Palestine Action leader wins legal bid to challenge Home Office ban

One of the founders of Palestine Action has been allowed to press ahead with a legal challenge against its ban as a terrorist organisation.

Huda Ammori won a ruling at the court of appeal after the Home Office attempted to prevent a judicial review of the government’s decision to proscribe Palestine Action under terror laws.

Yvette Cooper, the then home secretary, banned Palestine Action on 5 July, but since then more than 2,100 people have been arrested under the Terrorism Act for expressing support for the group.

Signs reading: “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action” have become a common sight at protests against the war in Gaza and against the decision to proscribe the group. Critics of Cooper’s decision said there was no evidence that the group’s direct actions amounted to terrorism similar to Islamic State or the Continuity IRA. In June two protesters allegedly sprayed red paint on RAF planes at Brize Norton.

In August Ammori was granted leave for a judicial review of the proscription, but last month the Home Office appealed, claiming that she could apply for de-proscription.

The lady chief justice, Baroness Carr, dismissed the Home Office appeal on Friday, saying judicial review would be quicker, and that judgment could be relied on in criminal courts in cases where people were arrested for supporting Palestine Action.

Defendants appeared in the first criminal cases relating to the protests last Wednesday, when 28 ­people pleaded not guilty. Many defendants represented themselves in the hearings at Westminster magistrates’ court.

Provisional trial dates have been set for March next year.

Photograph by Abdullah Bailey/Alamy