LONDON, Feb 13 (Reuters) - The British government's ban on pro-Palestinian campaign group Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation is unlawful, London's High Court ruled on Friday after a legal
UK terrorism ban on Palestine Action group unlawful, court rules after appeal
Legal Ruling on Palestine Action's Status
By Sam Tobin
Background of the Ban
LONDON, Feb 13 (Reuters) - 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.
Court's Findings and Implications
Palestine Action was proscribed in July, having increasingly targeted Israel-linked defence companies – particularly Elbit Systems – in Britain with "direct action", often blocking entrances or spraying red paint.
Government's Response and Next Steps
Britain's interior ministry 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. More than 2,000 people have since been arrested for holding signs in support of the group.
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 said 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 interior minister Shabana Mahmood immediately said the government would pursue.
"I intend to fight this judgment in the Court of Appeal," she said in a statement.
(Reporting by Sam Tobin; editing by William James)
