Palestine Action’s co-founder has won a legal challenge over the group’s ban as a terrorist organisation on two grounds.
However, it will remain outlawed for now as the government intends to take the case to the Court of Appeal.
Huda Ammori launched the challenge after former home secretary Yvette Cooper’s decision to proscribe the group, which came into force in July last year.
It followed action by members of the group that included breaking into RAF Brize Norton and spray-painting two aircraft.
The ban put Palestine Action on the same footing as ISIS and al Qaeda, making membership or support of a crime punishable by up to 14 years in prison.
Even wearing a T-shirt or carrying a sign with the group’s name on it can carry a six-month sentence.
Ms Ammori called the ruling at London’s High Court “a monumental victory both for our fundamental freedoms here in Britain and in the struggle for freedom for the Palestinian people”.
She said the ban had resulted in nearly 3,000 unlawful arrests and claimed it “was always about appeasing pro-Israel lobby groups and weapons manufacturers, and nothing to do with terrorism”.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said she was “disappointed” and disagreed with the court that the ban was disproportionate.
She said she would appeal against the ruling, and the government had used a “rigorous and evidence-based decision-making process” when outlawing the group.
“The court has acknowledged that Palestine Action has carried out acts of terrorism, celebrated those who have…
