Government defends Palestine Action ban after High Court ruled it unlawful

The Court of Appeal continues its consideration of whether February's decision to reject the proscription should stand.

Palestine Action's co-founder is scheduled to present further arguments during the Court of Appeal hearing.

The Court of Appeal, in a rare five-judge panel, begins a three-day defence of the home secretary's proscription of Palestine Action. The government argues overturning the ban would limit ministers' counter-terrorism powers, and that Palestine Action is 'concerned in terrorism' under the statutory definition. Dozens of pro-Palestine protesters gather outside the court.

In February 2026, three High Court judges found that Palestine Action promotes its political cause through criminality and that the ban could not be described as an ordinary protest group, but they concluded the ban breached the government's policy governing proscriptions.

The government banned Palestine Action under anti-terrorism legislation, with the aim of curbing its activities while rights to protest by peaceful groups were claimed to be preserved.

Members of Palestine Action reportedly broke into RAF Brize Norton and vandalised jets as part of a protest against the Gaza war, a month before the ban came into effect.

Counter-terrorism chiefs recommended to the home secretary that banning Palestine Action would contain the group without compromising the right to protest by peaceful organisations.

Submissions from the period covering August 2024 to June 2025 state that Palestine Action carried out 158 direct action events against 48 different business premises, with 28–58 incidents resulting in property damage and a number of arrests.

Palestine Action was founded in 2020. The group has pursued its activities with an objective to target the UK subsidiary of Elbit, a defence company associated with Israel.