The British government's decision to ban the pro-Palestinian campaign group Palestine Action, which it has designated a terrorist organization, is lawful, London's Court of Appeal ruled on Monday.
Palestine Action, which had increasingly targeted Israel‑linked defense companies in Britain with a particular focus on Israel's largest defense firm, Elbit Systems, was proscribed under terrorism laws last year.
London's High Court ruled in February, after a legal challenge by the group's co-founder, that the ban unlawfully interfered with freedom of expression, although it remained proscribed pending the government's appeal.
Lady Chief Justice Sue Carr, the most senior judge in England and Wales, said the group's behavior was not that of a non-violent, direct-action organization, and the appeal court had concluded that proscription was justified and proportionate.
Ban was 'justified, proportionate,' according to UK judge
Lawyers for Britain's interior minister, Shabana Mahmood, had argued at a hearing in April that the conclusion that the ban had a significant impact on freedom of expression was "overstated and wrong."
But Huda Ammori, who co-founded Palestine Action in 2020, said proscription had imposed "severe restrictions on the fundamental free speech and assembly rights of vast numbers of people" who supported the Palestinian cause.
Carr said any such ban was "highly controversial" but added, "it is a fundamental mistake to overlook the fact that Palestine Action overtly promoted unlawful violence amounting to terrorism."