The United States has imposed sanctions on British activist group Palestine Action, designating it as a terrorist organisation, while more than 250 UK academics, lawyers and public figures have called on Prime Minister Andy Burnham to lift the group’s ban and end military cooperation with Israel.

The U.S. Treasury announced the financial measures on Wednesday against Palestine Action, the pro-Palestinian movement Masar Badil and Italy-based digital collective Autistici/Inventati, which provides online services to activist groups.

“Far-left extremists, their fronts, and their enablers should be on notice,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in announcing the measures, adding that the United States would use its economic powers against groups it considers involved in political terrorism.

Palestine Action co-founder Huda Ammori condemned the U.S. designation as hypocritical, saying it was particularly objectionable to her as a Palestinian and Iraqi.

Israel welcomed the move, describing Palestine Action and Masar Badil as “violent extremist networks and terrorist-affiliated front organizations”.

Britain proscribed Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation in July 2025. In August 2026, however, a UK judge ruled that five members convicted over a 2024 attack on a Barclays branch should not be sentenced under terrorism legislation.

Thousands of people have been arrested at protests against the ban, including demonstrators displaying signs in support of Palestine Action.

Separately, more than 250 academics and lawyers wrote to Burnham on Aug. 25 calling for the group to be removed from the UK’s terrorism list and for a change in government policy towards Israel.

The signatories, including barrister Michael Mansfield, Oxford historian Avi Shlaim, Defend Our Juries co-founder Tim Crosland and Exeter University academic Laleh Khalili, also called for an end to British military and security cooperation with Israel.

Their demands include halting arms exports, surveillance flights, intelligence sharing, military training and joint operations with Israel. They also called on Britain to support South Africa’s case against Israel at the International Court of Justice and back efforts at the International Criminal Court to enforce arrest warrants against Israeli officials.

The letter said the government should uphold international law and protect freedom of speech and assembly, arguing that activists opposing alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity were facing increasingly restrictive measures.

The appeal follows Burnham’s apology, made shortly before he became prime minister, for the Labour leadership’s early support for Israel’s war in Gaza and its opposition to a ceasefire in 2023 and early 2024.

The signatories have asked Burnham to respond to their demands by the end of September.

Palestine Action, founded in July 2020, describes itself as a movement seeking to end international involvement in what it calls Israel’s “genocidal and apartheid regime”. It uses direct-action tactics against companies it considers corporate supporters of Israel, particularly arms manufacturers.

The group has targeted British facilities linked to companies including Israel’s Elbit Systems, Italy’s Leonardo, France’s Thales and U.S.-based Teledyne.

Masar Badil, also known as the Palestinian Alternative Revolutionary Path Movement, is a transnational Palestinian political and activist group founded in 2021. It describes itself as a revolutionary alternative to existing Palestinian leadership.

Autistici/Inventati, an Italy-based digital collective founded more than two decades ago, provides services including website hosting, email, mailing lists, chat and blogs to activists and grassroots organisations.