Palestine Action co-founder vows to fight ban after judges rule it ‘lawful’

Supporters of the Filton 25 group of Palestine activists outside a south London court on Friday (Picture: Guy Smallman)

The co-founder of Palestine Action has vowed to “fight proscription all the way” on Monday after the Court of Appeal found the group’s ban to be lawful.

Huda Ammori said she would go to the Supreme Court and European Court of Human Rights to overturn “one of the most extreme attacks on free speech and the right to protest in modern British history”.

The Labour government banned Palestine Action, a non-violent direct action group, under the Terrorism Act 2000 last summer.  

In February, the High Court found the decision to ban the group to be unlawful, in a monumental victory for the Palestine movement.

Judges ruled that the ban was unlawful on two grounds. Yvette Cooper, the home secretary who banned the group, failed to comply with her own policy over when to proscribe groups under the Terrorism Act.

In other words, the ban was disproportionate as the activities of the group didn’t meet the high threshold to be classed as terrorism.

They said the ban breached the rights of freedom of expression and assembly under the European Convention of Human Rights.

But chief justice Sue Carr upheld the government’s appeal on Monday. She argued “that Palestine Action overtly promoted unlawful violence amounting to terrorism”. The group’s activities posed “future threats and risks” to “third-party individuals and property,” she said.

Since the ban was put in place, more than 3,400 people have been arrested simply for holding signs stating that they support Palestine Action. Some have faced dawn raids on their homes.

Jenny, who was arrested on a Defend Our Juries (DOJ) protest against the ban, told Socialist Worker, “By criminalising protest and solidarity with Palestine, Labour is showing that it has lost the argument.

“When governments can no longer win consent, they turn to repression. But injustice breeds resistance, and no court ruling can extinguish the demand for justice in Palestine.”

Alan, who was also arrested for holding a sign, told Socialist Worker, “Is it any surprise that the court has ruled in the way it has after last Friday’s decision to jail the Filton 4.

“There is no question the state has been determined to crush the Palestinian solidarity movement.

“The police had to find a way to criminalise our movement. 

“If any further proof were needed to establish that the Judiciary were in league with the state, it is no longer required.”

Cops continued to arrest people even after the ban was found unlawful and pending the outcome of the government’s appeal.

The ban is part of the British state’s crackdown on the Palestine movement.

Four members of the Filton 25 group of activists last Friday were given prison sentences ranging from five years and eight months to eight years and eight months. They were convicted of criminal damage for their actions at Israeli weapons company Elbit Systems.

But a “terrorism connection” was added to their sentences.

Palestine activists jailed in unprecedented sentencing

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The state’s decision to proscribe Palestine Action came after a group of people spray-painted two military planes with red paint at RAF Brize Norton.

A Palestine Action spokesperson said at the time of the Brize Norton action, “Despite publicly condemning the Israeli government, Britain continues to send military cargo, fly spy planes over Gaza and refuel US and Israeli fighter jets.”

A DOJ spokesperson said on Monday, “It appears the courts have been instrumentalised to suppress opposition to genocide, when they should be doing the precise opposite.

“We will continue to protest against this government’s embarrassing attempts to cover up its crimes with mafia state intimidation tactics.”

The human rights group Cage International said, “The proscription of Palestine Action was never an aberration. It was a reflection of the fact that counter-terrorism laws are designed to crush any and all dissent.”

The state is cracking down on the Palestine movement and trying to brand people as terrorists in an effort to save face.

The attack on Palestine Action is a threat to all of our democratic rights—the whole labour movement should support those facing repression.