UK court weighs ban on pro-Palestinian group amid protests

Britain's highest court on Wednesday heard an appeal against a government ban on activist group Palestine Action, proscribed as a terrorist organisation, as police moved to arrest protestors outside. The two-day hearing at the Supreme Court comes as the ban has failed to quell support for the pro-Palestinian group co-founded by Huda Ammori, leading to mass arrests across the UK. Multiple protesters carrying signs supporting Palestine Action -- prohibited under terrorism laws -- were arrested by police on Wednesday.

More than 300 supporters were detained at protests at the weekend. According to campaign group Defend Our Juries, which has organised demonstrations backing the movement, around 4,200 people have been arrested since the British government outlawed Palestine Action in July last year. Those detained include large numbers of pensioners, among them a priest, a former financial adviser, a military veteran and Swedish student climate activist Greta Thunberg.

Public support for Palestine Action is a criminal offence as the ban places the group in the same legal category as the Islamist Al-Qaeda organisation and Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah. The ban followed a series of acts of vandalism linked to the movement, including a trail of damage at a Royal Air Force base and actions targeting Israeli arms manufacturer Elbit Systems in August 2024. It was imposed under the UK's Terrorism Act and made membership of or support for the pro-Palestinian group a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison.

Ammori's lawyer Raza Husain told the court that out of 385 actions undertaken by the group in the last five years, "only three pas sed the terrorism threshold". "Palestine Action fall within the tradition of a direct action protest group motivated by conscience," Husain said. The group has "never advocated for violence against the persons", she added. In February, London's High Court dealt a blow to the government, ruling the decision to proscribe Palestine Action was "disproportionate".

The court found the ban had resulted in "substantial interference" with the rights of freedom of expression and assembly. However, the Court of Appeal overturned that ruling in June, concluding the ban was "not unlawful" and that Palestine Action was "a covert organisation operating with secret cells". The appeal ruling added that it was "a fundamental mistake to overlook the fact that Palestine Action overtly promotes unlawful violence amounting to terrorism". - 'Direct action' - Founded in 2020, Palestine Action describes itself as "a direct action movement committed to ending global support for Israel's genocidal and apartheid regime".

The organisation gained prominence after the outbreak of the Gaza war, triggered by Hamas's unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. Ammori has been granted permission to challenge the ban at the UK's highest court on a narrow procedural ground, arguing the Home Office failed to follow its own criteria in its decision. If unsuccessful, Ammori has indicated she will take the case to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). The Home Office is set to reject the characterisation of the group as "non-violent", according to court documents.

Prominent Jewish groups also said in written submissions supporting the government that the Jewish community was "especially vulnerable to Palestine Action's violent activities". The impact of the proscription has extended beyond the protest movement. Books by bestselling Irish novelist Sally Rooney, who announced last year that she intended to donate part of her royalty income to Palestine Action, are no longer distributed in Britain.

This month, her British publisher Faber said it could no longer legally transfer UK-generated revenues to Rooney and therefore would cease distributing her books in the country. ctx-cla/aks/jkb/tw