At the beginning of July 2025, the UK parliament voted overwhelmingly to proscribe the direct action protest group, Palestine Action, under the Terrorism Act 2000. As a result, any statement judged to be expressing support could lead to arrest and imprisonment. The below is written with this in mind, alongside the determination not to remain silent.

This PPU joins many others in condemning this absurd and draconian ban – the latest in a series of recent measures clamping down on the right to protest - and calls for it to be overturned.

With hundreds now arrested for holding up cardboard signs, the ban has had an immediate chilling effect on freedom of speech and the movement for a ceasefire in Gaza. It is a challenging time to stand up for peace and many are frightened about what to say and do.

Palestine Action is a direct action group formed in 2020 with the aim of impeding the work of those British factories, installations and infrastructure that supply and support the Israeli military. The group was proscribed after some of its members broke into a military airfield in June and spray-painted two military aircraft they believed had been used to refuel Israeli jets bombing Gaza.

It is therefore an appropriate - albeit very troubling - time for us to consider again the messages inherent within the Peace Pledge that PPU members have subscribed to for almost a century:  

'War is a crime against humanity. I renounce war, and am therefore determined not to support any kind of war. I am also determined to work for the removal of all causes of war.'

The Peace Pledge Union is a ‘broad church’ and individual PPU members will have different notions as to how far the sentence, 'I am also determined to work for the removal of all causes of war,' permits (or requires) radical action. Individual members will judge this for themselves and act according to their conscience. The PPU, as an organisation, rejects attempts to isolate and undermine individual nonviolent protest by instilling fear. We are also clear that we are pacifists, not passive.

There is a proud history of pacifists, in this country and elsewhere, destroying death-dealing weaponry in what are commonly known as Ploughshares Actions. In many cases, juries have acquitted Ploughshares activists who've been prosecuted - providing the accused have been allowed to explain their motives. Banning a direct action group as a terrorist organisation therefore marks an unprecedented erosion of civil liberties. Indeed there are already signs that the policing of pro-Palestine protests and direct action against the arms trade is getting harsher in the wake of the ban. This is deeply troubling for groups like the Peace Pledge Union, which advocate peaceful resistance - including nonviolent direct action – to war and militarism.

Being able to participate in nonviolent protest is a seminal civil liberty and the PPU considers attempts to restrict the right to protest as steps taken toward authoritarianism. The proscription of a nonviolent direct action group under the Terrorism Act is a serious overreach and the PPU joins the growing call for this ban to be lifted.

We commend those involved in securing a judicial review into Palestine Action’s proscription. We stand in solidarity with those groups and individuals, including many PPU members, continuing to take nonviolent direct action against systems and infrastructure of violence and death. This is something the PPU has a long history of, and something we remain as committed to as ever.

We encourage all PPU members and supporters to remember the Peace Pledge - to continue struggling for a ceasefire in Gaza and justice for the Palestinians, and to stand up for our civil liberties and the right to protest. As well as opposing this new legislation, we must remember the rights we do have and use them creatively. We must support and stand in solidarity with one another at this troubling time.