UK court upholds terrorism ban on pro-Palestinian group

LONDON (AFP) — London’s Appeals Court on Monday upheld a U.K. government ban on activist group Palestine Action that has seen thousands of people — from students to an 83-year-old retired vicar — arrested and carried away from protests by police.

The ban, which came into force on July 5, 2025, was imposed under the country’s Terrorism Act.

It made membership of or support for the pro-Palestinian protest group a criminal offense punishable by up to 14 years in prison under the terrorism legislation.

Palestine Action’s co-founder Huda Ammori had challenged the ban, but the Appeals Court ruled “the proscription decision was not unlawful.”

Palestine Action “is not, as it claims, a direct action civil disobedience protest group like the suffragettes operating transparently in the open,” said Judge Sue Carr, one of a panel of five judges, reading their decision. “It is a covert organization operating with secret cells to avoid the detection and prosecution of those using violence to destroy the property of third parties.”

The ban, which has led to more than 3,000 arrests, puts the group on a government blacklist that also includes Palestinian militants Hamas and the Lebanese Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah.

In a statement from Ammori read outside the court, the group vowed: “We will not stop fighting to overturn one of the most extreme attacks on free speech and the right to protest in modern British history.”

They said they would take the case to the U.K.’s Supreme Court, and even to the European Court of Human Rights.

Dozens of protesters gathered outside the court on Monday, with police moving in to arrest several people holding signs in support of Palestine Action.

Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper had defended the proscription, arguing supporters of the group were unaware of the “full nature” of the organization.

“It’s really important that no one is in any doubt that this is not a non-violent organization,” she said last year.

Set up in 2020, the Palestine Action’s stated goal on its website — blocked to U.K. internet users — was to end “global participation in Israel’s genocidal and apartheid regime.”

It gained visibility as a result of the war in Gaza triggered by the deadly Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on southern Israel.

‘Disproportionate’

Interior minister Shabana Mahmood said: “The court has found that Palestine Action has carried out acts of terrorism … and promoted the use of violence.”

“It is not an ordinary protest or civil disobedience group,” she added.

She insisted the ruling did not “affect lawful protest in support of the Palestinian cause, which remains a fundamental democratic right.”

Palestine Action has mainly targeted weapons factories in the U.K., especially those belonging to the Israel-based defense group Elbit.

Since the ban came into force, protesters have held a string of rallies holding up signs saying: “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action.”

Hundreds have been charged and are awaiting court hearings.

“The decision is terrible,” protester Chris, 65, a retired IT consultant told AFP Monday. “I don’t know what happened to British democracy, to the right to protest. I just feel very sad, that’s all.”

The group challenged the ban in the U.K. courts on the basis that it was “disproportionate” and had a “very significant” impact on human rights.

The High Court in London in February agreed and ruled in Palestine Action’s favor but the government then appealed.

Monday’s ruling at the Appeals court, however, reverses the High Court judgement, finding in favor of the U.K.’s interior ministry.

The ruling comes after a judge on Friday jailed four activists for between four years and eight months to seven years and eight months for raiding an Elbit site near Bristol in western England causing over a million pounds ($1.34 million) in damage.

One of them hit a police officer twice on the back with a sledgehammer, leaving her with a fractured spine in the August 2024 raid.

The group said their aim was to “dismantle drones and weaponry” they believed would be used to kill people, particularly in Gaza.

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By CAROLINE TAIX Agence France-Presse