UK court upholds Palestine Action terror ban on appeal

The group was banned after activists entered a Royal Air Force base in June 2025 to protest UK support for Israel's war in Gaza.

London: The British government acted lawfully when it banned the protest group Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation, the Court of Appeal in London ruled on Monday, June 15.

Chief Justice Sue Carr said the group was not a civil disobedience organisation, as it claimed, and that it operated with covert cells to destroy property of at defence companies and on military bases.

“In our judgment, that premise was seriously flawed. It was not a sustainable proposition to portray Palestine Action as a non-violent organisation,” Carr said.

The ruling overturned a decision in February by three senior High Court judges who found that despite the group promoting its political cause through some crimes, the scale of activities did not warrant a ban.

The ban remained in place while the government to appeal.

The government outlawed the group after activists broke into a Royal Air Force base in June 2025 to protest British military support for Israel’s military offensive against Hamas in Gaza, which killed tens of thousands of Palestinians. That incident followed several other acts of vandalism by the group.

Palestine Action was declared a terrorist organisation alongside the likes of al-Qaida and Hamas, making membership in or support for the group a crime punishable by up to 14 years in prison.

Since then, more than 3,300 people have been arrested at protests for holding signs saying, “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action.” More than 700 have been charged under the UK’s Terrorism Act, although no one has yet been convicted.