Children’s author among 28 Irish arrested as part of UK ‘terror’ crackdown on Palestine Action
One of Ireland’s leading children’s authors is among 28 Irish people who have been arrested under anti-terror laws in the UK over alleged links to Palestine Action. London-based Chris Haughton, the Irish children’s book author and illustrator and national children’s laureate for 2026 to 2029, was among more than 4,000 arrests, including over two dozen Irish people, linked to Palestine Action in the UK. New figures show that, as of the year ending June 2026, 31 terror-related arrests in the UK were for people that define their nationality as Irish, 28 of which were linked to Palestine Action.
This was more than any other nationality outside of Britain in the year ending June 2026. The UK supreme court began hearing a challenge to the proscription of Palestine Action on Wednesday, November 4th. [ ‘It’s absurd’: Palestine Action UK arrests higher than those at peak of the Troubles Opens in new window ] Proscribing Palestine Action criminalised support, the invitation of support, or membership for the group. A High Court judicial review had previously found the ban was unlawful in February but this was overturned by the Court of Appeal in June.
Under the legislation to date more than 4,000 arrests, the majority for expressing support for the group, have resulted in thousands awaiting trial and potential prison sentences. Arrest figures are continually rising given the regularity of Palestine Action protests where mass arrests take place for sign-holding. A further two dozen protesters were arrested outside the supreme court on Wednesday. “There’s 4,000 of us that have been arrested now,” Haughton, who was arrested for holding a sign declaring support for Palestine Action, told The Irish Times.
“It’s absurd.” Houghton has pledged to donate proceeds from his children’s books to Sally Rooney , the Irish author who recently had her books removed from sale in the UK over her own commitment to donate their proceeds to Palestine Action . Palestine Action was originally proscribed as a terror group on July 5th, 2025, primarily after a series of “direct action” incidents by the group that allegedly involved vandalism of Israeli-owned Elbit Systems drones factories in the UK .
Left out here: Leaves out what changes the picture
The article says the ban followed incidents at Elbit factories. It never mentions the break-in at RAF Brize Norton, where two members spray-painted a refuelling jet, which other reports name as the act that preceded proscription. Without it, a reader believes the ban was only about Elbit sites.
How we know
- The Observer reported“proscribed by the Home Office as a terrorist organisation after two of its members broke into RAF Brize Norton on electric scooters and spray-painted a Pathfinder refuelling jet”Huda Ammori: ‘It was beyond our comprehension that Palestine Action could become a terrorist organisation’ (opens in a new tab)
- The Observer reported“including causing damage to military planes at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire”Palestine Action vows to go to European human rights court if UK government upholds ban (opens in a new tab)
In one incident in August 2025, activists destroyed drones and computers, causing an estimated £1 million (€1.2 million) in damage to the Filton Elbit Systems factory before clashing with security and police, with one officer behind struck with a sledgehammer, fracturing their spine. Elbit Systems UK Limited has denied that it supplies weapons or military equipment to the Israel Defence Forces or the Israeli ministry of defence. The International Association of Genocide Scholars has stated that Israel’s actions in Gaza amount to genocide .
South Africa launched proceedings against Israel before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in 2023, alleging that Israel’s military actions in Gaza constituted a genocide against the Palestinian people, but a ruling is not expected for years. Jonathan Hall, an independent barrister who was appointed by the Home Secretary as the UK’s fourth Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation, told The Irish Times it was the “first time” property damage was used as the primary basis for proscription.
Arguing against its proscription as a terror group in the supreme court on Wednesday, Raza Husain, a lawyer for the group, stated, “Palestine Action never advocated for violence against the person.” He told the court on Wednesday that only three of its 385 actions over five years met the legal definition of terrorism, and only because they involved property damage. Alan Greene, a professor of constitutional law and human rights at the University of Birmingham, said proscribing Palestine Action as a terror group primarily based on property damage presents a marked change in the interpretation of UK terror legislation, when criminal law for incidents of vandalism could have sufficed.
“This is a classic example of counterproductive counterterrorism,” he said. “It has actually increased the prominence of Palestine Action.”
Read the original article on irishtimes.com (opens in a new tab)