London court upholds UK ban on Palestine Action as terrorist group

A London appeals court on Monday upheld the British government’s decision to proscribe Palestine Action, agreeing that the group’s violent activity justified treating it as a terrorist organization. The ruling confirms the Home Office designation and places the anarchist group in the same legal category as organizations such as al-Qaeda and Hezbollah.

Judge Sue Carr said it would be “a fundamental mistake” to ignore the fact that the group promotes unlawful violence equivalent to terrorism. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, a Labour minister, said the group’s actions “are not consistent with democratic values and the rule of law.”

Britain banned Palestine Action in July 2025 after a series of attacks against Israeli defense companies, especially Elbit Systems, and against firms accused of supporting Israeli defense companies. In June 2025, activists attacked a Royal Air Force base and damaged two military aircraft, which they said had flown missions for the IDF. They also broke into Elbit branches in Bristol and Kent, caused major destruction, inflicted more than $1 million in damage, and assaulted police officers, leaving one female officer with severe permanent disability.

The ban means any demonstration organized by members of the group is automatically illegal. Expressing support for Palestine Action can bring up to six months in prison, while membership or active support can carry a sentence of up to 14 years. On Friday, four activists were sentenced to prison terms of five to seven years for a violent attack on an Elbit plant in Bristol in August 2025, during which one of them struck a policewoman with a 5-kilogram hammer.