The decision to uphold the proscription of Palestine Action is completely undemocratic

When the High Court ruled in February 2026 that the proscription of Palestine Action was disproportionate and therefore unlawful, it was somewhat of an anomaly. It was a rare example of a judge applying the law like we live in a democracy or something. Clearly, this could not stand.

The High Court highlighted the inconsistency with the Home Office’s own proscription policy and the interference with rights to freedom of expression and assembly. Basically, the proscription made no sense, even by the government’s own standards, and it deprived the public of democratic rights.

Now before we go any further, I must, for legal reasons, clarify my position: I think proscribing a direct action group is an outrageous abuse of power. I’m hugely concerned about the authoritarian direction this country is heading in. Just because I’m pointing out an injustice, does not mean I support, or invite support, for Palestine Action. That is not the point of this article, so keep your hair on, fascists.

The Court of Appeal has just ruled that the proscription of Palestine Action was lawful, and its rationale was ludicrous. The five judges argued that the group’s activities counted as terrorism because they involved serious damage to property that was intended to influence government/international policy for a political cause. If you agree with this definition of terrorism, just know that it effectively defines Emmeline Pankhurst as a terrorist.

Supporters of the proscription of Palestine Action insist the move was necessary to protect national security, only they don’t mean our national security. They mean Israel’s. Direct action groups in this country are being banned to protect another country. A rogue one. That’s practically treason.

It’s worth bearing in mind the activities of Palestine Action were already illegal. But it wasn’t enough to jail them for the things they actually did, such as burglary and criminal damage. They also had to jail them for things they didn’t do.

Things they didn’t do.

Even worse, they arrested sweet old ladies and blind people in wheel chairs for supporting them. People whose only motivation was to stop a genocide.

It had seemed like common sense was finally prevailing when the proscription was overturned, pending appeal. I can only assume emergency action was taken behind the scenes to ensure the correct outcome at that appeal. The fact Palestine Action had never committed a violent act of terrorism nor planned to commit one was irrelevant. What mattered was that Israel’s murder machine was being disrupted. That could not be allowed to stand.

Our politicians had to keep sending bombs to Israel during a genocide, despite the fact this was a massive breach of domestic and international law. Jailing activists on terrorism charges was the best way to achieve a chilling effect, so that’s what they did. The alternative would be that we talk about how they’re committing war crimes, until they end up being the ones on trial.

The proscription means that you can’t support, or invite support for, Palestine Action so don’t do that, otherwise you could face up to 14 years in jail. Just know that the proscription doesn’t ban you from pointing out that our government is protecting Israel because it’s compromised. Keep talking about that.

Every politician who is going along with this farce, abandoning law and morality, is one one of these things: bribed, blackmailed, utterly cowardly, or outright evil. There is no other option. There is no moral way of defending Israel’s murder machine. There is no rational way you can treat people as terrorists for non-violent offences. It’s only when you inconvenience Israel that you are treated this harshly.

Palestine Action commits acts of burglary and vandalism against companies that manufacture the drones that play recordings of babies crying to lure Palestinians into the open and gun them down. You want to jail them on burglary and vandalism, fine, they knew the risks when they took those actions. Just don’t pretend those actions were more than they were.

I’m old enough to remember when terrorism meant mass murder, not making war criminals mad.

Now things are so preposterous that activists are being jailed on terrorism charges for crimes carried out before the proscription of Palestine Action. That’s retro-active punishment and it’s so very far from justice. The jury in the Filton 6 retrial weren’t even told the defendants would be sentenced as terrorists. The jury weren’t allowed to know the justifications for their crimes or the fact they’re allowed to acquit based on their conscience.

Don’t forget those Filton 6 defendants had been acquitted on the most serious charge of aggravated burglary, but they were punished like they were found guilty of it, receiving prison sentences ranging from 5 years and 8 months to 7 years and 8 months.

The judge ruled there was a “terrorist connection” under Section 69 of the Sentencing Act 2020, even though they were only convicted of criminal damage (and in one case GBH without intent). In other words, the judge found a way to circumvent the jury’s decision. Part of his rationale was that they had a political/ideological cause. The thing that the defendants weren’t allowed to put to the jury as a mitigating factor was instead used as an aggravating factor.

Whether you agree or disagree with Palestine Action, you must surely agree this is not how a justice system should function. It now feels like outcomes are predetermined — and they’re predetermined to keep a genocide going indefinitely.

Again, I’m not inviting support for Palestine Action here. I’m simply asking that its members get a fair trial, and if convicted, only get punished for crimes they actually committed, not ones the government is pretending they committed. That’s not an unreasonable position, is it?

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