UK terrorism ban on Palestine Action group unlawful, court rules after appeal

Britain's ban on pro-Palestinian campaign group Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation was ruled unlawful by London's High Court on Friday, though the ban will temporarily remain in place, and the government said it would appeal the decision.

Palestine Action was proscribed in July, having increasingly targeted Israel-linked arms companies - particularly Elbit Systems - in Britain with "direct action" amid the genocidal war in Gaza, often blocking entrances or spraying red paint.

Britain's Home Office argued the group's escalating actions, culminating in a June break-in at the RAF Brize Norton air base when activists damaged two planes, amounted to "terrorism".

Lawyers representing Huda Ammori, who co-founded Palestine Action in 2020, argued at a hearing last year that the move was an authoritarian restriction on the right to protest.

The ban had put Palestine Action on a par with Islamic State or al-Qaeda and made it a crime to be a member. Hundreds of people have been arrested for holding signs during protests in support of the group under the anti-terrorism legislation.

The High Court upheld two grounds of challenge, including that the ban was a disproportionate interference with the right to freedom of expression and freedom of assembly.

Judge Victoria Sharp claimed that "Palestine Action is a group that promotes its political cause through criminality", but that proscription was still disproportionate.

She added, however, that the ban would remain in place pending any appeal, which Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood immediately said the government would pursue.

"I intend to fight this judgment in the Court of Appeal," she said in a statement.