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The Trump administration announced that it is designating U.K.-based Palestine Action and two other left wing groups as global “terrorist” groups on Wednesday, escalating its McCarthyist crackdown against the left and the Palestine solidarity movement.

The administration is placing sanctions on Palestine Action, a direct action group that has worked to disrupt the pipeline of arms shipments to Israel amid the Gaza genocide. Trump has also targeted Italian tech collective Autistici/Inventati, which the State Department claims has ties to U.S. activists, and Masar Badil, an international group that works toward Palestinian liberation.

The sanctions are being issued under an executive order signed by President George W. Bush, which declared a national emergency to give the government the ability to target terrorist groups shortly after the attacks of September 11, 2001.

The sanctions freeze the assets of the groups in the U.S., including bank accounts, as well as prohibit individuals and institutions in the U.S. from doing business with them. International officials who have faced similar financial sanctions have described being completely unable to access any financial goods and services because of the U.S.’s heavy influence on the global banking and finance systems.

The Treasury Department described the sanctions against Palestine Action as a “complement” to the U.K.’s ban on the group in 2025 under Labour Prime Minister Keir........

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