A UK appeals court ruled this Monday in favor of Keir Starmer's Executive, concluding that the ban on the organization Palestine Action is a "justified" and "proportionate" measure.
The ruling, adopted by five judges, annuls the previous decision of a lower court that had declared illegal the decision of the then Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, to ban Palestine Action under the Terrorism Act 2000.
More than 700 people have been prosecuted under Article 13 of said law, which provides for prison sentences of up to six months. All these proceedings were stalled pending the appeals court's decision.
The head of the Judiciary in England and Wales, Sue Carr, stressed during the reading of the sentence that it is a "fundamental error" to ignore that Palestine Action "openly promotes illegal violence equivalent to terrorism," as reported by Sky News.
"It is not, as claimed, a direct action civil disobedience protest group like the suffragettes, operating transparently and openly. It is a covert organization operating with secret cells to avoid detection and prosecution of those who use violence to destroy property and cause injury," the judge added.
Carr emphasized that the group's purpose was to shut down "businesses" operating legally in the UK, including "major national infrastructure and defense companies, which provide services and supplies to support Ukraine, NATO, the so-called Five Eyes alliance" --Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States-- and the British defense sector itself.
In this regard, she insisted that Palestine Action "is not a transparent and non-violent direct action protest group," as it seeks to "cause damage to the property" of the Israeli arms company Elbit and "other companies operating legally in the UK."
Among the arguments used to support the ban, the court mentions the "panic" generated among workers of security companies, who stated they "feared for their safety" due to the risk that activists would launch "fireworks and smoke bombs" against their workplaces.
The defense of the co-founder of Palestine Action, Huda Ammori, argued before the court that there were "many alternative measures" to restrict the movement's activities before directly declaring it "terrorist".
Ammori has announced on social media her intention to appeal to the Supreme Court and, if necessary, to the European Court of Human Rights. "This is not a defeat. Palestine Action was so effective in disrupting the Israeli arms industry that the state threw its full force at us. In doing so, they have exposed how they prioritize the Zionist regime over their own citizens," she stated.
The reading of the ruling took place while dozens of supporters gathered in the vicinity of the judicial building. In a subsequent statement, the Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, celebrated that the court had concluded that Palestine Action "has perpetrated acts of terrorism, has glorified those who have participated in such acts, and has promoted the use of violence".
"This decision does not affect legitimate protest in support of the Palestinian cause, which remains a fundamental democratic right. There is a difference between supporting Palestine and supporting an outlawed terrorist group," the minister stressed.
Mahmood also insisted that this is not "an ordinary protest or civil disobedience group and its actions are not compatible with democratic values or the rule of law." She assured that the Government "will always take the strongest possible measures to protect our national security and ensure public safety."
Palestine Action was included in the list of prohibited organizations in July 2025, after several of its members stormed an Air Force base in Oxfordshire (England) and vandalized two military aircraft, in response to Starmer's support for the Israeli Government in the context of the "genocide" they denounce in the Gaza Strip.
In August 2024, four activists from the group were convicted of causing material damage to facilities of the Israeli company Elbit and for confronting security guards and officers after storming an arms production plant in the city of Bristol.
Amnesty warns of the risk of criminalizing protest
The organization Amnesty International has criticized that this case is being "used as an example" to "set a precedent for how protesters who participate in direct actions might be treated in the future."
It has warned that "damage to property has never before been treated as terrorism within the UK judicial system and it is dangerous to equate the two." In its opinion, "we should all be concerned about what this means for other people who take direct action to protest against genocide or any other issue," while emphasizing that the right to protest is "one of the most effective tools" for holding governments accountable.
Amnesty denounces the "continued repression" of the right to protest in the United Kingdom and considers the criminal response to be "completely disproportionate." Therefore, it calls for "the use of anti-terrorism laws against those who participate in direct protest actions to be ended."
Hamas denounces an attempt to silence dissent
The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) has rejected the judicial decision in a statement disseminated by the newspaper 'Filastin', in which it maintains that it responds to "political motivations" and "pressure from Zionist groups."
According to the organization, "its objective is to persecute and intimidate any action that supports Palestinian rights and condemns the genocide perpetrated by the Zionist occupation army against our Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip," reiterating that the outlawing of Palestine Action obeys "political interests."
In the same note, Hamas describes the sentence as "a desperate attempt to silence voices that defend Palestinian rights and reject the complicity of their governments with" Israel in its offensive on the Gaza Strip, which has already left more than 73,000 dead since October 2023.
"This is part of the official European trend of some countries persecuting those who support Palestinian rights," adds the Islamist movement, which calls on the general population, and in particular European citizens, "to not give in to attempts to silence their free voices and to continue to show solidarity" with the Palestinian people and "the justice of their national cause."