Appeals court rules British government ban on Palestine Action lawful

London's Court of Appeal ruled on Monday that the British government's ban on Palestine Action is lawful, overturning a February 2026 High Court decision that had found the designation unlawful and disproportionate.

The appeals court found that the group, which was designated a terrorist organization in July 2025, could not be characterized as a non-violent civil disobedience movement because of its support for violence.

The judges ruled that Palestine Action's behavior was not comparable to the suffragettes or campaigns against apartheid and the Iraq War, as the group's lawyers had argued.

“It is a fundamental mistake to overlook the fact that Palestine Action overtly promoted unlawful violence amounting to terrorism,” said Lady Chief Justice Sue Carr, the most senior judge in England and Wales.

“It is not a direct action civil disobedience protest group operating transparently in the open,” she added. “It is a covert organization which avoids the detection and prosecution of those using violence to destroy property and cause injury,” she continued.

Palestine Action supporters were WEEPING outside the court today after the terror ban was upheld. This one is literally wearing a Hamas red triangle. Madness. pic.twitter.com/TXMfvR7Bay

— Heidi Bachram (@HeidiBachram) June 15, 2026

The group was designated a terrorist organization in July 2025 following a break-in by activists at a Royal Air Force base the previous month.

During the incident, activists sprayed paint on aircraft and attempted to damage engines using metal rods. Since 2021, the group has repeatedly targeted Israeli arms manufacturers, primarily Elbit Systems, and related British defense interests.

Huda Ammori, who co-founded Palestine Action in 2020, said the ban had imposed “severe restrictions on the fundamental free speech and assembly rights of vast numbers of people.”

Following the ruling, she declared that the group would seek to challenge it at the Supreme Court.

“We will fight this all the way,” she said. “We will not stop fighting to overturn one of the most extreme attacks ‌on free ⁠speech and the right to protest in modern British history.”

Interior Minister Shabana Mahmood said the decision did not affect lawful protest.

“There is a difference between supporting Palestine and supporting a proscribed terrorist group,” Mahmood said after the ruling.

Founded in 2020, Palestine Action has been behind a series of anti-Israeli and antisemitic actions. Among them was the theft of two busts of Israel's first president, Chaim Weizmann, from Manchester University in November 2024.

The busts were defaced with the words “smash Zionism” and had Arab keffiyehs draped behind them.

During the same period, activists targeted the London offices of the Britain-Israel Communications and Research Centre and the Jewish National Fund.

They also slashed and sprayed red paint over a portrait of Lord Balfour at the University of Cambridge.

The designation prompted criticism from anti-Israel activists, with approximately 1,500 people demonstrating in support of the outlawed group last July. Irish author-activist Sally Rooney also announced at the time that she would donate earnings to support the group.