Pressure mounts for UK government to designate PFLP as terror org

• Published date: 06 April 2024
• Author: JERUSALEM POST STAFF
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

The PFLP, who made headlines in the 1960s and 1970s after hijacking planes, is banned in the United States, Canada, Japan and the European Union

While under EU law, the PFLP was subject to financial sanctions in the UK, it no longer applies due to a Brexit loophole, according to the JC.

Legal loopholes protecting PFLP

The UK's Jewish Board of Deputies and the Jewish Leadership Council warned the UK government in 2018, according to the source, that the PFLP and the political wing of Hamas would benefit from the loophole.

Despite being designated as terrorists elsewhere, and the attacks committed by the groups, both the PFLP and the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade (AAMB) are legal groups in the UK.

A Board of Deputies spokesperson said, according to the source, "The PFLP and the AAMB were not on the UK's list of proscribed terror organisations when the country left the EU, creating a gap in enforcement.

"We have urged for some time that this situation should be remedied. We sincerely hope that the government will now act to close the...