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Palestine Action wins bid to challenge 'anti-terrorism' ban

Wednesday, 30 July 2025 7:22 PM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 30 July 2025 7:22 PM ]

Demonstrators wave Palestinian flags outside The Royal Courts of Justice in support of Palestine Action, July 30, 2025. (Photo via social media)

The co-founder of Palestine Action, a pro-Palestinian activist group, has won the right to challenge the British government’s decision to ban the group under "anti-terrorism" laws.

London High Court on Wednesday permitted Palestine Action's co-founder Huda Ammori to seek a judicial review, saying it was “reasonably arguable,” that the ban had disproportionately interfered with the group’s right to freedom of expression, assembly, and association under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

The group has targeted Israeli weapons factories in the UK and their supply chain, focusing much of its campaign on Elbit Systems UK, which it accuses of manufacturing and supplying weapons to the Israeli military amid the regime's brutal war on Gaza.

Palestine Action has accused Britain’s government of complicity in Israel's genocidal campaign against Palestinians, especially in Gaza.

Dozens arrested in London as protests against Palestine Action ban sweep UK

Nationwide protests are being held across the United Kingdom against the ban of Palestine Action.

Britain’s Home Secretary Yvette Cooper “proscribed” the group last month after the activists broke into Royal Air Force (RAF) Brize Norton, the largest station of the RAF in Oxfordshire, and sprayed two military planes with red paint, resulting in millions of pounds of criminal damage, according to police.

Proscription in Britain makes it a crime to be a member of a group or organization, and carries a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison.

Earlier this month, the High Court refused Ammori’s application to pause the ban and, following an unsuccessful final appeal, Palestine Action’s proscription came into effect just after midnight on July 5.

Ammori’s lawyers have said that the people expressing support for the Palestinian cause have also been subject to increased scrutiny from police, and placing support for the Palestinian cause on a par with support for groups such as the Islamic State and Boko Haram is “repugnant” and an “authoritarian and blatant abuse of power” by the British government.

The move has been condemned by multiple human rights organizations, including United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk, who said on Friday that it raises concerns on UK counter-terrorism laws that “are being applied to conduct that is not terrorist in nature and risks hindering the legitimate exercise of fundamental freedoms.”

Dozens of people have been arrested by police for holding placards supporting Palestine Action since the ban went into effect earlier this month.

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