Take part in our latest brand partnership survey

We need your help now

Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.

You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.

If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.

Members of Palestine in Action at a protest in Trafalgar Square on 23 June Alamy

Three arrested in UK after RAF plane vandalised, Palestine Action claims responsibility

A woman and two men were arrested on suspicion of preparing acts of terrorism.

THREE PEOPLE HAVE been arrested on suspicion of a terror offence, after two planes at an RAF base were vandalised in an action claimed by soon-to-be banned campaign group Palestine Action.

Counter Terrorism Policing South East (CTPSE) said a woman, aged 29, of no fixed address, and two men, aged 36 and 24, from London, have been taken into police custody after the incident at RAF Brize Norton on 20 June.

They are accused of the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism, contrary to Section 41 of the Terrorism Act 2000.

A 41-year-old woman, of no fixed address, was also arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender, they said.

Palestine Action previously posted footage online showing people inside the Oxfordshire base, with one person appearing to ride an electric scooter up to an Airbus Voyager air-to-air refuelling tanker, before spray painting into its jet engine.

CTPSE said the four arrests were made in London and the Newbury area of Berkshire on Thursday.

The Home Secretary made the decision to proscribe Palestine Action following the incident, with the arrests coming just days before the proscription is set to come into force.

Support for the group will become a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison when the ban comes into effect as soon as next Friday.

Palestine Action has staged demonstration that have included spraying the London offices of Allianz Insurance with red paint and vandalising US President Donald Trump’s Turnberry golf course in South Ayrshire.

As she announced plans for Palestine Action’s proscription, Yvette Cooper said the group’s methods have become “more aggressive”, with its members showing “willingness to use violence”.

At the time of the incident, the group said it had “directly intervened in the genocide and prevented crimes against the Palestinian people” by “decommissioning two military planes”.

Palestine Action said Thursday’s arrests “further demonstrates that proscription is not about enabling prosecutions under terrorism laws – it’s about cracking down on non-violent protests which disrupt the flow of arms to Israel during its genocide in Palestine”.

Close
JournalTv
News in 60 seconds