Five years of escalating attacks on British industries linked to Israel came to an end on Wednesday when Parliament banned the group as a terrorist organization, placing it alongside ISIS and al-Qaeda on the UK’s proscribed list.

By a vote of 385-26, MPs banned Palestine Action under terrorism laws after the group’s June 20 attack on RAF Brize Norton that damaged military aircraft. Viral video at the time shows the vandals had spray-painted two Airbus Voyager refueling plane engines red, battered the aircraft with crowbars, splashed paint on the runway, and left a Palestinian flag behind.

Membership to the newly minted terror organization now carries a maximum 14-year prison sentence.

“People engaged in lawful protests don’t need weapons. People engaged in lawful protests do not throw smoke bombs and fire pyrotechnics around innocent members of the public,” remarked Home Office minister Dan Jarvis. “People engaged in lawful protests do not cause millions of pounds of damage to national security infrastructure, including submarines and defensive equipment for NATO.”

Co-founders Huda Ammori, whose father is Palestinian, and Richard Barnard, a veteran left-wing social activist, first established the network in 2020 to target Israeli weapons manufacturer Elbit Systems. Early actions involved multi-day rooftop occupations of weapons factories, with anti-Israel protesters often seen in red boiler suits dismantling equipment using hammers and tools.

Palestine Action then began targeting not just Elbit directly but the entire supply chain supporting the company’s UK operations: recruitment firms, property managers, logistics companies, and global financial institutions such as Barclays. Since the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre, their supporters have only gotten more disruptive by storming offices and covering premises in red paint to symbolize bloodshed in Gaza.

Opposition to the proscription came from MPs who described the move as “draconian overreach.” Independent MP Zarah Sultana argued the government was “lumping a non-violent network of students, nurses, teachers, firefighters and peace campaigners – ordinary people, my constituents and yours – with neo-Nazi militias and mass-casualty cults.”

According to the Guardian, final approval is expected within days when the proscription order moves to the House of Lords. However, Palestine Action is seeking a legal challenge and a hearing is expected Friday to decide whether the ban can be temporarily blocked pending further proceedings.