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 Sharp said that the ban would remain in force while the government considers an appeal.
“Palestine Action is an organisation that promotes its political cause through criminality and encouragement of criminality”, but that proscription was still “disproportionate,” Sharp said in a 46-page judgement.
The ruling found that “a very small number of Palestine Action’s activities amounted to acts of terrorism” as defined by terror legislation.
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Friday’s judgment follows a judicial review challenging the July 2025 ban brought by Palestine Action co-founder Huda Ammori.
In a statement responding to the landmark ruling, Ammori hailed it 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”.
She 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.”
In a statement following the ruling, Home secretary Shabana Mahmood said she was “disappointed’ by the court’s decision, adding that the group’s proscription “follow 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,” Mahmood said.
The ban was introduced in July 2025, making membership of and public support for the group punishable by up to 14 years in prison under Britain’s terrorism laws.
Since then, thousands of people have been arrested for terrorism offences for holding signs in support for the group in silent vigils across the UK
The campaign group Defend our Juries said in a statement that the arrests of some 2,787 people will now be deemed unlawful, as will the arrests of another seven people, who were charged with Section 12 (Terrorism Act 2000) offences for addressing Zoom calls as part of the campaign to reverse the ban.
Outside the court on Friday, protestors displayed signs in support of the group, but were not arrested despite a heavy police presence.
“Thousands of people of conscience saw that branding protest as terrorism was a move straight out of the dictator’s playbook. Together we took action at great personal risk – inspired by each other’s courage. We helped make this proscription unenforceable by saying “we do not comply,” A DOJ spokesperson said in a statement following the ruling.
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…
