UK High Court says terror tag, ban on activist group Palestine Action ‘unlawful’
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "UK High Court says terror tag, ban on activist group Palestine Action ‘unlawful’")
The court ruled that the ban remains in place pending an appeal by the government. Photograph: (AFP)
The Palestine Action group’s late June 2025 action at the RAF Brize Norton air base, where activists vandalised two Airbus Voyager refuelling planes with paint and crowbars, led to its banning. Government lawyers argued that its proscription was a necessary national security measure.
The UK High Court has said in a ruling that the government’s decision to ban activist group Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation was unlawful. The court found that then-Home Secretary Yvette Cooper’s decision to ban the group was disproportionate, raising questions about the arrests of almost 3000 people at solidarity protests.
However, Judge Victoria Sharp ruled that the ban remains in place pending an appeal by the government.
Human rights activists had argued that the ban represented a sweeping overreach of government power, risked criminalising political dissent, and set a far-reaching precedent for the use of anti-terror laws against protest movements.
The group’s co-founder, Huda Ammori, had challenged the British government’s decision to ban the group under anti-terrorism laws. As many as 2,787 people were arrested at protests nationwide since July.
London's Metropolitan Police on Friday acknowledged “there will likely be some confusion,” among the public following the government’s announcement to appeal the decision. It said that officers will no longer be making arrests in relation to Palestine Action support but will continue to “focus on gathering evidence.”
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After the court’s ruling, crowds who had gathered outside London’s High Court erupted in cheers and chants of “Free free Palestine.”
The Home Office has spent nearly £700,000 on the case, said Ammori, citing a Freedom of Information request.
The case followed a three-day judicial review in December, where lawyers for the group’s co-founder argued the ban was “an extraordinary and unlawful escalation against political dissent.”
Palestine Action is a UK-based group that aims to disrupt the operations of weapons manufacturers connected to the Israeli government and its war in Gaza. The group was founded by Ammori and climate activist Richard Barnard in 2020, when it took its first action to shut down the UK operations of Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest weapons manufacturer.
Palestine Action has also occupied, blockaded, spray-painted, and disrupted the Israeli-French drone company UAV Tactical Systems and the global arms giant Leonardo.
The group’s late June 2025 action at the RAF Brize Norton air base, where activists vandalised two Airbus Voyager refuelling planes with paint and crowbars, led to its banning.
Government lawyers argued that the proscription of the group was a necessary national security measure.
