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A prominent Palestine Action activist has posed with a handgun and showed off a tattoo adopted by terrorist organisations in a series of disturbing social media posts, it has been revealed.
Paul Shortt, 52, is one of the group’s leading protesters who was convicted of breaking into an international defence technology firm which it claims supplies weapons to the Israeli military.
Shortt, from Dumfries, Scotland, and six others used sledgehammers to break into Elbit Systems UK in Bristol on May 15 2022 and caused thousands of pounds of damage to equipment while also spray-painting ‘Free Palestine’ across the building.
The group, dubbed the ‘Bristol 7’ by Palestine Action, were convicted of burglary and criminal damage last year but received suspended 23-month jail sentences.
Shortt, who was ordered to undertake 200 hours of unpaid work for the attack, was pictured launching a fire extinguisher through one of Elbit’s windows and being hauled away in handcuffs wearing a ‘Free Palestine’ all-red outfit.
He said after his conviction: ‘I’m Scottish, I know about colonialism, I know about land grabs, about ethnic cleansing. We used to do supposedly ‘democratic’ protests, it just didn’t work. Direct action was the only way.’
He is one of the prominent members of Palestine Action who the Government is moving to proscribe as a terror group after a ‘long history of unacceptable criminal damage’ culminated in its ‘disgraceful attack’ at RAF Brize Norton on Friday.
Shortt has shared photos online wearing a Palestine football shirt, posing with what appeared to be a handgun and showing off his anti-Israel tattoos.
His middle finger has a red triangle tattoo used by pro-Palestine groups including Hamas, the terrorist organisation which carried out the October 7 massacre in Israel.
It has been widely used in pro-Palestine protests after it started appearing in Hamas videos to indicate targets such as Israeli tanks.
In the disturbing gun post, first reported by The Times, he wrote: ‘Resistance is not terrorism! Resistance is justified. When people are occupied. Resist! By any means necessary.’
The activist also has a large black tattoo on his lower arm which depicts a map some claim should be Palestine, including the whole of the state of Israel.
Shortt, who has moved to erase his social media footprint, has previously shared photos of pro-Israel campaigners in Glasgow with the red triangle symbol imposed over them.
Those who display the inverted red triangle on banners, bags, T-shirts and tattoos, argue it is a symbol of resistance and support for the Palestinian cause.
However, antisemitism experts believe the symbol is now being widely displayed has very different origins.
Some point to the use of the red triangle in Nazi concentration camps during the Second World War, when political opponents were forced to wear the symbol on their jackets.
More recently, it has been associated with Hamas and used in pro-Palestinian activists.
Last July, Berlin – which has the largest Palestinian population in Europe – passed a motion to ban the symbol in Germany.
Palestine Action was set up in 2020 but the group have conducted 356 attacks on sites across the UK in the last five years – with Home Secretary Yvette Cooper revealing the damage caused is ‘running into the millions of pounds’.
Last night, The Times reported how the Home Office is investigating whether Iran is funding Palestine Action.
Officials are understood to be probing the group’s source of donations amid concerns it is not bound by financial transparency rules.
There are fears Iran could be providing money, via proxies, given their objectives of ‘dismantling the apartheid regime in Israel’ are aligned.
Palestine Action invites donations directly through its website but does not publish financial information.
The Home Office has voiced concerns around where the group is raising the significant sums it requires for its legal costs as it has instructed lawyers to pursue ‘all avenues for legal challenge’.
Palestine Action states on its website it is a grassroots movement and accepts funding is ‘sometimes inconsistent’. Donations are said to go towards supporting members who are arrested and imprisoned.
NGO Monitor a research institute that aims to promote transparency, has said the group’s lack of public financial information ‘reflects a lack of transparency and accountability’.
But one of its known public donors is James ‘Fergie’ Chambers – an American communist and philanthropist who is heir to a multi-billion conglomerate.
Mr Chambers stated in 2023 he had paid the legal fees of Palestine Action members.
Beyond concerns around transparency, the Home Office is yet to state direct evidence that links Palestine Action with Iran.
MailOnline has contacted Palestine Action for comment.
Yesterday, Palestine Action protesters violently clashed with police during a protest in Trafalgar Square as tensions ran high amid plans to proscribe the group under anti-terror laws. 13 people, including counter-protesters, were arrested.
As the protest was going on, Ms Cooper announced she has decided to proscribe them as a terrorist group and will lay an order before Parliament next week to make membership and support for the them illegal.
The proscription of Palestine Action puts the group on a par with Hamas, al-Qaeda or ISIS under British law, banning anyone from promoting the group, arranging meetings or carrying its logo in public.
Those breaching the rules could face up to 14 years in jail.
Palestine Action described the move as ‘unhinged’, adding: ‘We are teachers, nurses, students and parents who take part in actions disrupting the private companies who are arming Israel’s genocide, by spray-painting or entering their factory premises.
‘It is plainly preposterous to rank us with terrorist groups like Isis, National Action and Boko Haram.’
The protest group was founded by Huda Ammori, the middle class daughter of a top NHS surgeon, alongside former Extinction Rebellion member Richard Barnard.
Ms Ammori, a former campaigner at the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, was born in Bolton to a Palestinian father, a surgeon, and an Iraqi mother. She later went on to graduate from the University of Manchester with an international business and finance degree.
Ms Ammori quickly became captivated by student activism during her time at the prestigious institution – even getting a brand of hummus banned from the campus shop.
The then-student, who had spotted ‘Sabra’ hummus, jointly owned by a company who invest in Israeli’s military forces, was on sale, launched a tireless campaign that eventually saw the chickpea dip successfully blacklisted.
Now, she leads the militant movement for Palestine Action, who broke away from XR and the Palestine Solidarity Campaign in 2020.
On Friday morning, the group posted footage online showing two people inside the base at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire.
The clip shows one person riding an electric scooter up to an Airbus Voyager air-to-air refuelling tanker and appearing to spray paint into its jet engine. They managed to infiltrate the base and escape without being caught.
The group has staged a series of demonstrations in recent months, including spraying the London offices of Allianz Insurance with red paint over its alleged links to Israeli defence company Elbit, and vandalising US President Donald Trump’s Turnberry golf course in South Ayrshire.
The seriousness of these attacks includes the extent and nature of damage caused, including to targets affecting UK national security, and the impact on innocent members of the public fleeing for safety and subjected to violence.
The extent of damage across these three attacks alone, spreading the length and breadth of the UK, runs into the millions of pounds.
