U.K. High Court rules Palestine Action protest group’s designation as terrorist organization unlawful

London — Britain’s High Court ruled Friday that the government’s decision last year to outlaw the protest group Palestine Action as a designated terrorist organization was unlawful, but it kept the ban in place pending an appeal.

Judges Victoria Sharp, Jonathan Swift and Karen Steyn said “the nature and scale of Palestine Action’s activities” did not meet the “level, scale and persistence” that would justify proscription.

The judges said they were “satisfied that the decision to proscribe Palestine Action was disproportionate.”

Palestine Action revels in “victory,” government vows appeal

Palestine Action co-founder Huda Ammori called the decision “a monumental victory both for our fundamental freedoms here in Britain and in the struggle for freedom for the Palestinian people, striking down a decision that will forever be remembered as one of the most extreme attacks on free speech in recent British history.”

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said she was “disappointed by the court’s decision and (I) disagree with the notion that banning this terrorist organization is disproportionate.

“I intend to fight this judgment in the Court of Appeal,” she said.

Last year, the U.K. government declared the pro-Palestinian group a terrorist organization alongside the likes of al-Qaeda and Hamas, making membership in or support for Palestine Action a crime punishable by up to 14 years in prison. Since then, more than 2,000 people have been arrested for holding signs saying, “I support Palestine Action.”

Supporters of Palestine Action and civil liberties groups say the arrests for peaceful protest ride roughshod over free speech and the right to protest.

London police say focus now on gathering info, not “making arrests”

As supporters of the pro-Palestinian protest group celebrated outside the High Court on Friday, London’s Metropolitan Police force acknowledged that the ruling would likely cause “some confusion among the public as to what happens next,” and it warned that “the group remains proscribed pending the outcome of any Government appeal, which means expressing support is still a criminal offense.”

The force said officers would “continue to identify offenses where support for Palestine Action is being expressed, but they will focus on gathering evidence of those offenses and the people involved to provide opportunities for enforcement at a later date, rather than making arrests at the time.”

“This is the most proportionate approach we can take, acknowledging the decision reached by the court while recognizing that proceedings are not yet fully concluded.”

Palestine Action’s protests and vandalism

The government banned Palestine Action in July last year, about a month after activists broke into a Royal Air Force base to protest British military support for Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza. The activists sprayed red paint into the engines of two tanker planes and caused further damage with crowbars.

Palestine Action has carried out direct action protests at military and industrial sites in the U.K. since it formed in 2020, including breaking into facilities owned by Israeli weapons manufacturer Elbit Systems UK. Officials say the group’s actions have caused millions of pounds in damage that affect national security.

Earlier this month, six Palestine Action members were cleared by a jury of aggravated burglary charges over their break-in at an Elbit Systems facility. They activists faced multiple criminal charges, but the jury returned no convictions after more than 36 hours of deliberations.

Before that, Palestine Action said members targeted President Trump’s golf resorts in Scotland in March last year, vandalizing a clubhouse and the green at the Turnberry course in response to his proposal to empty the Gaza Strip of its Palestinian population and have the U.S. and its allies “take over” the territory.

The group said at the time that it rejected “Donald Trump’s treatment of Gaza as though it were his property to dispose of as he likes. To make that clear, we have shown him that his own property is not safe from acts of resistance.”

Police Scotland said the force was investigating the incidents, but no arrests were announced.

In their ruling on Friday, the High Court judges said that while “a very small number of” the protest group’s actions “amounted to terrorist action … regardless of proscription, the criminal law is available to prosecute those concerned.”

Palestine Action terror designation came amid push to address antisemitism

In December, in the wake of the terrorist attack in Bondi Beach, Australia, targeting a Hanukkah event, Britain’s two biggest police forces said officers would take an “enhanced approach” to counter antisemitism, arresting protesters who use certain slogans and phrases as they sought to address a surge in hate crimes targeting Jewish people in the U.K. 

The announcement was a response, the London Metropolitan and Greater Manchester Police forces said, to the Bondi Beach attack, in which 15 people were killed.

The police forces cited a spate of incidents on British soil, including a vehicle and knife assault outside a synagogue in Manchester in October 2025 that left two Jewish people dead.

“Antisemitic hate crime has surged, protests have intensified, and online abuse has grown since 2023,” the police forces said. “The increased fear in Jewish communities, and high number of terrorist attacks disrupted in recent years requires an enhanced response.”

“The words and chants used, especially in protests, matter and have real world consequences,” the statement said. “Now, in the escalating threat context, we will recalibrate to be more assertive.”

“We know communities are concerned about placards and chants such as ‘globalize the intifada’ and those using it at future protest or in a targeted way should expect the Met and GMP to take action,” the two forces said. “Violent acts have taken place, the context has changed — words have meaning and consequence. We will act decisively and make arrests.”