Hunt sabs support ‘criminal extremist group’ with suspected links to Iran, soon to be banned under anti-terror laws

Hunt sabs have often been described by the rural communities they harass as ‘countryside terrorists’. Now the Hunt Saboteur Association (HSA) has come out in full support of an actual ‘terrorist’ group, Palestine Action.

A post by the Sheffield Hunt Saboteurs, reposted by the HSA, criticises the government’s plans to criminalise the activity and membership of Palestine Action. The sabs declare, “We are all Palestine Action!”.

The government’s plans to proscribe Palestine Action a terrorist organisation came after the group broke into military base RAF Brize Norton, Oxfordshire and vandalised two military planes red, an attack that armed forces minister Luke Pollard described as “not only epically stupid, but […] also a direct attack on our national security”.

Palestine Action has long been a plague on British society with its violent and disruptive protests. On  6 August 2024, in one of its most egregious actions, two police officers were attacked with a sledgehammer at a protest in Bristol in an assault that left one of them hospitalised. Six people were arrested on suspicion of various offences including wounding with intent, aggravated burglary, and criminal damage. Police seized multiple weapons, including sledgehammers, axes and whips.  

Many sabs are members or supporters of the terror group. One, Ricky Frazer Southall, was charged with burglary and criminal damage following his participation in a Palestine Action protest at technology company Teledyne’s premises in Shipley. He was one of four protesters who occupied a factory proof, and was photographed brandishing a sledgehammer (clearly a favourite weapon of Palestine Action’s vandals).

Southall (second from left) on the roof of Teledyne’s premises in Shipley brandishing a sledgehammer

Anyone familiar with the frequent criminality and antisocial behaviour of sabs won’t be surprised at their unrepentant support for such a violent group, which is likely to soon be proscribed in the UK alongside terrorist organisations like ISIS, Hezbollah and Hamas.

But the hypocrisy is rank. In reference to its support for Palestine Action, the HSA said that animal rights and human rights were the same, that they were “One Struggle, One Fight”. Where, then, is the HSA’s concern for the grotesque human rights abuses occurring every day in Iran, the country suspected to be funding Palestine Action?

According to the sabs it is the British government’s decision to label Palestine Action protesters as the criminals they are that is “authoritarian”, and not the Iranian regime’s systematic flogging, arbitrary executions, arrests and enforced disappearances of women, minorities, and political dissidents.

Even some of their supporters recognise how ludicrous and offensive this notion is. Some former sab-lovers didn’t remotely enjoy the bold claim that “We are all Palestine Action!”.

 As Maya Angelou said, “When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time”. Sabs, led by the HSA and Sheffield Hunt Sabs, have shown themselves to be in bed with a soon-to-be proscribed terrorist organisation which seeks to undermine the safety and security of British society and is quite probably backed by one of the world’s most violent and repressive regimes. We really should believe them.