The British government was granted permission on Wednesday to appeal a ruling that found its ban on the pro-Palestinian Arab campaign group Palestine Action as a terrorist organization to be unlawful, Reuters reported.
Palestine Action was proscribed in July after what authorities described as an escalation in “direct action" targeting Israel-linked defense companies in Britain. Activists have frequently blocked entrances to facilities and sprayed red paint during protests.
The ban followed a June break-in at the Royal Air Force base at Brize Norton, during which activists damaged two aircraft. Prime Minister Keir Starmer described the incident as “disgraceful".
Lawyers representing Huda Ammori, who co-founded Palestine Action in 2020, argued at a hearing last year that the proscription constituted an authoritarian restriction on the right to protest.
Earlier this month, the High Court in London ruled that the ban was unlawful, determining that it amounted to a disproportionate interference with free speech rights.
On Wednesday, the same court granted the British government’s Home Office permission to challenge the ruling, stating that the ban would remain in effect pending the outcome of the appeal.
The Home Office welcomed the decision to allow the appeal.
“We will always take the strongest possible action to protect our national security and our priority remains maintaining the safety and security of our citizens," a spokesperson said in a statement.
Palestine Action describes itself as a “direct action" network opposing what it calls British “complicity" with Israel, particularly in relation to arms sales.
The group also previously defaced a painting of Lord Balfour at Trinity College Cambridge, spraying the portrait with red paint and slashing it.
In another incident, Palestine Action members stole two busts of Israel’s first President, Chaim Weizmann, from a glass cabinet at Manchester University.