Britain’s Court of Appeal ruled on Monday that the government’s decision to proscribe the activist group Palestine Action as a “terrorist” organisation was lawful.
The judgement marks a significant reversal of a legal challenge regarding the boundaries of direct action and national security.
The ruling follows an appeal by the British government against a High Court decision delivered in February, which had found the ban under the Terrorism Act 2000 to be both unlawful and disproportionate, according to a report by Al Jazeera.
However, the Court of Appeal allowed the appeal, asserting that the Home Secretary’s decision was justified under the law.
Delivering the court’s decision, Chief Justice Sue Carr stated that the proscription “struck a fair balance”.
In her remarks, she noted that Palestine Action’s behaviour did not align with that of a non-violent, direct-action organisation.
She added that while any such ban is “highly controversial,” it was a “fundamental mistake” to overlook the fact that the group “overtly promoted unlawful violence amounting to terrorism”.
Additionally, the court found that Palestine Action’s campaign was “intended to close down lawful businesses”.
Carr highlighted that the “future threats and risks posed to third-party individuals and property” were perhaps the most critical factors considered when weighing the legality of the ban.
During the legal proceedings, lawyers for the British Interior Minister, Shabana Mahmood, argued that the previous conclusion – that the ban significantly harmed freedom of expression – was “overstated and wrong”.
Thousands of arrests linked to support for Palestine Action have been made since the proscription was first imposed.
Reacting to the verdict, Palestine Action co-founder Huda Ammori stated that the proscription imposed “severe restrictions on the fundamental free speech and assembly rights of vast numbers of people” who support the Palestinian cause.
Ammori described the ruling as “one of the most extreme attacks on free speech and the right to protest in modern British history” and vowed to take the legal battle to the Supreme Court and the European Court of Human Rights.
A spokesperson for Defend Our Juries, which leads the ‘Lift the Ban’ campaign, expressed surprise at the court’s verdict.
In a statement, they alleged the courts were being “instrumentalised to suppress opposition to genocide” and promised to continue protesting against what they termed “mafia state intimidation tactics” by the government.
