UK ban on Palestine Action unlawful, high court judges rule

[purpletablet]

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/feb/13/uk-ban-palestine-action-unlawful-high-court-judges-rule

Does this mean people will no longer be arrested for holding up a sign saying “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action”?

This is an utterly ridiculous argument. We live in a democracy with the rule of law. Things that happen in this country are judged in the context of what is acceptable in this country. What happens elsewhere is irrelevant in UK law Stop trying to twist it i to an attack non 'pro-Israel' posters.

Yes, how dare I be against a country being credibly accused of actively committing genocide.

@purpletablet One injured police officer is treated as a moral emergency by certain posters, while tens of thousands of Palestinians killed by the state of Israel are ignored. The reason PA exists is because the state of Israel

So where would you draw the line with regard to direct action against British law enforcement officials acting legitimately on UK soil? Where do you draw the line about damaging UK assets such as RAF aircraft?

Because if the group think is "it's OK, there is no line because Palestine" the UK is in a world of trouble.

Exactly. Its a complete nonsense.

When MPs and Lords were presented with an amendment to the Terrorism Act in 2020 under which Palestine Action has now been proscribed, the government made explicit assurances that criminal damage to property, Palestine Action’s modus operandi, would not qualify as terrorism. The government drew their own clear lines.

Very interesting but I didn't mention terrorism.

I was asking where the acolytes of PA would draw the line when it comes to acts of violence in the UK..

The things some people choose to be outraged by is truly laughable.

• Israel brutally bombs, shoots, starves tens of thousands of Palestinian men, women, children, tiny babies-

-CRICKETS-

• Someone calls Israel out on brutally bombing, shooting, starving tens of thousands of men, women, children, tiny babies-

-INCANDESCENT RAGE-

Oh this is a thread about PA being unlawfully proscribed, I presumed terrorism would be at the heart of the thread. Are people against people who commit criminal damage be charged with criminal damage? I thought that was the crux of the issue really, that the groups actions, like those of all direct action groups, should be dealt with under existing criminal damage laws.

What is really interesting here is the assumption that anyone in the UK shocked by the injury of a police officer by a man with a sledgehammer must be pro-Israel. I mean, surely all right-minded thinking people should think this is unacceptable.

When I started my thread in chat about the jury not being able to reach a verdict despite the video evidence, there was lots of shock and discussion about the validity of jury trials. When there was a thread in the feminism section there was lots of horror at the violence of the attack on an woman and disgust at people who continue to support the group in the context of the attack.

But then in this section, if you express totally normal shock and disgust at the attack on a woman by a man with a sledgehammer, it must be because you support Israel. And wanting to talk about this attack in your own country on a thread about the group who did it is 'ignoring what's going on in Palestine'.

My advice would be not to start threads about Palestine Action if you don't want to actually discuss Palestine Action and will get arsey when people try to discuss Palestine Action.

@ReturnOfTheToad

Oh 😏I know what the thread is about (and FWIW I think HMG has handled this badly.)

However I was addressing a belief seemingly expressed by at least one p p on this very thread that we should perhaps minimise/downplay actions, some maybe violent, against persons in the UK because of events in Palestine...

I suppose I'm trying(and failing!) to keep the thread on topic because I think the government acting unlawfully, suppressing peoples rights, leaking false information to the press, lobby groups claiming responsibility for the government's unlawful decisions etc is an important topic that is far reaching. Whether you agree with PAs aims or not, one day it might be a group that you(speaking generally) believe in that is being unlawfully stifled for example environmental groups that engage in direct action.

Free speech and freedom to associate do not include the right to break into military sites and damage military kit, (at a time when war in Europe is a real issue incidentally).
The loss of cooperation with Israel wrt to those who want to harm the UK (looking at you Iran -for one) is detrimental to UK interests.
I'm sure (I hope) that our security services have information on who exactly is funding and directing pa, and whether they represent a danger to national security.
National security is a derogation in hra 1998, how much sunlight do you want to expose that to?

This

And that can be dealt with in the criminal courts as it has always been. At the risk of repeating myself when MPs and Lords were presented with an amendment to the Terrorism Act in 2020 under which Palestine Action has now been proscribed, the government made explicit assurances that criminal damage to property would not qualify as terrorism.

There is no link between PA and Iran according to Jonathan Hall KC – the government’s independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, and a member of the government’s proscription review group, which consulted on the PA ban.

FWIW in the context of proscribing PA and attacks on military facilities and equipment I wouldn't be looking at Iran...

The trial of those involved in the Brize Norton attack will be interesting....it's certainly going to be fascinating hearing what the motivation for criminal damage in that case is going to be.

Breaking into military sites, damaging military equipment.....little bit more serious than throwing oil on a painting.
Arson about in a naval dockyard was downgraded from a hanging offence relatively recently, but it has been known for trespassers on military land to be shot, within living memory.
People who don't take threats to national security seriously might need a wider lens than ''but Israel' , but I suspect many of them are not friends of the UK anyway.

Yes, this.

Tens of thousands of Palestinians killed are NOT ignored. Far from it. *

The fact about a police officer in Britain having her back broken by a member of PA IS important to us here in Britain. If you can't see that, I can't help you.

*The many thousands of Iranians being killed by their own government since the beginning of the year is, by comparison, ignored. Why is that?

There is no genocide in Gaza. However, there is in Iran currently.

You don't think that the judges in this case are friends of the UK? That's an interesting claim, are you basing that on something in particular?