There bizarrely doesn't seem to be a UK government petition asking them to reverse their classification of Palestine Action as a terrorist group, so I made one.

[gjm@mathstodon.xyz]

There bizarrely doesn't seem to be a UK government petition asking them to reverse their classification of Palestine Action as a terrorist group, so I made one. Nothing at all happens until five people sign it here: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/737065/sponsors/new?token=of4HgwdHoy62DM1ZciT3

[EDITED to add:] 5 supporters achieved, now waiting for approval. (15 more can still sign up before that.)

Note 1: It seems that it can take weeks for a petition to get approved, so maybe there are actually several in the works already. If you know of an earlier/better one, please ignore mine.

Note 2: The scope of the petition is strictly limited: P.A. should not be considered a terrorist organization. I am not claiming that they are a _good_ one.

Note 3: If you think P.A. is not a good organization and doesn't deserve favourable publicity then quite possibly you should prefer them _not_ to be classified as terrorists. I think they've got a lot more press and a lot more sympathy since they were so classified.

Note 4: P.A. should not be considered a terrorist organization because all they do is vandalize things. They don't kill or injure people or attempt to spread fear. They are surely a _criminal_ organization but not a _terrorist_ one.

Note 5: It shouldn't matter, but my position on the Gaza conflict is that Hamas are evil genocidal bastards who perpetrated an atrocity, and Netanyahu took advantage of this to launch a colossal and surely counterproductive massacre. War criminals, the lot of 'em. There should be a safe and secure Israel and free and un-oppressed Palestinians. I have no idea how to get there, but the present war is clearly moving in the wrong direction on both counts.

[EDITED to add:] Actual petition text in reply to this toot.