Judgment follows judicial review challenging ban brought by Palestine Action’s co-founder Huda Ammori
A protestor shouts through a megaphone outside The Royal Courts of Justice, Britain’s High Court, in London on 13 February 2026 (Ben Stansall/AFP)
By Areeb Ullah
MEE, 13 February 2026 10:09 GMT
England’s High Court has ruled that the UK government’s ban on Palestine Action is “unlawful” after a months long legal battle with the British government.
Justice Victoria Sharp has told the court that the proscription of Palestine Action “did result in a very significant interference with the right of freedom of speech and freedom of assembly”.
The ruling found that the decision to proscribe the group was discriminatory, however the ban remains in force until a further order by the court.
The judgement ruled that “a very small number of Palestine Action’s activities amounted to acts of terrorism” as defined by terror legislation.
Friday’s judgment follows a judicial review challenging the July 2025 ban brought by Palestine Action co-founder Huda Ammori.
New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch
Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters
Ammori hailed the landmark ruling as 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”.
Ammori added that the ban resulted in “unlawful” arrests of “nearly 3,000 people – among them priests, vicars, former magistrates and retired doctors” under terrorism laws for holding signs in support of the direct action group.
“It would be profoundly unjust for the government to try to delay or stop the High Court’s proposed order quashing this ban while the futures of these thousands of people hang in the balance,” she said.
Responding to the ruling, UK director of Human Rights Watch Yasmine Ahmed said it was a “shot in the arm for British democracy at a time when it is facing a barrage of attacks by this government to undermine our rights to freedom of assembly, expression, and speech”.
“Palestine Action is not a terrorist organisation and should never have been designated a terrorist organisation,” she said.
“Today’s verdict reinforces what many of us having been saying all along – that the government’s misuse of terrorism legislation was a brazen and gross abuse of power that served to stifle legitimate criticism of Israel and those profiting from its atrocities.”
The ban, introduced in July 2025, made
membership of the group, public expressions of support for it, or the
display of its symbols criminal offences punishable by up to 14 years in
prison under Britain’s terrorism laws.
Since the ban on
Palestine Action, hundreds of people protesting the proscription and
Israel’s genocide in Gaza have been arrested and charged with terror
charges.
The government outlawed the group days after activists, protesting the genocide in Gaza, broke into an air force base in southern England and targeted aircraft with paint and crowbars that Palestine Action alleged were used to support the war. The British government alleged that the incident caused an estimated £7m ($9.3m) of damage to two aircraft.
In written court submissions, the Home Office argued that actions “can constitute terrorism if they involve serious property damage even if it does not involve violence against any person or endanger life”.
“Proscribed organisations are deprived of the oxygen of publicity as well as financial support,” the government submissions noted.
Meanwhile, the Home Office’s lawyer Natasha Barnes argued the ban “has not prevented people from protesting in favour of the Palestinian people or against Israel’s action in Gaza”.
This is a developing story…
No comments:
Post a Comment