The Dangerous Cult of 'Action': Why Supporting Palestine Is Not Palestine Action.
Unpacking the Dangerous Protest Cult: From Blind Faith and Emotional Outrage to the Real Puppetmasters of Civil Unrest.
Much of the talk about "action" today is really just a dangerous game. This deep dive explores why support for Palestine is completely different from supporting Palestine Action, and the real price of blindly following a destructive protest movement.
The Allure and The Lie.
While a lot of people support the Palestinian cause through peaceful, organised marches and humanitarian aid, a dangerous minority has chosen a different path. This is the crucial distinction: they engage in direct action, which often involves criminal damage and trespassing. The UK government's decision to proscribe Palestine Action under the Terrorism Act 2000 has turned this tactical choice into a legal trap.
If you're arrested for showing support, you could face up to 14 years in prison. A conviction isn't just about jail time; it creates a permanent record that can ruin your life. You could be unemployable in many fields, barred from international travel, and with the rise of AI facial recognition, even perceived support from a distance could land you in serious trouble.
The Grand Delusion: Selfishness and The Fetish for "Action."
Seeing elderly people and those with disabilities arrested reveals a catastrophic failure of messaging. The narrative has shifted from the plight of Palestinians to the media spectacle of a vulnerable person being led away. This is a selfish delusion. The "action" fetish has convinced some that getting arrested is a form of powerful, meaningful martyrdom.
Beyond the personal cost, this harms the very justice system meant to protect everyone. By creating mass arrests, Palestine Action is clogging up the courts, diverting resources from genuine victims of serious crimes.
Who are these protesters? They aren't a single group. There are the genuinely compassionate; the searchers looking for a sense of community; the rebels, using the cause to vent their generalised angst; and a minority who are supporters of criminality, who see arrests as a victory.
The Dangerous Cult of 'Action'.
The tangible solutions—targeted divestment, local advocacy—are useless for a movement that has become a cult. This "cult of action" promises a simplified, righteous path, demanding absolute, unquestioning faith. The "action" becomes a form of religious devotion, and the arrests, a rite of passage. The logic of the legal system and warnings about ruined careers fall on deaf ears.
This dangerous feedback loop validates the cult's belief in its own effectiveness, drawing in more "searchers" and "rebels." It also isolates the genuinely compassionate and provides more foot soldiers for the chaotic battlefield.
The Real Puppetmasters and The Butterfly Effect.
The blind faith required to support a group like this echoes historical support for other proscribed organisations, like the IRA. It's the abandonment of critical thinking in favour of a 'good vs. evil' narrative. This blinds people to the chaotic, unpredictable consequences of their actions—a concept known as Chaos Theory. A small protest can set off a chain reaction that results in a life-altering legal catastrophe.
The "foot soldiers" being arrested are just the tragic outcome of a system they don't fully understand. The real people to protest against are not them, nor are they even the politicians who are themselves the puppets of something far bigger. The big cheeses at the very top—the billionaire investors and secretive financial institutions who hold stakes in the arms trade—are the true agitators. They are the ones who profit from the chaos, using the genuine angst and anger of the foot soldiers as a form of currency. They are the hidden, and therefore unidentified, targets controlling what happens on the battlefield of ordinary people, such as you and me. It's futile to target buildings or protest in a way that just becomes media fodder.
This is where the emotional manipulation comes in. These "foot soldiers" are the lowest-hanging fruit. They are being manipulated into a state of uncontrolled emotional outrage, a tool to be used and exploited. The puppetmasters don't care about the cause; they only care about the chaos it creates.
The cause of Palestine is too important to be hijacked by a single, high-risk strategy that ends up hurting more people than it helps. Don't confuse "action" with meaningful progress. True activism is a marathon, not a sprint to the nearest police station.
In Closing.
The unfortunate reality is that this cult is not only harming its members but also de-legitimising the cause it claims to serve. It provides a convenient narrative for its opponents, making any meaningful dialogue nearly impossible. The blind faith has not just clouded their judgment; it has made them a tool, a puppet for the real puppetmasters who thrive on chaos and division.
As you reflect on this, consider these questions:
How can genuine compassion and activism be separated from a movement that has become a dangerous cult?
What happens to a cause when its most visible supporters are being actively manipulated for someone else’s profit?
Are we, as a society, becoming so reliant on instant gratification and emotional outbursts that we’ve forgotten what true, lasting change looks like?