Pro-Palestinian campaign group Palestine Action has lost a bid to pause the British government’s decision to ban the organization under “anti-terrorism” laws pending their legal challenge. The group’s co-founder, Huda Ammori, had asked London’s High Court to stop the proscription of Palestine Action as a “terrorist” organization before a full hearing of her case that banning the group is unlawful later this month.
The High Court refused to pause the ban, and following a late-night hearing, the Court of Appeal rejected an appeal against that decision at just after 9:30 pm GMT. This means the proscription of Palestine Action is upheld and will come into force at midnight. The ban carries a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison for members.
The proscription came after British lawmakers decided to ban Palestine Action following its activists’ break-in at a military base last month, where they sprayed red paint on two planes in protest against the UK’s support for Israel’s war on Gaza. Palestine Action describes itself as “a pro-Palestinian organization which disrupts the arms industry in the United Kingdom with direct action” and says it is “committed to ending global participation in Israel’s genocidal and apartheid regime”.
Ammori’s lawyer, Raza Husain, said the proscription marked the first time the UK had sought to ban a group carrying out such direct action, describing it as “an ill-considered, discriminatory, authoritarian abuse of statutory power”. Critics of the government’s decision argue that damaging property does not amount to terrorism.
Independent British lawmaker Zarah Sultana criticized the ban, saying, “Let us be clear: to equate a spray can of paint with a suicide bomb isn’t just absurd, it is grotesque. It is a deliberate distortion of the law to chill dissent, criminalise solidarity, and suppress the truth”. Brendon Ciaran Browne, associate professor at Trinity College Dublin, called the UK government’s decision “absolutely absurd” and a “draconian, silly move”.
Palestine Action has increasingly targeted Israel-linked companies in Britain, often using direct action methods such as spraying red paint, blocking entrances, or damaging equipment. The group accuses the British government of complicity in what it says are Israeli war crimes in its ongoing bombardment of Gaza.
The UK government’s decision has sparked criticism from rights groups, who have accused Israel of repeatedly committing abuses in its war in Gaza. Since October 7, 2023, at least 57,268 Palestinians have been killed and 135,625 wounded, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. Despite the ban, Palestine Action said its protests will not stop.