US Adds Palestine Action to Terror List

The United States designated Palestine Action as a terrorist organization on Wednesday as President Donald Trump’s administration expands its counterterrorism campaign against left-wing groups.

The move follows Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s announcement last month that Washington would seek to refocus international counterterrorism efforts on what he called “far-left terror”. The initiative has prompted concerns from Democrats that the administration is politicizing counterterrorism and diverting resources from other extremist threats.

The US Treasury Department also imposed sanctions on an Italy-based entity it accused of providing digital infrastructure, tools and services to antifa and other far-left groups. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the administration would use economic measures against left-wing extremists, their supporters and organizations that enable them.

The department also sanctioned the transnational group Masar Badil, saying it operates as a front for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), which the US has already designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization.

Palestine Action, which has increasingly targeted Israel-linked defense companies in Britain, particularly Israeli defense company Elbit Systems, has already been banned as a terrorist organization in the United Kingdom.The UK Supreme Court is due to hear a challenge to a lower court ruling upholding the ban.

Palestine Action co-founder Huda Ammori criticized the US designation, saying it demonstrated the danger posed by Britain’s ban and should serve as a warning to those concerned about freedom of speech and civil liberties.

(Reuters, max)