UK's decision to ban Palestine Action as terrorist group was unlawful, court rules

Britain’s High Court has ruled that the government’s decision to outlaw the protest group Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation was unlawful.

The group ⁠was proscribed in July after having increasingly targeted Israel-linked defence companies in ‌Britain with non-violent "direct action", often blocking entrances or spraying red ⁠paint.

Judges Victoria Sharp, Jonathan Swift and Karen Steyn said “the nature and scale of Palestine Action’s activities” did not meet the "level, scale and persistence" that would justify proscription.

They said, though, that the ban will remain in place while the government considers whether to appeal.

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British ​interior minister Shabana ​Mahmood said on Friday she intended to ​appeal the ruling.

"I am disappointed ‌by the court's ​decision and disagree with the notion that banning ​this terrorist ​organisation is disproportionate," ​Mahmood said in ​a statement. "I intend to fight this judgment in the ⁠Court of Appeal."

Last year the UK government declared the pro-Palestinian group a terrorist organisation alongside the likes of al Qaeda and Hamas, making membership in or support for Palestine Action a crime punishable by up to 14 years in prison.

Since then, more than 2,000 people, some in their 80s, have been arrested for holding signs saying, “I support Palestine Action.”

The government banned Palestine Action after activists broke into a Royal Air Force base in June to protest British military support for Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza. The activists sprayed red paint into the engines of two tanker planes and caused further damage with crowbars.

Palestine Action has carried out direct action protests at military and industrial sites in the UK since it formed in 2020, including breaking into facilities owned by Israeli weapons manufacturer Elbit Systems UK. Officials say the group’s actions have caused millions of pounds in damage and affected national security.

Supporters of Palestine Action and civil liberties groups say the arrests for peaceful protest ride roughshod over free speech and the right to protest.

(FRANCE 24 with AP and Reuters)