As It Happens6:43Labelling Palestine Action a terrorist group was unlawful, Britain’s High Court rules
Britain’s High Court says the U.K. government acted unlawfully when it designated the protest group Palestine Action a terrorist organization, a decision that has led to the arrests of thousands of peaceful protesters.
“It was a really, really important moment,” Yasmine Ahmed, the U.K. director of Human Rights Watch, told As It Happens guest host Nora Young after Friday’s ruling came down.
“Certainly, many of us in the courtroom were filled with extreme joy and happiness.”
Still, she noted, the battle isn’t over. The ban remains in effect pending a U.K. government appeal, and the future of protesters facing charges under the Terrorism Act hangs in the balance.
‘I intend to fight this judgment’: Home Secretary
Palestine Action co-founder Huda Ammori, the claimant in the case, called the decision “a monumental victory both for our fundamental freedoms here in Britain and in the struggle for freedom for the Palestinian people.”
Ammori commended the court for “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, on the other hand, said she was disappointed by the court’s decision and disagreed “with the notion that banning this terrorist organization is disproportionate.”
She argued that while terrorism designation bans people from supporting Palestine Action, specifically, it does not prevent anyone from protesting in support of Palestinians more broadly.
“I intend to fight this judgment,” Mahmood said.
British Jewish organizations the Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Jewish Leadership Council issued a joint statement saying they were “deeply concerned” by the ruling.
“We recognize the vital importance of judicial oversight in matters of national security and civil liberties,” it reads. “However, the practical impact of Palestine Action’s activities on Jewish communal life has been significant and deeply unsettling.”
Palestine Action opposes British military support for Israel’s offensive in Gaza.
Since Hamas and other militants attacked Israel on Oct.7, 2023, killing roughly 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, Israel’s Defence Forces have bombed and conducted a massively destructive ground campaign in Gaza that has killed 71,824 people and displaced more 73,000, according to the United Nations.
South Africa has accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, an allegation supported by human rights organization Amnesty International. Israel has repeatedly and vehemently denied this.
Arrested for holding signs
The government declared Palestine Action a terrorist organization after activists broke into a Royal Air Force base in June and vandalized two planes, causing 7 million pounds ($13 million Cnd) worth of damage.
The U.K. definition of terrorism includes engaging in “serious property damage” that is “designed to influence the government, or an international governmental organization or to intimidate the public.”
In Canada, by contrast, property damage is only considered terrorism if it’s likely to cause death or bodily harm.
By declaring the group a terrorist organization, alongside the likes of al-Qaeda and Hamas, the U.K. made membership in, or support for, Palestine Action a crime punishable by up to 14 years in prison.
Since then, British police have arrested about 2,700 people protesting for holding signs saying “I support Palestine Action.” Almost 700 of those arrested have been charged under the Terrorism Act, although no one has yet been convicted.
It’s not clear how many still face charges, or how many have been released without charge.
London’s Metropolitan Police said that, in light of the judgment, officers would not arrest people expressing support for Palestine Action, but would continue to gather evidence of offences “to provide opportunities for enforcement at a later date.”
Human Rights Watch, an international non-governmental organization, says the law strips people of their fundamental right to speak, assemble and be heard.
“We document repression in the name of counter-terrorism all over the world, from Turkey to Egypt to Hungary,” Ahmed said.
“We did not expect that we would see this on the streets of the United Kingdom being done in the name of the British government.”
Not over yet
In their ruling, Judges Victoria Sharp, Jonathan Swift and Karen Steyn said the terrorism designation is “disproportionate” to the actual threat the organization poses.
“A very small number of Palestine Action’s activities amounted to acts of terrorism,” the judges wrote.
“The nature and scale of Palestine Action’s activities falling within the definition of terrorism had not yet reached the level, scale and persistence to warrant proscription.”
The judges gave lawyers for the two sides until Feb. 20 to prepare for the next hearing.
While Ahmed is celebrating Friday’s court victory, she says she remains worried about those who are still facing charges or awaiting trial while the government prepares its appeal.
“We’ve had calls today from a number of people who have been arrested and some who have been charged under terrorism offences for holding signs, who are deeply, deeply worried and distressed, as you can imagine,” she said.
“We hope the courts will act expeditiously.”
