UK loses bid to block challenge to Palestine Action ban under anti-terrorism laws

By Reuters 17 October 2025, 2:57 pm

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Protestors hold placards at a "Lift The Ban" demonstration in support of the proscribed group Palestine Action, calling for the recently imposed ban to be lifted, in Trafalgar Square, central London, on October 4, 2025. (Justin Tallis/AFP)

The British government loses its bid to block the co-founder of pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel campaign group Palestine Action from bringing a legal challenge over the banning of the group under anti-terrorism laws.

Huda Ammori, who helped found Palestine Action in 2020, was given permission to challenge the group’s proscription, with her case due to be heard next month.

Britain’s Home Office (interior ministry) asked the Court of Appeal to overturn that decision and rule that any challenge to proscription should be heard by a specialist tribunal.

Judge Sue Carr rejects the Home Office’s appeal, saying Ammori’s case can proceed in the High Court.

Palestine Action was proscribed as a terrorist organization by the government in July, making it a crime to be a member, which carries a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison.

More than 1,000 people have since been arrested for holding signs in support of the group, with over 100 charged.

Palestine Action was banned a month after some of its members broke into the RAF Brize Norton air base and damaged two planes, for which four members have been charged.