They’re idiots, not terrorists

The Herald reports:

Days before the United States-led invasion of Iraq, five protesters broke into a British military base, intent on disabling aircraft that were set to be deployed in bombing missions.

It was March 2003, and the group said it wanted to prevent war crimes and protect civilians. 

Among those who later defended them in court was a 43-year-old human rights lawyer.

His name was Keir Starmer.

In a strange echo, 22 years later, Starmer would face a similar case, but now as Prime Minister of Britain.

In June, activists from a group called Palestine Action broke into a Royal Air Force base, sprayed red paint into aircraft engines and damaged the planes with crowbars. …

But a very different result ensued. 

The protesters in 2003 were prosecuted under criminal laws against property damage.

In June, Starmer’s Government announced that Palestine Action would be added to its list of banned terrorist organisations, alongside groups including al-Qaeda, Hezbollah and Atomwaffen Division, a neo-Nazi group.

It was the first time in modern British history, according to the Government’s adviser on counterterrorism laws, that a protest group that does not call for violence against people had been proscribed as a terrorist organisation.

Palestine Action sound like a bunch of idiots, which we have many of in NZ. They should be prosecuted for any damage they caused, but proscribing them as a terrorist organisation seems absurd.