from PressTV
Britain’s High Court has dealt a significant legal blow to the UK government’s attempt to silence outspoken support for Palestine, ruling that the Home Office’s 2025 decision to ban the pro-Palestinian campaign group Palestine Action as a terrorist organization was unlawful.
The landmark judgment, delivered on Friday in London, vindicates critics who warned that the proscription was an excessive infringement on basic civil liberties and a dangerous misuse of anti-terrorism laws.
The group, founded in 2020 to challenge British support for Israeli military invasions and corporate links to the occupation, was added to the UK’s extremist list in July 2025 under the Terrorism Act 2000.
That designation equated Palestine Action with internationally proscribed terrorist organizations, making it a criminal offence to be a member or to publicly show support — punishable by up to 14 years in prison.
Supporters and civil liberties advocates were outraged at the time, arguing that the ban criminalized peaceful protest and solidarity with Palestinians rather than any genuine threat to public safety.
Government critics pointed out that actions by the group — such as blocking entrances, spraying paint at defense contractor sites, and staging direct actions targeting British complicity in arms production — were political acts, not terrorism, and should be dealt with through ordinary criminal law where necessary.
In her ruling, Judge Dame Victoria Sharp and her fellow High Court judges found that the government’s proscription lacked proper justification and disproportionately encroached on rights to freedom of expression and assembly...
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