The govt took this stance on Palestine Action primarily because the group advertised its sabotage at Brize Norton and the perps weren’t immediately apprehended. That was the sort of video which would have been released in the opening stages of an actual war, as a psyop. (1/4)
The security failure here impressed upon HM Govt that Something Must Done and declaring the perps a terrorist group was a quick way to look tough. The govt has been short-termist on many issues - it’s not surprising it didn’t consider that this could blow up in its face in the long term. (2/4)
But PA topped their stupidity. Victory was clearly going to be pyrrhic, but they made it even worse for themselves by releasing a video directly rather than a statement or passing it onto another publication. And all this to target Voyagers, which have not contributed to destruction in Gaza. (3/4)
It’s part of a pattern of attacks on unrelated European military infrastructure (e.g. Belgian armoured vehicles being prepped for Ukraine) for ostensibly pro-Palestinian reasons which ultimately only help Russia. These groups are often led by useful (and potentially dangerous) idiots. (4/4)
Addendum: it’s possible similar (but not yet proscribed) groups learn some of the right lessons from this, but I’m not too hopeful.