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“Criminalizing Compassion” - 27 June 2025

The UK’s Weaponization of Terrorism Laws

Ivor Jones The Māori Green Ltn

27 Jun 2025 — 6 min read

Tēnā koutou katoa (Greetings to you all).
Aotearoa’s conscience is under siege: when the defence of children’s lives becomes a crime, who truly is the terror?

In a brazen display of selective justice, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has moved to outlaw Palestine Action under the Terrorism Act 2000, branding peaceful non-violent protest as terrorism while the UK government continues to arm a state accused of genocide in Gaza. This essay argues that proscribing a direct-action group defending human rights is a stark violation of freedom of expression and assembly, rooted in colonial—now neoliberal—fear of Indigenous solidarity. It examines the legal, moral, and Māori spiritual dimensions of this decision, exposing how white supremacist and neoliberal narratives converge to silence those who stand for tino rangatiratanga and utu for Palestinians.

https://youtu.be/ECkVO4F_38I?si=n08dLDyYFy6m9e_u

Context and Historical Background

From the British colonisation of Aotearoa to the present, Indigenous peoples have resisted dispossession through direct action. Today, Māori values of kaitiakitanga (guardianship) and manaakitanga (care for all) resonate with international struggles against occupation. Under the Genocide Convention, to which the UK is a signatory, states are obliged to prevent and punish genocide. Yet while Israel’s military campaign in Gaza—documented as genocidal by Amnesty International—continues with UK arms and intelligence support, the UK government turns its fire on a handful of activists who spray paint on warplanes to prevent further bloodshed“Genocide 'matter of law and evidence'” 1.

By proscribing Palestine Action on 23 June 2025, the Home Secretary steps into the long tradition of colonial authorities who outlaw Indigenous protest, casting those who oppose state violence as “terrorists” while ignoring the far greater violence inflicted overseasPalestine Action: Proscription 2.

The Issue: Selective Proscription as Political Repression

Palestine Action, founded in 2020, has conducted peaceful non-violent direct actions—locking on to factory gates, defacing military aircraft with paint—to disrupt the production of weapons used in GazaUK court acquits activists 3. In March 2025, a crown court acquitted five activists of new “locking-on” offences under the Public Order Act 2023, acknowledging their actions as justifiable attempts to prevent greater crimes. Yet in response to a paint attack on Brize Norton airbase, the government claimed that “serious damage to property” suffices to label the group a terrorist organisation—a first of its kind in UK legal historyGroup faces ban 4.

This selective proscription weaponises anti-terror laws to shield powerful interests—defence firms, the billionaire press, and foreign governments—from embarrassment and accountability. It mirrors colonial tactics of criminalising Māori protest, such as the suppression of Parihaka in 1881, framing Indigenous resistance as criminal rather than legitimate assertion of rights.

Political Fear of Indigenous Solidarity

The government’s swift alignment with lobbyists close to the Israeli embassy reveals a neoliberal contempt for global Indigenous solidarity. Pro-Israel campaigners such as “We Believe in Israel” have lobbied hard for this ban, echoing historical campaigns that derailed Māori insistence on tino rangatiratanga by branding it subversive. Here, arrest warrants for slate-throwing activists have more to do with protecting corporate profit than national security.

Racism and Dehumanisation

Labelling those who defend Palestinians as terrorists while ignoring the mass killing of civilians in Gaza perpetuates a white supremacist narrative that devalues non-white lives. It inverts the meaning of “terrorism,” making genocide itself invisible to the law and public discourse. In June 2025, only 18 per cent of UK citizens opposed an arms embargo on Israel, yet the government defies this majority willArms embargo poll 5, privileging colonial alliances over democratic accountability.

Neoliberal Delegitimisation of Collective Action

By branding collective, non-violent interventions as terrorism, the state reinforces the neoliberal myth that only market-approved forms of protest are legitimate. This echoes global patterns where corporations and states conspire to delegitimise disruptions of supply chains—even when those disruptions contest egregious human rights abuses. Māori worldviews teach that caring for the land (whenua) and its people may require direct intervention; here, the paint is both symbol and shield against the machinery of genocide.

Counterarguments and State Legitimacy

Pro-government voices claim direct action disrupts “law and order,” yet history shows juries honour moral duty over technical legality when preventing greater crimes. The government’s own legal advisers admit that ordinary criminal law is sufficient to address any damage, making proscription a disproportionate and unnecessary measure—a clear breach of the proportionality principle enshrined in human rights lawAmnesty UK response 6.

Broader Implications for Māori and Global Communities

The proscription sets a dangerous precedent: any group challenging colonial or neoliberal power could be criminalised under terrorism laws. For Māori, already surveilled and policed, the message is chilling—asserting tino rangatiratanga over whenua may be met with the full weight of counter-terrorism powers. This emboldens authoritarian impulses in future governments, whether Labour or National, further eroding democratic spaces for protest.

Globally, it signals to settler states that genocide can be enabled with impunity, while those who oppose it are enemies of the state. It deepens patterns of settler colonialism, linking Aotearoa’s past to Palestine’s present and underscoring the need for a shared Indigenous–Palestinian solidarity grounded in Māori values of manaakitanga and kaitiakitanga.

Call to Action

The UK government’s proscription of Palestine Action is an act of profound injustice—criminalising compassion while arming genocide. As Māori, we stand against this distortion of justice. May we unite in a global chorus of solidarity: uphold freedom of speech, demand an immediate arms embargo on Israel, and challenge any law that makes standing for humanity a crime.

If this essay has affirmed your commitment to justice, please consider a koha to support ongoing work for truth and solidarity: HTDM: 03-1546-0415173-000. He aroha whakatō, he aroha puta mai—love given is love returned.

No reira, whakakotahitia tātou i roto i te manaakitanga me te tika. Nāku noa, nā Ivor Jones, The Māori Green Lantern.

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