The High Court in London has ruled that the ban on protest group Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation is unlawful, and that the proscription of the organisation was “disproportionate”.
Over 2,700 people have so far been arrested under the ban – and the proscription meant that being a member of, or showing support for, the group became an offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison. The organisation will, however, remain outlawed while the government takes the case to the Court of Appeal.
Palestine Action’s co-founder Huda Ammori took the legal challenge to the proscription of the group which was introduced by then home secretary Yvette Cooper’s last July.
In summary of the 46-page judgement, judge Dame Victoria Sharp, on behalf of the three judges, said today that the High Court court considered the ban of Palestine Action “disproportionate”.
“A very small number of Palestine Action’s activities amounted to acts of terrorism within the definition of section 1 of the 2000 Act,” she said.
“For these, and for Palestine Action’s other criminal activities, the general criminal law remains available.”
“The nature and scale of Palestine Action’s activities falling within the definition of terrorism had not yet reached the level, scale and persistence to warrant proscription,” the court ruled.
The court said that the ban amounted to a “a very significant interference” with the rights to freedom of speech, freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of association.
Supporters cheered outside the court as the ruling was read out, and Ms Ammori described the win as “a monumental victory for fundamental freedoms and for Palestine.”
“This is a monumental victory both for our fundamental freedoms here in Britain and in the struggle for freedom for the Palestinian people, striking down a decision that will forever be remembered as one of the most extreme attacks on free speech in recent British history,” she said.
She added that Palestine Action “is the first civil disobedience organisation that does not advocate for violence to be proscribed by the British Government as a ‘terrorist’ group” and that thousands of people “among them priests, vicars, former magistrates and retired doctors” had been arrested “under terrorism laws for simply sitting in silence while holding signs reading: ‘I oppose genocide – I support Palestine Action’.”
“We were banned because Palestine Action’s disruption of Israel’s largest weapons manufacturer, Elbit Systems, cost the corporation millions of pounds in profits and to lose out on multibillion-pound contracts,” she also said.
“We’ve used the same tactics as civil disobedience groups throughout history, including anti-war groups Keir Starmer defended in court, and the government acknowledged in these legal proceedings that this ban was based on property damage, not violence against people.
“Banning Palestine Action was always about appeasing pro-Israel lobby groups and weapons manufacturers, and nothing to do with terrorism … Today’s landmark ruling is a victory for freedom for all, and I urge the government to respect the court’s decision and bring this injustice to an end without further delay,” the activist said.
However, the Home secretary Shabana Mahmood said she was ‘disappointed’ by the ruling and has plans to appeal it, saying “I am disappointed by the court’s decision and disagree with the notion that banning this terrorist organisation is disproportionate.
“The proscription of Palestine Action followed a rigorous and evidence-based decision-making process, endorsed by parliament. The proscription does not prevent peaceful protest in support of the Palestinian cause, another point on which the court agrees.
“As a former lord chancellor, I have the deepest respect for our judiciary. Home secretaries must however retain the ability to take action to protect our national security and keep the public safe. I intend to fight this judgment in the court of appeal.”