U.S. Treasury designated Palestine Action a terrorist group, criminalizing U.S. support for the UK protest group
On August 26, 2026, the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control designated Palestine Action -- a United Kingdom-based direct-action group that has damaged property at defense-contractor sites -- a Specially Designated Global Terrorist under Executive Order 13224, alongside two other groups. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced the action from Washington, D.C., framing it as combating "far-left terrorism"; the designation freezes Palestine Action's U.S. assets and makes it a federal crime for any U.S. person to provide funds, goods, or services to the group, reaching American donors and supporters even though the conduct Treasury cited occurred in the UK.
Actors
On August 26, 2026, the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control designated Palestine Action, a United Kingdom-based direct-action group, a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) under Executive Order 13224, the counterterrorism-sanctions authority first used against al-Qaeda after the September 11 attacks. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced the action alongside sanctions on two other groups, Masar Badil and the Italy-based Autistici Inventati, saying "we will bring the full weight of our economic tools to bear" against "far-left extremists, their fronts and their enablers." The designation blocks Palestine Action's property and interests in the United States and makes it a federal crime for any U.S. person to provide funds, goods, or services to the group.
Treasury's own statement grounded the designation in Palestine Action's UK conduct: the group has "supported numerous acts of terrorism since July 2020," including break-ins at defense infrastructure and military installations that caused "millions of dollars' worth of damage," and injured UK law enforcement personnel. The UK proscribed Palestine Action as a terrorist organization in July 2025, a designation the group is challenging before the UK Supreme Court in November. Treasury cited the group's online promotion of "similar tactics" in the United States, including along the U.S.-Mexico border, as grounds for extending the UK ban's reach to American supporters. Treasury said the designation does not target "political speech or other constitutionally protected activities," but its practical effect is to criminalize financial and material support from U.S. persons who have not themselves been accused of any violent act.
Palestine Action co-founder Huda Ammori called the U.S. action an extension of the UK's "repression of the movement for Palestinian freedom" and said it should be "a wake-up call to anyone who cares about free speech and civil liberties." The State Department also announced the designations the same day.
Why we recorded this
The First Amendment protects political criticism and association even when government disagrees with the cause, and a terrorism-financing power built for al-Qaeda and ISIS is not meant to reach people who never engaged in violence themselves. This designation criminalizes giving funds, goods, or services to a foreign protest group for any U.S. person, regardless of what that person actually did, extending the sanction to American donors and supporters on the basis of the group's UK conduct alone. This archive records the designation because it uses sanctions law -- built to freeze the assets of violent networks -- to reach the domestic political and financial support base of a group Treasury itself says it does not sanction for "political speech," collapsing the distinction between backing a cause and committing violence.
Sources
- Treasury Takes Action Against Violent Far-Left Terrorist Networks — U.S. Department of the Treasury primary accessed August 27, 2026
- Trump administration names Palestine Action a global terrorist organization — UPI secondary accessed August 27, 2026
- US designates Palestine Action activist group 'Specially Designated Global Terrorist' — Middle East Eye secondary accessed August 27, 2026
- US Imposes Sanctions on Palestine Action Group — GV Wire secondary accessed August 27, 2026
See also
- Treasury and IRS proposed stripping tax-exempt status from 18,000 private schools over race-conscious policies
- Treasury's OFAC opened a Cuba-sanctions inquiry into Hasan Piker, Medea Benjamin and dozens of other convoy participants
- Wall Street Journal investigation reveals ICE's internal-affairs office ran surveillance operation to unmask hundreds of online critics
- Senate committee chairman ruled Fauci's Fifth Amendment privilege invalid, moved to hold him in contempt of Congress
- CFPB placed union organizing chair Stephen Wheeler on administrative leave without disclosing any cause
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