In a sweeping new move targeting groups it labels as far-left terrorist organizations, the Trump administration has imposed sweeping economic sanctions on UK-based advocacy group Palestine Action, formally designating the entity as a terrorist organization. The U.S. Department of the Treasury made the announcement Wednesday, confirming that the agency had activated its full regulatory and economic toolset to target the group.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent emphasized in his official statement that the designation sends a clear warning to radical left networks, their affiliated front organizations, and supporting actors. “Far-left extremists, their fronts, and their enablers should be on notice: We will bring the full weight of our economic tools to bear,” Bessent said. “Political terrorism has no place in our society, and we will continue to cut the financial lifelines of these groups until they are eliminated.”
Per the Treasury Department’s accusations, Palestine Action has backed multiple acts the U.S. classifies as terrorism dating back to July 2020. These alleged activities include attacks that physically injured British law enforcement personnel, disruptive actions intended to intimidate legally operating commercial businesses, and coordinated campaigns to pressure the UK government into changing its policy on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The group has long organized so-called direct action protests targeting arms companies in the UK that maintain business ties with Israel.
Palestine Action already faced a full domestic ban in the UK, which went into effect in 2025 under the country’s existing counter-terrorism legislation. The group has mounted a sustained legal challenge to overturn that ban, with its case working its way through the British court system. Earlier this year in June, UK Court of Appeal judges ruled that the government’s ban represented a “justified and proportionate” limitation on the group’s freedom of expression rights. Despite that setback, the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom has since granted Palestine Action permission to appeal that ruling.
The June court ruling came on the heels of another legal development for the group: four Palestine Action members were sentenced to prison terms for breaking into a UK defense facility, causing more than £1 million in property damage. One of the four was additionally convicted of inflicting grievous bodily harm on a police officer after striking the officer with a sledgehammer during the incident.
Huda Ammori, co-founder of Palestine Action, has pushed back fiercely against the new U.S. sanctions. In a social media post responding to the designation, Ammori — who identifies as a Palestinian-Iraqi activist — condemned the move as an act of staggering hypocrisy. “As a Palestinian and Iraqi, the fact the country which destroyed both my homelands is calling me a terrorist, is beyond hypocritical,” she wrote. Speaking to the BBC in an interview, Ammori defended the group’s activities, arguing that all of Palestine Action’s work has been focused on protecting civilian lives. She added that both the UK ban and the new U.S. designation should serve as a “wake-up call to anyone who cares about free speech and democracy.”
Wednesday’s sanctions against Palestine Action marks the latest step in a broader push by the Trump administration to impose penalties on far-left organizations the U.S. classifies as terrorist networks across the globe.