Four times as many people have been charged in the UK under Section 13 counterterrorism powers since Palestine Action was proscribed in July than during the entire “war on terror” since 2001, Middle East Eye can reveal.
At least 138 people have been charged so far, following weeks of protests in London and other cities, in which hundreds of people have been arrested for opposing the ban on the direct-action protest group.
Statistics published by the Home Office on Thursday reveal that just 34 people were charged with offences under Section 13 of the 2000 Terrorism Act between 2001 and the end of June 2025, days before Palestine Action was added to the government’s list of designated terrorist organisations.
The shocking figures appear to raise further questions about the proportionality of the ban, which has been widely condemned by human rights and civil liberties organisations.
Section 13, which prohibits the display or wearing of symbols of support for proscribed organisations, has been the main power used by London’s Metropolitan Police against protesters attending demonstrations against the ban outside parliament organised by the campaign group Defend Our Juries.
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Many of those arrested at the protests have held signs reading: “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action”.
At the protest against the ban in London’s Parliament Square on 9 August, more than half of those arrested were over the age of 60. Those arrested have included a Roman Catholic priest, a Baptist minister and a disabled blind man.
Last weekend, police said they had arrested 857 people under Section 13 for “showing support for Palestine Action”, taking the total number of arrests since the ban was introduced to more than 1,500.
The Crown Prosecution Service said last week it had so far charged 138 people with Section 13 offences.
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It said it was working closely with police and the Attorney General’s Office to process more case files and expected to bring more charges in the coming weeks.
The UK government has continued to back the policing of the ban.
On Saturday, Shabana Mahmood, the new Home Secretary who replaced Yvette Cooper last week, attended the police control room monitoring the protest with Metropolitan Police chief Mark Rowley and commented on social media that it was “an honour… to see them at work policing protests”.
Palestine Action is a UK-based direct action network whose members have long faced charges of criminal damage over a series of brazen break-ins at arms factories allegedly involved in facilitating Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza.
The group was officially proscribed on 5 July after members broke into a military base, RAF Brize Norton, where they defaced two warplanes they said were “used for military operations in Gaza and across the Middle East”.
Palestine Action’s proscription puts it on the same list of terrorist organisations as al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group, which have both claimed responsibility for deadly attacks in the UK.
In a debate about the ban in the House of Commons on Monday, Security Minister Dan Jarvis defended the measure and its policing as “necessary and proportionate”.
“We would not tolerate the kind of activity we’ve seen in recent days and weeks from an organisation, for example, motivated by Islamist extremism or an organisation motivated by extreme right-wing ideology, and similarly we cannot tolerate that activity from Palestine Action,” he said.
But Moazzam Begg, outreach director for Cage International, which campaigns to highlight the impact of counterterrorism policies in Muslim communities, said the wave of arrests since the Palestine Action ban was unlike anything previously seen in the UK.
“We’ve not come across this number of arrests for holding placards and so forth even at the height of the presence of organisations like Al Muhajiroun,” said Begg, citing the radical group led by now-jailed provocateur Anjem Choudary, which gained notoriety for its protests near British military bases, its calls for sharia law in the UK and its links to dozens of people involved in terror plots.
“This is very clearly a law that is being opposed because of its ludicrous nature and it’s taken this action for it to be exposed.”
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Begg was among 532 people arrested in Parliament Square under section 13 on 9 August.
Just 23 people have ever been convicted of Section 13 offences under the 2000 Terrorism Act, according to the latest government figures. If charged and convicted, those arrested under Section 13 could face up to six months in prison or a fine of up to £5,000 ($6,700).
But various human rights groups, including Amnesty International, have raised concerns about the broader consequences of charging protesters with terrorism offences.
In an open letter to the UK Directors of Public Prosecutions and the Lord Advocate, Amnesty said: “Prosecutions under terrorism-related legislation, even without a conviction, can have serious and lasting consequences on individuals.
“These include restrictive bail conditions, surveillance, reputational damage, mental health impact, and negative consequences on employment, education and travel.
“A conviction under laws like the Terrorism Act 2000 brings even more severe consequences: a lifelong criminal record, visa and immigration issues, loss of job opportunities, professional licences, and access to services, along with long-term social stigma and psychological harm.”
‘A deeply concerning precedent’
Human rights organisation Liberty said that the figures revealed by MEE “illustrate deep flaws in the UK’s counterterror laws.
“Liberty has long critiqued the extreme breadth of the UK’s definition of terrorism, and it remains one of the broadest in the world. This, combined with the failure of the former home secretary to use these powers proportionately, has created the scenes of protest and arrest we have seen in recent weeks,” a spokesperson from the organisation said.
“We have landed in an absurd situation where people who disagree with the government’s decision to proscribe Palestine Action cannot voice their concern without risking falling foul of counterterror law.
‘At some point soon, it will become clear to the police and home secretary that this ban is unenforceable and they will have to put it in the bin’
– Defend Our Juries
“This is a deeply concerning precedent that needs to be revoked.”
Volker Turk, the United Nations’ commissioner on human rights, has also criticised the ban, describing it as “disproportionate and unnecessary”.
“It limits the rights of many people involved with and supportive of Palestine Action who have not themselves engaged in any underlying criminal activity but rather exercised their rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association,” Turk said.
“As such, it appears to constitute an impermissible restriction on those rights that is at odds with the UK’s obligations under international human rights law.”
‘Chilling impact on free speech’
In parliament, Liberal Democrat, Green and Independent MPs have spoken out against the ban.
“The right to peaceful protest is a cornerstone of a liberal democracy, but events over the weekend have set a dangerous precedent and risk having a chilling impact on free speech and legitimate protest in the UK,” said Lisa Smart, the Liberal Democrat MP for Hazel Grove, in a parliamentary debate about the ban on Monday.
But the issue has also spurred dissent among some of the government’s own backbench MPs who voted for and have voiced support for Palestine Action’s proscription.
Stella Creasy, Labour MP for Walthamstow, tabled an urgent question in parliament on the topic following the weekend’s mass arrests in Parliament Square – despite having previously supported the group’s ban back in July.
Creasy told MPs that the case for action against Palestine Action remained strong but said there was “a difference between people protesting using violence and people protesting the use of proscription”.
She continued: “Going after somebody with a poster testing the boundaries of liberty – many of whom are clear that they do not support Palestine Action, but feel strongly about Palestinian rights or free speech – confuses rather than clarifies the government’s intention,” said Creasy.
Other counterterrorism powers have also been deployed by police against protesters campaigning against the ban.
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Last week, six spokespeople from Defend Our Juries, including former government lawyer Tim Crosland, were arrested in dawn raids by counter-terror police.
They stand accused of organising and speaking on Zoom calls that briefed activists on upcoming protests against the Palestine Action ban.
All six have been charged under Section 12 of the Terrorism Act – a more serious offence than Section 13 that covers expressing “reckless” support for terror groups.
Prosecutors are seeking up to nine years in prison for each defendant in hearings attended by trial monitors from Amnesty International.
But MEE can reveal that this legislation was similarly little used prior to the proscription of Palestine Action.
Only 39 people were principally charged under Section 12 between 2001 and June 2025 and only 15 have ever been convicted under the legislation as their principal offence.
“People can see that Palestine Action were trying to save lives, whereas the 22 members of the UK cabinet have blood on their hands for their ongoing complicity in the horrific genocide unfolding on our screens [in Gaza],” a spokesperson for Defend Our Juries told MEE.
“At some point soon, it will become clear to the police and the new home secretary that this ban is unenforceable and they will have to put it in the bin.”
The government’s proscription of Palestine Action remains the subject of a legal challenge brought by the group’s co-founder, Huda Ammori.
A last-ditch attempt by Ammori at the High Court to stop the ban was rejected minutes before it came into force, but the court later granted Ammori’s application for a judicial review to re-examine the case.
Earlier this month, however, the UK government was granted permission by the Court of Appeal to challenge the judicial review ruling in a case set to be heard later this month.
MEE has approached the Home Office, the Metropolitan Police and Counter Terrorism Policing for comment.
