UK granted permission to appeal ruling that Palestine Action ban is unlawful

The British government has been given permission to appeal against a ruling that its ban on pro-Palestinian campaign group Palestine Action as a terrorist organization was unlawful.

Palestine Action was proscribed in July, having increasingly taken “direct action” against Israel-linked defense companies in Britain, often blocking entrances or spraying red paint.

Palestine Action was banned shortly after a June break-in at the Royal Air Force’s Brize Norton air base, in which activists damaged two planes, an action described by Prime Minister Keir Starmer as “disgraceful.”

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.

London’s High Court ruled this month that the ban was unlawful, ruling that it was a disproportionate interference with free speech rights.

The same court now grants Britain’s interior ministry permission to challenge its ruling, saying the ban will remain in place pending the appeal.

The Home Office does not immediately respond to a request for comment.