrorist Organization. Officials conceded that proscribing Palestine Action would be "relatively novel" as there was "no known precedent of an organisation being proscribed on the basis that it was concerned in terrorism mainly due to its use or threat of action involving serious damage to property," according to The Guardian.

Reactions and broader implications

Israel welcomed the US move, with the Foreign Ministry emphasising on X that "terrorist organizations have systematically exploited Western civil society," as reported by The Hindu. In April, Amnesty International declared that leaders of the United States, Israel and Russia were seeking to impose a new "predatory" world order in their crackdowns on dissent, according to the same report.

The sanctions have drawn criticism from rights groups who say the UK ban was aimed at criminalising dissent. Thousands of arrests have been linked to the ban in the UK, according to reports.

The move is part of a broader US campaign that has also targeted other left-wing groups. Trump singled out the anti-fascist antifa movement on the campaign trail in 2024, vowing to take action against left-wing groups he accuses of fomenting violence, according to the Jerusalem Post.

How each outlet told it

Al Jazeera as of Aug 26, 2026, 6:46 PM UTC

Framing: The headline focuses on the US sanctions and identifies the groups as 'left-wing', but omits the context of Palestine activism or the groups' own stated aims. — sympathetic to the sanctioned groups, as seen in the quote from Huda Ammori calling the UK ban 'dangerous' and a threat to civil liberties.

Facts Included:

The United States has imposed sanctions on Palestine Action and Masar Badil.
The US Treasury imposed financial penalties on Autistici Inventati on Wednesday.
Palestine Action co-founder Huda Ammori called the sanctions a 'wake-up call' for the UK.
The UK government proscribed Palestine Action as a 'terrorist' group.
A British court revoked the designation in February, but the decision was overturned on appeal in June.
Palestine Action is challenging the ban in the UK Supreme Court.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the sanctions target 'far-left terrorist groups'.

Read the source article →

Dawn as of Aug 26, 2026, 6:16 PM UTC

Framing: The headline focuses on the US designation of Palestine Action as a foreign 'terrorist group', omitting the accompanying designations of other groups and the group's own framing of its actions. — sympathetic to Palestine Action, as shown by quoting the co-founder's defense and including the group's stated goal without challenge.

Facts Included:

The United States on Wednesday named the UK-based Palestine Action group as a 'specially designated global terrorist' organisation.
The US also issued sanctions against the group.
Palestine Action was set up in 2020 and is appealing against a UK ban.
Palestine Action had increasingly targeted Israel-linked defence companies in Britain, especially Elbit Systems.
Huda Ammori, co-founder of Palestine Action, responded to the US move.
Palestine Action's stated goal is to end 'global participation in Israel's genocidal and apartheid regime'.
The US also designated Italy-based Autistici/Inventati (A/I Collective) and transnational group Masar Badil as terrorist organisations.
US State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott declared all three groups as 'violent far-left terrorist groups'.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Washington would bring 'the full weight of our economic tools to bear' against far-left groups.
Amnesty International had previously declared that leaders of the US, Israel, and Russia were seeking to impose a 'predatory' world order in crackdowns on dissent.

Read the source article →

The Guardian — World as of Aug 26, 2026, 5:45 PM UTC

Framing: The headline emphasizes the US action against Palestine Action, describing the group as 'direct action' and 'UK-based', but omits the group's stated aims and the context of its protests. — The tone is neutral and factual, but includes quotes from both official and group sources that carry strong language, reflecting the contentious nature of the designation. For example, Bessent's 'political terrorism has no place in our society' and Ammori's 'Trump has been at the centre of the mass murder of Palestinians' are presented without editorial commentary.

Facts Included:

The US has issued sanctions against the UK-based direct action group Palestine Action.
The US Department of the Treasury labelled Palestine Action a specially designated global terrorist on Wednesday.
The sanctions allow the US to freeze the assets of foreign individuals and entities.
Palestine Action became the first direct action group to be proscribed under the UK’s Terrorism Act in July last year.
The UK ban is subject to a legal challenge that will be heard by the UK supreme court in November.
The US sanctions were announced by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
Bessent said: 'Far-left extremists, their fronts, and their enablers should be on notice: we will bring the full weight of our economic tools to bear. Political terrorism has no place in our society and we will continue to cut the financial lifelines of these groups until they are eliminated.'
Palestine Action co-founder Huda Ammori responded, saying the group's activities are 'about saving lives by disrupting the Israeli war machine' and that 'Trump has been at the centre of the mass murder of Palestinians'.
The US Treasury website said the group had 'supported numerous acts of terrorism since July 2020, including acts that have physically injured UK law enforcement personnel'.
In the UK, Palestine Action has focused on factories run by the Israeli firm Elbit Systems.
In March last year, Donald Trump’s Turnberry golf course in Scotland was targeted by protesters who graffitied the clubhouse and dug up the course.
The then UK foreign secretary, Yvette Cooper, moved to ban the group last year after recommendations from officials.
Officials conceded that proscribing Palestine Action would be 'relatively novel' as there was 'no known precedent of an organisation being proscribed on the basis that it was concerned in terrorism mainly due to its use or threat of action involving serious damage to property'.

Read the source article →

Jerusalem Post as of Aug 26, 2026, 5:16 PM UTC

Framing: The headline emphasizes the US government's action against Palestine Action, framing it as part of a counterterrorism effort targeting 'far-left' groups, while leaving out the specific sanctions on Masar Badil and the UK Supreme Court appeal. — The tone is neutral but includes critical quotes from a Palestine Action co-founder, balancing the official US actions with opposition perspectives.

Facts Included:

The United States designated Palestine Action as a terrorist group on Wednesday.
The action follows Secretary of State Marco Rubio's push to refocus counterterrorism efforts on 'far-left terror.'
The Treasury Department imposed sanctions on an Italy-based entity accused of supplying digital architecture, tools and services for antifa and other far-left groups.
Britain previously banned Palestine Action as a terrorist organization.
The UK Supreme Court will hear an appeal against a lower court ruling that upheld the ban on Palestine Action.
The US Treasury also sanctioned the transnational group Masar Badil, saying it operates as a front for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine had already been designated by the US as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.
Huda Ammori, co-founder of Palestine Action, said the group's activities 'have always been about saving lives by disrupting the Israeli war machine.'

Read the source article →

The Hindu — World as of Aug 27, 2026, 5:16 PM UTC

Framing: The headline focuses on the U.S. designation of Palestine Action as a 'terrorist group', emphasizing the U.S. action rather than the group's activities or the broader context. It leaves out the simultaneous designations of other groups and the U.K. ban. — The tone is neutral and descriptive, presenting multiple viewpoints without overt endorsement. A representative quote is: 'Palestine Action's activities in the U.S. and elsewhere have always been about saving lives by disrupting the Israeli war machine, which is committing a genocide in Gaza with the support of the US Government.'

Facts Included:

The United States named U.K.-based Palestine Action group as a 'terrorist' organisation on Wednesday (August 26, 2026).
The U.S. action also designated Italy-based Autistici/Inventati (also known as A/I Collective) and the pro-Palestinian group Masar Badil as 'terrorist' organisations.
The designations were announced by U.S. State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigdem and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Washington would bring 'the full weight of our economic tools' against far-left groups.
Palestine Action was set up in 2020 and is appealing against a U.K. government ban.
The U.K. ban on Palestine Action has led to thousands of arrests, according to the article.
Palestine Action's stated goal on its website is to end 'global participation in Israel's genocidal and apartheid regime.'
The group gained visibility after Israel launched a military campaign in Gaza following the October 7, 2023, attack by Hamas.
Huda Ammori, co-founder of Palestine Action, said the U.K. ban and U.S. designation 'should be a wake-up call to anyone who cares about free speech and civil liberties.'
Israel welcomed the decision, with the Foreign Ministry emphasising on X that 'terrorist organizations have systematically exploited Western civil society.'
In April, Amnesty International declared that leaders of the United States, Israel and Russia were seeking to impose a new 'predatory' world order in their crackdowns on dissent.

Read the source article →

What was claimed, and who backed it

AI-extracted; can misattribute a claim — see Methodology.

Each row is one claim, attributed to the outlet whose wording states it most clearly. Confidence rates how directly the source text states the claim — explicit and unhedged rates high; hedged, pieced-together, or internally inconsistent statements rate lower. It does not measure whether the claim is true. Status counts the distinct outlets we found asserting it — so a single-source claim can still show high confidence, and a multi-source claim can show medium. Every one of those outlets is named beside the status, so you can check the count against the list. For claims extracted before we began storing that list, the row says so: it names the outlet the claim is quoted from and states that we have not recorded which outlets backed it. Outlets wrote at different times, so a figure that evolves — a casualty count, for example — can legitimately differ between rows; check the "as of" time next to each claim's source.

Claim	Confidence	Status
ClaimThe United States named U.K.-based Palestine Action group as a 'terrorist' organisation on Wednesday.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via The Hindu — World as of Aug 27, 2026, 5:16 PM UTC
ClaimThe U.S. sanctions on Palestine Action named the Italy-based group Autistici/Inventati (A/I) as a 'terrorist' organization. The U.S. Treasury designated Autistici/Inventati as a terrorist organisation.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Al Jazeera as of Aug 26, 2026, 6:46 PM UTC

Transparency & Audit Trail

5 outlets · 5 articles consulted: Al Jazeera, Dawn, The Guardian — World, Jerusalem Post, The Hindu — World 2 claims extracted Version 1 Written 2026-08-27