U.K. terrorism ban on Palestine Action group unlawful, court rules after appeal

UK High Court rules the terrorism ban on Palestine Action unlawful, but the government plans to appeal the decision.

Britain’s ban on ​pro-Palestinian campaign group Palestine Action as a terrorist ‌organisation was ruled unlawful by London’s High ​Court on Friday (February 13, 2026), though the ⁠ban will temporarily remain in place and the government said it would appeal the decision.

Palestine Action was ‌proscribed in July, having increasingly targeted Israel-linked defence companies – particularly Elbit Systems – in ‌Britain with “direct action”, often blocking entrances ‌or ⁠spraying red paint.

Britain’s Interior Ministry argued ⁠the group’s escalating actions, culminating in a June break-in at the RAF Brize Norton air base when ​activists damaged two planes, ‌amounted to terrorism.

Lawyers representing Huda Ammori, who co-founded Palestine Action in 2020, argued at a hearing last year that the move ‌was an authoritarian restriction on the ​right to protest.

The ban had put Palestine Action on a par ⁠with Islamic State or al Qaeda and made it a crime to be a ‌member. More arrested for holding signs

The High Court upheld two grounds of challenge, including that the ban was a disproportionate interference with the right to freedom of expression and freedom of assembly.