LONDON: London’s Appeals Court on Monday upheld a UK government ban on activist group Palestine Action that has seen thousands of people — from students to an 83-year-old retired vicar — arrested and carried away from protests by police.

The ban, which came into force on July 5, 2025, was imposed under the country’s Terrorism Act.

It made membership of or support for the pro-Palestinian group a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison under the counter-terrorism legislation.

Palestine Action’s co-founder Huda Ammori had challenged the ban, but the Court of Appeal ruled “the proscription decision was not unlawful”, saying it was “justified and proportionate”.

Palestine Action “is not, as it claims, a direct action civil disobedience protest group like the suffragettes operating transparently in the open,” said judge Sue Carr.

Published in Dawn, June 16th, 2026