A judge has ruled that five pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel activists who vandalized a branch of Barclays bank in northern England will not be sentenced as terrorists, according to the Guardian.
The five, members of the anti-Israel group Palestine Action, were convicted in June of causing more than £200,000 ($272,000) worth of damage by breaking windows and throwing red paint on the bank branch in Burnley.
The vandalism was in protest of Barclays holding shares in Israeli weapons manufacturer Elbit. The judge ruled that the extent of the damage did not meet the threshold for a terrorist act, according to the report.
The defendants will receive shorter jail sentences as a result of the determination.
There is currently an ongoing court battle over the UK government’s ban of Palestine Action as a terror group. In June, a separate group of Palestine Action members were sentenced to more than 20 years in prison in total over a 2024 raid on an Elbit factory.
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Friday, August 21, 2026
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