UK ban on Palestine Action unlawful, high court judges rule<\/p>\n
Palestine Action\u2019s co-founder Huda Ammori has won a legal challenge against the decision to proscribe the group under anti-terrorism laws.<\/p>\n
Share<\/a><\/p>\n Key events<\/p>\n Show key events only<\/p>\n Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature<\/p>\n Before the ban, Palestine Action<\/a> had used direct action to target Israeli-linked companies in the UK, from occupying buildings and blocking access, to more disruptive methods such as spray-painting and damaging equipment. It particularly focused its demonstrations against factories of Israeli weapons manufacturer Elbit Systems, which the group describes on its website as its \u201cmain target\u201d.<\/p>\n Founded in 2020 by activists Huda Ammori and Richard Barnard, Palestine Action<\/a> campaigns against companies that it says are complicit in the \u201coccupation, apartheid and genocide of Palestine\u201d. In the wake of Israel\u2019s war on Gaza, the group\u2019s demonstrations intensified.<\/p>\n Police make an arrest outside the Royal Courts of Justice at the start of a legal challenge to the ban on Palestine Action in November. Photograph: Martin Godwin\/The Guardian<\/p>\n Since the ban took effect, thousands of arrests have been linked to support for Palestine Action under terrorism laws, as well as ongoing protests and legal challenges. Critics of the ban argue that damaging property does not amount to terrorism, with the UN human rights chief, Volker T\u00fcrk, commenting that the proscription \u201cappears disproportionate and unnecessary\u201d.<\/p>\n The government has argued that the ban was justified on national security grounds, and that it was proportionate given the alleged escalation in the group\u2019s activities.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Proscription of Palestine Action ‘disproportionate’, judges rule<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n The president of the king\u2019s bench division, Dame Victoria Sharp, sitting with Mr Justice Swift and Mrs Justice Steyn, said that \u201cPalestine Action is an organisation that promotes its political cause through criminality and encouragement of criminality\u201d, but that proscription was still \u201cdisproportionate\u201d.<\/p>\n In a 46-page judgment, she said: \u201cA very small number of its actions have amounted to terrorist action within the definition [of the Terrorism Act 2000].\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Home secretary ‘disappointed’ by ruling, plans to appeal<\/p>\n Home secretary Shabana Mahmood said she was \u2018disappointed\u2019 by the ruling and that she plans to appeal it.<\/p>\n In a statement, she said:<\/p>\n I am disappointed by the court\u2019s decision and disagree with the notion that banning this terrorist organisation is disproportionate.<\/p>\n \u201cThe proscription of Palestine Action followed a rigorous and evidence-based decision-making process, endorsed by parliament. The proscription does not prevent peaceful protest in support of the Palestinian cause, another point on which the court agrees.<\/p>\n \u201cAs a former lord chancellor, I have the deepest respect for our judiciary. Home secretaries must however retain the ability to take action to protect our national security and keep the public safe. I intend to fight this judgment in the court of appeal.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Ban will stay in place until government decides on appeal<\/p>\n Judges Victoria Sharp, Jonathan Swift and Karen Steyn said the ban will remain in place while the government considers whether to appeal.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n A group of protesters outside the high court erupted into cheers and chanted \u201cFree Palestine\u201d after the ruling was given, the PA news agency reported.<\/p>\n People hold banners outside Royal Courts of Justice. Photograph: Tolga Akmen\/EPAShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a005.36 EST<\/p>\n Ammori: This is a monumental victory for fundamental freedoms and for Palestine<\/p>\n Ammori has released a statement describing the high court\u2019s ruling as a \u201cmonumental victory\u201d and that the government proscribed Palestine Action<\/a> as a terror group \u201cin a Trumpian abuse of power\u201d.<\/p>\n She said:<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a monumental victory both for our fundamental freedoms here in Britain and in the struggle for freedom for the Palestinian people, striking down a decision that will forever be remembered as one of the most extreme attacks on free speech in recent British history.<\/p>\n \u201cPalestine Action is the first civil disobedience organisation that does not advocate for violence to be proscribed by the British Government as a \u2018terrorist\u2019 group, in a Trumpian abuse of power which would have seen this Labour Government proscribe the Suffragettes. This ban was unlawful, resulting in the unlawful arrest of nearly 3,000 people – among them priests, vicars, former magistrates and retired doctors \u2013 under terrorism laws for simply sitting in silence while holding signs reading: \u2018I oppose genocide \u2013 I support Palestine Action\u2019.<\/p>\n Huda Ammori, co-founder of Palestine Action. Photograph: Abdullah Bailey\/AlamyShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a005.23 EST<\/p>\n The co-founder of Palestine Action<\/a> has won a legal challenge to the home secretary\u2019s decision to ban the group under anti-terrorism laws.<\/p>\n The proscription of Palestine Action<\/a>, which categorised it alongside the likes of Islamic State, was the first of a direct action protest group and attracted widespread condemnation as well as a civil disobedience campaign defying the ban, during which more than 2,000 people have been arrested.<\/p>\n On Friday, three judges, led by the president of the king\u2019s bench division, Dame Victoria Sharp, ruled that the decision to proscribe the group was unlawful.<\/p>\n Read the full report by our legal affairs correspondent Haroon Siddique<\/a> here:<\/p>\n Share<\/a>UK ban on Palestine Action unlawful, high court judges rule<\/p>\n Palestine Action\u2019s co-founder Huda Ammori has won a legal challenge against the decision to proscribe the group under anti-terrorism laws.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Here are some images from outside the high court coming through the newswires this morning:<\/p>\n Protesters hold a banner outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London. Photograph: Ben Stansall\/AFP\/Getty ImagesA demonstrator wearing a costume of the grim reaper outside the high court. Photograph: Jaimi Joy\/ReutersA police officer observes protesters. Photograph: Jonathan Brady\/PAShare<\/a><\/p>\n The ruling, expected to begin at 10am, comes after a group of six Palestine Action activists were cleared of aggravated burglary<\/a> last week over a break-in at an Israeli defence firm\u2019s UK site.<\/p>\n The youngest of the group, Fatema Rajwani, 21, said the verdicts were a vindication of their cause.<\/p>\n After 18 months in jail, she was released on bail last Wednesday, having also been acquitted by a jury at Woolwich crown court of violent disorder in relation to the raid on the Elbit Systems factory in Filton, near Bristol<\/a>, on 6 August 2024.<\/p>\n Rajwani told the Guardian: \u201cThe verdicts are a reflection of the reality that the first chance that the public had to decide what happened to us, they vindicated us. It is plain to see that the British public do not want their citizens to be scapegoated for this Labour government\u2019s political aims, they do not want to be criminalised for supporting a people\u2019s inalienable right to freedom, to dignity, and to self-determination.\u201d<\/p>\n Read the full report by our legal affairs correspondent Haroon Siddique<\/a> here:<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Opening summary<\/p>\n The high court is set to rule on whether the Home Office\u2019s decision to proscribe Palestine Action<\/a> as a terrorist group was lawful.<\/p>\n