US imposes sanctions on Palestine Action and other left-wing groups

Palestine Action’s Huda Ammori says Trump’s penalties should be a ‘wake-up call’ for UK to lift ban on the group.The United States has imposed sanctions on the British activist group Palestine Action and the pro-Palestine international movement Masar Badil as the administration of President Donald Trump intensifies a global crackdown on critics of Israel.The US Department of the Treasury also imposed financial penalties on Wednesday against Autistici Inventati, an Italy-based group that provides digital services to left-wing organisations, including pro-Palestine groups.Palestine Action, which has been locked in a legal battle with the United Kingdom after the British government proscribed it as a “terrorist” group, rejected the US sanctions.Palestine Action cofounder Huda Ammori linked the US measures to the UK designation and called on Prime Minister Andy Burnham to reverse the ban on the group imposed by his predecessor Keir Starmer.“The fact that Trump is now taking inspiration from Britain’s repression of the movement for Palestinian freedom exposes just how dangerous this ban is and should be a wake-up call to anyone who cares about free speech and civil liberties,” Ammori told Al Jazeera in a statement.“By banning a direct action protest group under terrorism legislation for the first time in British history, Keir Starmer’s Government has created a blueprint for authoritarian governments around the world to suppress political dissent, and to criminalise British citizens who travel or live abroad.”The UK civil rights group Defend Our Juries echoed Ammori’s comment.“We’ve warned since July 2025 that Keir Starmer’s unprecedented ban on Palestine Action would embolden autocrats and demagogues around the world. Today that warning has proved to be well-founded,” it said. “Whilst bowing down to the arms industry and Israel lobby, the UK government has encouraged Trump to escalate his domestic crackdown on civil liberties.”Palestine Action says it uses direct-action tactics, including vandalism, to end what it sees as complicity in Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.