The High Court in the United Kingdom has ruled that the government’s ban on the pro-Palestinian campaign group Palestine Action as a “terror group” was unlawful.
The court, however, kept the ban in place pending another hearing. It remains a criminal offence to be a member of, or support, Palestine Action.
Judge Victoria Sharp, in delivering the court’s decision, said that although Palestine Action was a group engaging in and encouraging criminality, it did not mean the government was right in proscribing them as a “terrorist” organisation, and that it had acted unlawfully in doing so.
The court found that the government had acted disproportionately, saying that there were other means by which it could prosecute criminal acts without a blanket ban.
In proscribing the group, the court considered that the government had interfered with the right to freedom of speech and the right to freedom of assembly.
The UK said last June that it would ban Palestine Action under anti-terrorism laws. This put the organisation on par with armed groups like al-Qaeda and ISIL (ISIS) in the UK, making it a criminal offence to belong to the group.
The government’s announcement prompted legal battles, criticism from human rights organisations and triggered protests, amid concerns that the move was a draconian overreach that criminalised legitimate political dissent.
A statement by the campaign group Defend Our Juries said that among those arrested for supporting the group were some 2,787 people arrested for terrorism offences for peacefully holding signs saying, “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action” in silent vigils across the UK.
Palestine Action’s Co-founder, Huda Ammori said that the group had been banned because its actions targeting the UK subsidiary of Israel’s largest arms manufacturer, Elbit Systems, had “cost the corporation millions of pounds in profits.”
“Banning Palestine Action was always about appeasing pro-Israel lobby groups and weapons manufacturers, and nothing to do with terrorism.”
Huda Ammori
Elbit Systems describes its drones, which have been used extensively by Israel in Gaza to deadly effect, killing large numbers of Palestinians, as “the backbone” of Israel’s drone fleet.
Palestine Action Hails Court Ruling
In a statement responding to the landmark ruling, Palestine Action’s Co-founder Huda Ammori, who had challenged the government’s ban, said that the ruling was a huge win for the group.
“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.”
Huda Ammori
She also labelled the ban “a Trumpian abuse of power.”
Also, Campaign group CAGE International said in a statement that the ruling represented “a decisive rejection of attempts to shield corporations complicit in arming the genocide in Gaza.”
The group’s Head of public advocacy, Anas Mustapha, said, “While the infrastructure of terrorism laws remains in place, fundamental freedoms are conditional, dependent on political whim.”
“Today’s decision is the correct legal outcome, though it was secured only through principled sacrifice and collective will.”
Anas Mustapha
He said that the ruling should lead to the withdrawal of charges against “all Palestine Action activists in prison and the thousands who acted on their conscience as part of the largest civil disobedience campaign this country has seen in recent years.”
However, the British government immediately said that it intended to appeal the court’s ruling.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said in a statement, “I am disappointed by the court’s decision and disagree with the notion that banning this terrorist organisation is disproportionate.” She added, “I intend to fight this judgment in the Court of Appeal.”
Ammori said in a statement that any move by the government to challenge the court’s ruling would be “profoundly unjust,” while the futures of thousands of protesters who had been arrested for their support of Palestine Action, “many of whom are elderly or disabled and facing up to 14 years’ imprisonment,” hung in the balance. “Any such attempt by the government would prolong that injustice,” she said.
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