LONDON — The pro-Palestinian activist group Palestine Action lost a bid Friday to block the British government’s decision to ban it under anti-terrorism laws after activists broke into a military base last month and vandalized two planes.
At a hearing at the High Court in London, the group had sought to temporarily block what it considered to be an “authoritarian” ban, which will go into effect at midnight. The ban will make membership of the group and support of its actions a criminal offense punishable by up to 14 years in prison.
But Justice Martin Chamberlain, who spent all day listening to lawyers representing the group and the government, declined to give the organization interim relief from the ban, which was first proposed by Home Secretary Yvette Cooper and approved by lawmakers earlier this week.
While conceding that the order to proscribe Palestine Action a terrorist organization may have “wider consequences for the way the public understands the concept of ‘terrorism’,” he said it is not “the court’s function to comment on the wisdom of the use of the power in the case.”
Huda Ammori, the co-founder of Palestine Action, was hoping the court would temporarily block the government from banning the group as a terrorist organization under the Terrorism Act of 2000 before a potential legal challenge. Some 81 organizations are already proscribed under the 2000 Act, including Hamas and al-Qaida.
Ammori’s lawyer Raza Husain had asked the court to suspend the “ill-considered” and “authoritarian abuse of statutory power” until a hearing, which is due around July 21.
“This is the first time in our history that a direct action civil disobedience group, which does not advocate for violence, has been sought to be proscribed as terrorists,” he said.
He added that his client had been “inspired” by a long history of direct action in the UK, “from the suffragettes, to anti-apartheid activists, to Iraq War activists.”
The ban was triggered after pro-Palestinian activists broke into a Royal Air Force base in Brize Norton, damaging two planes using red paint and crowbars in protest at the British government’s ongoing military support for Israel in its war in Gaza.
Police said that the incident caused around 7 million pounds ($9.4 million) worth of damage, with four people charged in connection with the incident.
The four, aged between 22 and 35, were charged Thursday with conspiracy to commit criminal damage and conspiracy to enter a prohibited place for purposes prejudicial to the interests of the U.K. No pleas were entered at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in central London and the four are scheduled to appear on July 18 at the Central Criminal Court.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced plans to proscribe Palestine Action as a terrorist organization a few days after the break-in. She said the vandalism to the two planes was “disgraceful,” adding that the group had a “long history of unacceptable criminal damage.”