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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World

Ban on Palestine Action as ‘terrorists’ is shameful

A protester holds a placard in support of activist group Palestine Action during a rally in London on 21 June.
A protester holds a placard in support of activist group Palestine Action during a rally in London on 21 June. Photograph: Vuk Valcic/Zuma Press Wire/Shutterstock

I am a former chief constable, and once attempted to become a Labour police and crime commissioner. I’m not therefore someone easily categorised as a supporter of terrorism or criminal activity. The decision to proscribe Palestine Action as a terrorist group is beyond satire (Report, 20 June). I suspect that embarrassment over hilarious security failures at an RAF base may be clouding judgment and good sense.

Proscribing a group for peaceful protest – albeit illegal – is a disgrace. It is nearly as disgraceful as the continued UK support for the apartheid, ethnic-cleansing Israeli state. If the home secretary is so keen to proscribe an organisation, why not proscribe the terror group known as the Israel Defense Forces? They kill innocent people daily, and yet my voted-for government does absolutely nothing.

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