UK Supreme Court reviews terrorism ban on Palestine Action

• Police detained protesters outside the court; roughly 4,200 people have been arrested since the July 2025 ban
• Co-founder Huda Ammori argued only three of 385 group actions met the threshold for terrorism
• The Home Office and Jewish groups defended the designation, citing attacks on an RAF base and Elbit Systems
• Publisher Faber halted distribution of Sally Rooney's novels over her pledge to donate royalties to the group

Britain's Supreme Court on Wednesday began hearing a landmark legal appeal against the government's decision to ban the activist group Palestine Action under counter-terrorism laws, as police arrested protesters demonstrating outside the courthouse.

The two-day proceedings before the UK's highest judicial body mark the latest stage in a protracted legal battle over the group, co-founded by Huda Ammori.

Despite the state's proscription, the ban has sparked sweeping protests and an unprecedented wave of detentions nationwide.

Outside the Supreme Court in central London, Metropolitan Police officers moved against demonstrators displaying placards in support of Palestine Action, an act criminalized under the Terrorism Act.

The detentions follow more than 300 arrests at related demonstrations over the weekend.

According to advocacy group Defend Our Juries, which has coordinated actions backing the movement, roughly 4,200 individuals have been detained since the British government enacted the proscription in July 2025.

Those taken into custody include military veterans, a priest, a former financial adviser, numerous pensioners, and Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg.

Under the UK Terrorism Act, proscription classifies Palestine Action in the same legal bracket as militant organizations such as Al-Qaeda and Lebanon's Hezbollah, making membership or public expressions of support an offense carrying a maximum penalty of 14 years' imprisonment.

The government proscribed Palestine Action following repeated property damage campaigns, including incursions causing damage at a Royal Air Force facility and actions directed against UK sites operated by 'Israeli' defense manufacturer Elbit Systems in August 2024.

Direct action movement 

Palestine Action, founded in 2020, characterizes itself as "a direct action movement committed to ending global support for Israel's genocidal and apartheid regime," seeing its public profile rise markedly following the outbreak of the war in Gaza after the October 7, 2023.

Appearing for Ammori, barrister Raza Husain argued that the vast majority of Palestine Action's activities amounted to political civil disobedience rather than terrorism.

Husain told the justices that out of 385 actions conducted by the organization over a five-year period, "only three passed the terrorism threshold".

"Palestine Action fall within the tradition of a direct action protest group motivated by conscience," Husain submitted, adding that the group has "never advocated for violence against the persons".

The judicial history of the ban has seen sharp reversals across British courts.

In February, London’s High Court ruled against the government, determining the designation was "disproportionate" and represented a "substantial interference" with basic rights to freedom of assembly and expression.

However, the Court of Appeal overturned that decision in June, finding the ban "not unlawful" and claiming that Palestine Action functioned as "a covert organisation operating with secret cells" that "overtly promotes unlawful violence amounting to terrorism".

Ammori was granted permission to appeal to the Supreme Court on procedural grounds, arguing that the Home Office breached its own internal policies in issuing the order.

Her legal team has stated that if the Supreme Court upholds the designation, the case will be appealed to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg.

The Home Office continues to reject claims that the movement is non-violent, pointing to the risk of injury and severe disruption caused by targeting critical defense infrastructure.

In written submissions supporting the government, prominent British Jewish organizations asserted that their community remained "especially vulnerable to Palestine Action's violent activities".

The consequences of the terrorism listing have reverberated beyond protest movements into the publishing and cultural sectors.

Bestselling Irish novelist Sally Rooney announced last year that she planned to direct a portion of her book royalties to Palestine Action.

In response, her UK publisher, Faber, announced this month that it could no longer legally process UK-generated royalties to Rooney under anti-terrorism financing laws, forcing the cessation of distribution of her print and digital titles within Britain.