UK designates pro-Palestinian group 'Palestine Action' as terrorist organization

The British Parliament designated on Wednesday the pro-Palestinian organization "Palestine Action" as a terrorist organization, following an incident in June in which the group's activists broke into a Royal Air Force base and sabotaged aircraft.

The activists entered the base, sprayed paint on the planes, and attempted to damage the engines using metal rods. According to the activists, flights take off daily from the base to British bases in Cyprus, which they claim support a "genocide in Gaza."

Yesterday, two members of the organization were arrested after blocking the entrance to an Elbit Systems facility in Bristol and covering the door in red paint. Last August, five members of the group were sentenced to prison after launching fireworks at a Thales Group facility in Glasgow, causing damage estimated at around one million pounds.

In other incidents, members of the group defaced a portrait of Lord Balfour at the University of Cambridge and stole a statue of Chaim Weizmann at the University of Manchester.

The organization has petitioned against its classification as a terrorist organization, and a hearing is expected to take place on Friday.

Last November, the British news outlet The Sunday Times revealed that the group had been conducting training sessions to teach its activists how to establish action cells and carry out hostile tactics against British companies linked to the Israeli arms industry. According to the report, the training included instructions on organizing in small groups of three to five members, using disposable phones, making cash payments, and gathering intelligence. The group had planned to hold training days in Manchester, Birmingham, and Leeds.