The British government yesterday lost its bid to block the co-founder of pro-Palestinian campaign group Palestine Action bringing a legal challenge over the banning of the group under anti-terrorism laws.
Huda Ammori, who helped found Palestine Action in 2020, was given permission to challenge the group’s proscription on the grounds that the ban is a disproportionate interference with free speech rights, with her case due to be heard next month.
Britain’s Home Office (interior ministry) then asked the Court of Appeal to overturn that decision and rule that any challenge to the ban should be heard by a specialist tribunal.
Judge Sue Carr rejected the Home Office’s appeal, saying challenging the proscription in the High Court was quicker, particularly where people have been charged and are facing trial for expressing support for Palestine Action.
The court also ruled that Ammori could challenge the ban in the High Court on additional grounds, which Ammori said was a significant victory.
“It’s time for the government to listen to the overwhelming and mounting backlash ... and lift this widely condemned, utterly Orwellian ban,” she said in a statement.
The Home Office did not immediately comment.
Palestine Action was banned a month after some of its members broke into the RAF Brize Norton air base and damaged two planes, for which four members have been charged.
Before the ban, the group had increasingly targeted Israel-linked companies in Britain, often spraying red paint, blocking entrances or damaging equipment.
It accused Britain’s government of complicity in what it said were Israeli war crimes in Gaza. Israel has repeatedly denied committing war crimes in its two-year military campaign, which began after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023. Israel and Hamas agreed a ceasefire last week.
Palestine Action particularly focused on Israeli defence firm Elbit Systems, and Britain’s government cited a raid by activists at an Elbit site last year when it decided to outlaw the group.
Critics of the ban – including United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk and civil liberties groups – argue that damaging property does not amount to terrorism.
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