UPDATE 2-UK terror ban on pro-Palestine group unlawful, court rules after appeal

The ban ‌had put Palestine Action on a par with Islamic State or al Qaeda and made it a crime to be a member, ⁠which ​carries a maximum ⁠sentence of 14 years in prison. Lawyers representing Huda Ammori, who co-founded Palestine ⁠Action in 2020, argued at a hearing last year that the move ​was an authoritarian restriction on the right to protest.

The British ​government's ban on pro-Palestinian campaign ​group Palestine Action ‌as a terrorist ​organisation is unlawful, London's High Court ruled on Friday after a legal ‌challenge by the group's co-founder.

Palestine Action was proscribed in July, having increasingly targeted Israel-linked defence companies – particularly Elbit Systems – in Britain ‌with "direct action", often blocking entrances, or spraying red paint. The ban ‌had put Palestine Action on a par with Islamic State or al Qaeda and made it a crime to be a member, ⁠which ​carries a maximum ⁠sentence of 14 years in prison.

Lawyers representing Huda Ammori, who co-founded Palestine ⁠Action in 2020, argued

at a hearing last year that the move ​was an authoritarian restriction on the right to protest. The High ⁠Court upheld two grounds of challenge, including that the ban was ⁠a ​disproportionate interference with the right to freedom of expression and freedom of assembly.

Judge Victoria Sharp said, however, that ⁠the ban would remain in place to give the Ammori and ⁠the ⁠Home Office's lawyers time to address the court on whether the ban should be lifted pending ‌any appeal.