Four pro-Palestinian activists have been formally charged after they broke into a military airbase in central England last month and damaged two aircraft while protesting the UK’s support for Israel.
Counter-terrorism police said the charges were for conspiracy to enter a prohibited place knowingly for a purpose prejudicial to the safety or interests of the UK, and conspiracy to commit criminal damage.
The four, aged between 22 and 35, remain in custody and are due to appear in a London court on Thursday. Police said they will present evidence to the court linking the offences to terrorism.
The campaign group Palestine Action has said it was behind the incident on June 20, when the air base in Oxfordshire in central England was broken into and red paint was sprayed over two planes used for refuelling and transport.
British lawmakers voted on Wednesday to ban Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation. The group has condemned the decision as an “abuse of power” and announced plans to challenge it in court.
The police statement said those charged had caused 7 million pounds ($9.55 million) worth of damage to the two aircraft at the Brize Norton Royal Air Force base.
Palestine Action has routinely targeted companies in Britain with links to Israel, including Israeli defence firm Elbit Systems.
Palestine Action Outlawed
British MPs on Wednesday voted to declare pro-Palestinian group Palestine Action a terrorist organisation, after its activists broke into a military base and damaged two aircraft in protest against what they allege is the UK’s backing of Israel.
Palestine Action, which describes itself as a direct action movement that uses disruptive methods, has routinely targeted companies in Britain with links to Israel, including Israeli defence firm Elbit Systems, which it has called its “main target”.
Britain’s Labour government accused the group of causing millions of pounds of damage through action at a Thales factory in 2022, an Elbit site last year and at the Royal Air Force base in southern England last month – the trigger for the decision to ban, or proscribe, the group.
Proscription would officially designate Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation on a par with the Islamic State or Al Qaeda under British law, making it a crime to support or belong to the groups.
Britain’s proscription order will reach parliament’s upper chamber, the House of Lords, on Thursday. If approved by lawmakers there, Palestine Action’s ban would become effective in the following days.
($1 = 0.7331 pounds)
(With inputs from Reuters)
