'A very frightening time': US terror tag endangers UK Palestine Action activists, critics say

'A very frightening time': US terror tag endangers UK Palestine Action activists, critics say Washington's move to designate Palestine Action as a transnational terrorist organisation could place British activists associated with the group at heightened risk of surveillance and being frozen out of the financial system, campaigners warn. In a statement on its website, the US Department of the Treasury announced a slew of sanctions targeting “Violent Far-Left Terrorist Networks”, including Palestine Action and Masar Badil, a movement that advocates for an "alternative revolutionary path" for Palestinian rights and freedoms. Italian tech collective Autistici/Inventati was also designated as a terrorist group for allegedly supplying “specialized digital architecture, tools, and services for Antifa cells and other violent far-left extremists, including a foreign terrorist organization”.

The statement described the move as "complementing" the British government's decision to proscribe Palestine Action in July last year, which will be subject to a legal challenge at the Supreme Court in November. “It’s a very frightening time,” former Palestine Action member and US citizen Max Geller told Middle East Eye. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); “I have American bank accounts, I don’t know if I’m going to suddenly be de-banked or if every single one of my Paypal transactions with my friends are going to be scrutinised.” Geller, who is a resident in the UK and has elderly parents in the US, says the ban could prevent them from seeing their grandchildren.

“Suddenly going back home has become a very stressful and scary prospect,” Geller said. They don’t use these laws on American citizens, so no one really knows what it means for people like me.” Palestine Action co-founder Huda Ammori said that the economic sanctions represent “an extra layer on top of proscription” and are likely to make activists’ lives mo…