Palestine Action activists accused of vandalising a Scottish golf course owned by United States President Donald Trump have been accused of “terrorism” offences, reports Al Jazeera.

The potential use of “terror-scale” sentencing was reported by The Guardian and The New York Times on Friday.

The seven activists, who spray-painted messages in support of Gaza and dug up turf at Trump’s Turnberry golf resort in Ayrshire last year, have been charged with malicious damage “having a terrorist connection,” the newspapers reported.

• READ MORE: Palestine Action activists will not be sentenced as terrorists, judge rules
• Other Palestine Action reports

An initial hearing on the cases is due to open at the High Court in Glasgow on Monday.

The charges stem from a March 8, 2025, protest targeting the resort over Trump’s stance on Gaza. Activists from the British group sprayed red paint across the clubhouse, damaged turf and sprinklers, applied weedkiller to the greens, and painted “Gaza is not 4 sale” across the property.

All seven defendants were charged under ordinary criminal law for malicious property damage. However, the prosecution’s 16-page indictment asserts the acts were “aggravated by reason of having a terrorist connection”.

Palestine Action has been locked in a legal battle with the United Kingdom since the British government proscribed it as a “terrorist” group last year.

‘Protests to save lives’
Cofounder Huda Ammori said that the charges against those involved in the protest at Turnberry made it clear that prosecutors were trying to appease Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“We used direct action protests to save lives — the opposite of terrorism — by disrupting the flow of arms being used to murder Palestinians,” she said in a statement.

“By hitting the profits of arms companies and by daring to spray paint on the golf course owned by the demagogue who has enabled Netanyahu’s crimes, we made powerful enemies. The British government chose to appease them by criminalising us as ‘terrorists’,” she added.

Earlier this week, the United States imposed sanctions on Palestine Action and the pro-Palestine international movement Masar Badil, as the administration of President Donald Trump intensifies a global crackdown on critics of Israel.

The US Department of the Treasury also imposed financial penalties on Wednesday against Autistici Inventati, an Italian group that provides digital services to left-wing organisations, including pro-Palestine groups.

John McDonnell, a Labour member of the British parliament and former shadow chancellor of the exchequer, criticised the potential “terror” link in the charges.

“The news that the protesters who allegedly sprayed red paint on Trump’s golf course could face terrorist sentencing, coupled with Trump himself now announcing that he is following Britain’s lead by proscribing Palestine Action as a ‘terrorist’ group, is profoundly embarrassing for Britain,” he said.

“Andy Burnham has inherited this mess from the previous government.

“This must be the wake-up call to drop this absurdly authoritarian ban, before Starmer’s blueprint is adopted by repressive governments around the world to criminalise protest and suppress political dissent.”

According to the rights group Defend our Juries, more than 3500 people — many over the age of 60 — have been arrested for expressing support for Palestine Action after it was proscribed by politicians in July 2025, placing it on the same legal footing as al-Qaeda and ISIL (ISIS).

The far-left clampdown Rubio announced in Washington last month is manifesting as an anti-Palestine solidarity witch hunt hiding behind the language of counter-terrorism.

— CAGE International (@CAGEintl) August 28, 2026

US ‘anti-Palestine witch hunt’, says rights group
Meanwhile, the human rights organisation Cage International has condemned the US move to designate Palestine Action as a “terror” group, saying Washington is using the “language of counter-terrorism” as a cover to go after people using “lawful direct action” to protest against Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.

“Palestine Action has now been proscribed as a terrorist organisation on both sides of the Atlantic — first by Britain in 2025, now by Washington,” said Cage International in a statement.

“What unites them is the shared logic that disrupting the supply chain of arms for a genocide passes the ever expanding threshold for terrorism.”

The campaign leaves “no legitimate channel through which Palestinians or their allies are permitted to act”, added the statement.

Anas Mustapha, head of advocacy at Cage, said the US and UK sanctions were part of a “full-spectrum crackdown on Palestine solidarity globally”.

“The UK and US are upending centuries of hard won rights to protect a genocidal state they’re both complicit with,” said Mustapha.

Tonga is out of the running for a Rugby World Cup quarterfinal spot as they were outscored and outpointed by Scotland 45-17 at Stade de Nice today.

Scotland won full points from the game, scoring seven tries for a bonus point while Tonga managed to get two tries on the scoreboard.

While Scotland led 24-10 at halftime the game was wide open going into the second half.

• READ MORE: Other RWC2023 reports

Captain Ben Tameifuna dived over after Solomone Kata had countered from a Scottish long kick and the former Mate Ma’a Tonga winger set up a ruck in front of the Scotland tryline.

Tameifuna scored and William Havili’s conversion reduced the scoreline to 24-17.

But an option from Tameifuna for a kick towards touchline with a kickable penalty for Havili inside the Scottish 22-metre line backfired and the Scots opened up the scoring with three tries after that.

Tonga looked beaten mid-way through the second spell and were barely hanging on as the game progressed.

Fifita’s yellow card
In frustration, number eight Vaea Fifita hit a ruck illegally and was sent off with a yellow card, adding to the earlier one on Afusipa Taumoepeau in the first half. That was upgraded to red after the game, which means his World Cup is now over.

In the end, Scotland had done enough to keep their hopes alive of a possible quarterfinal berth, even though they have Ireland to beat on the way there.

Tongan captain Ben Tameifuna said it was mixed emotions and feeling after a tough rugby battle.

But he was still proud of the team and the effort they put in, saying the scoreline did not do justice to what they threw into the game.

“Bit of mixed emotions and feeling,” Tameifuna said.

“The boys played with their hearts out there. I know the score does not reflect how much effort we put in throughout this week. I said to the guys you can’t afford to give away easy penalties like that against Scotland with the amount of firepower the backs had.

“They just capitalised on it and I think against South Africa we just have to look at ourselves in the mirror and we can’t afford to give away easy penalties like that. But I am still proud of the boys we fronted right up to the 80th minute.”

Playing with pride
Head coach Toutai Kefu said although they are out of the running now for a quarterfinal spot they will play with pride as they had always wanted to do for Tonga, the King and his people.

He said the players let on some easy tries but he was generally happy with how they played, especially on defence, which they were doing a lot of times in the game.

“We’ve always based our pride on our performance and that’s always what we we wanted to put out on the field, and we wanted a performance that not only us but family and the country is proud of.

“I think the boys did that largely. Again we let in some easy tries but there were some really defensive efforts where the boys were absolutely onsong and held out the opposition team for some period.

“I think we are tracking the right way, we will take each game as it comes and I think we have always said that.

“South Africa provides us a massive challenge. We don’t get to play the Springboks often so the boys will be up for that no doubt.”

He said he was happy that the team had improved from their performance against Ireland in their first pool match.

“The biggest difference between both games was we got some ball to fire some shots, we took some opportunities and scored a couple of tries.

“There were probably a couple of opportunities that we missed and we were just not able to sustain pressure on them.”

Game progress
Hooker George Turner opened the scoring in the first half when he dotted down after he was driven over by his fellow forwards to give them a perfect start on five minutes.

Finn Russell converted and Scoland led 7-0 before Havili kicked a penalty and reduced the scoreline to 7-3.

Then winger Solomone Kata raced clear after experienced Malakai Fekitoa and Charles Piutau combined to put the former Mate Ma’a Tonga winger in the clear. Havili converted and Tonga was in the lead 10-7.

Wingers Duhan van der Merwe and Kyle Steyn bagged quick tries before flanker Rory Darge secured the bonus point on the stroke of half-time after wing Afusipa Taumoepeau was yellow carded.

Skipper Tameifuna smashed his way through the Scotland defence to bring his side within seven points, but tries from replacement scrum-half George Horne, full-back Blair Kinghorn and replacement wing Darcy Graham sealed their first win of Rugby World Cup.

Mastercard Player of the Match Van der Merwe said it was tough.

“It was pretty tough out there for the first half an hour,” he said post-match.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been hit like that before. But with boys like Finn [Russell] giving me opportunities, it’s just amazing.”

Scotland’s stand-in captain Russell said the bonus win gives them hope of getting into the quarterfinal.

“We’re going to have to get better if we want to stay in this competition after the group stages but we got what we needed tonight, which was a bonus point win.”

Scots dominate stats
Scotland dominated the statistics in the game.

They claimed 59 percent of possession and 64 percent of territory.

They had 335 balls in hand and attacked hard during the game, while Tonga only managed 190 balls to attack with.

The Scots carried the ball over 1095 metres compared to Tonga’s 528 and made 47 tackle breaks, against 11 that Tonga managed.

Tonga made 152 tackles against Scotland’s 110 and missed a total of 47 tackles. Scotland was more spot on with their tackles, missing only 11 in the game.

Tonga coach Kefu said the statistics were against them but they defended well when they could and missed a couple of one-on-one tackles also.

Scotland will now meet Romania and play Ireland in their last pool match while Tonga gets to tackle defending champions South Africa and then Romania in their last game.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Fiji’s rugby team is set to have another round of covid-19 testing today as they seek to salvage what is left of their Autumn Nations Cup tour of Europe.

Over the weekend it was announced the Flying Fijians would have their third consecutive test match cancelled due to a coronavirus outbreak in the squad.

The team’s match game against Scotland, originally set for November 29, has been cancelled like the other two other matches.

• READ MORE: 29 positive tests sees Fiji vs Italy rugby test cancelled

Fiji’s clash with Italy was supposed to be played last Saturday gone, but was called off after 29 members tested positive for covid-19 last week.

A test against France was cancelled the week before as it became evident the virus was present among the touring party.

Fiji Rugby CEO John O’Connor told RNZ Pacific there would be more coronavirus tests today.

The BBC reported organisers saying halting the Scotland match was “unavoidable” due to the 10-day isolation period for players.

There is still hope that Fiji would still be able to play their final scheduled match against the fourth-place Pool A side on December 5.

This article is republished by the Pacific Media Centre under a partnership agreement with RNZ.