The UK's High Court ruled today that the government's decision to ban the Palestinian Action group and label it a terrorist organisation was unlawful, but kept the ban in place as an appeal against the decision is expected.
The government banned the organization after its activists stormed a Royal Air Force base in June last year to protest its support for Israel during the war in the Gaza Strip. The activists then sprayed red paint on the engines of two tanker planes and hit them with crowbars.
The government then declared the Palestinian Action a terrorist organization, along with Al Qaeda and Hamas, making membership in the group a criminal offense punishable by up to 14 years in prison.
Since then, more than 2.000 people have been arrested for holding banners reading "I support the Palestinian action," which supporters of the organization consider a gross violation of freedom of speech and the right to protest.
Since its founding in 2020, the Palestinian Action has protested at multiple military and industrial sites in the UK, including break-ins at facilities owned by Israeli weapons manufacturer Elbit Systems UK.
Officials say the group's actions have caused millions of pounds in damage that affects national security.
Justices Victoria Sharp, Jonathan Swift and Karen Stein said that "the nature and scope of Palestine Action's activities did not meet the level, scope and persistence" that would justify the ban.
They added that they were "unsatisfied that the decision to ban the Palestinian action was disproportionate."
The judges said in the ruling that although "very few of his actions are considered terrorist activities, notwithstanding the ban, the criminal law is available to prosecute those involved."
Palestine Action co-founder Huda Amory said the decision was "a monumental victory for both our fundamental freedoms here in Britain and in the fight for the freedom of the Palestinian people, overturning a decision that will forever be remembered as one of the most extreme attacks on free speech in recent British history."
Interior Minister Shabana Mahmud stated that she was "disappointed with the court's decision and disagreed with the view that the ban on this terrorist organization is disproportionate" and announced that she would try to overturn the ruling at the Court of Appeal.
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