The U.K. Supreme Court is set to hear a challenge to the government’s ban on Palestine Action, a pro-Palestinian direct-action group designated as a terrorist organization last year. The hearings are expected to address the future of the ban, which has already been contested in a series of legal proceedings.
The government said Palestine Action had organized a “nationwide campaign of direct criminal action” that threatened national security. The government’s independent adviser on counterterrorism legislation said the case marked the first time a protest group that did not advocate violence against people had been proscribed under counterterrorism laws.
Founded in 2020, Palestine Action has focused on protests against corporate and military targets it links to the sale and export of defense equipment to Israel. The group says it does not promote violence against individuals. It was co-founded by Huda Ammori, who had worked for a Palestinian rights organization, and activist Richard Barnard.
During earlier proceedings, the High Court said the group claimed to have a mailing list of about 20,000 people, but that the scale and nature of its membership and organization were largely unexplained. Analysts described it as having been run by a relatively small, committed group of activists before it was disbanded.
The group also attracted international attention after activists were accused of vandalizing one of President Trump’s Scottish golf resorts. They allegedly defaced the clubhouse and sprayed “Gaza is not 4 sale” on a green. Trump called the demonstrators “terrorists” and said he hoped they would be “treated harshly.”
Sources: The New York Times World.