UK seeks to block challenge to Palestine Action ban under anti-terrorism laws

LONDON (Reuters) -The British government on Thursday sought to block the co-founder of pro-Palestinian campaign group Palestine Action from bringing a legal challenge over the banning of the group under anti-terrorism laws.

Palestine Action has increasingly targeted Israel-linked companies in Britain, often spraying red paint, blocking entrances or damaging equipment. It accuses Britain's government of complicity in what it says are Israeli war crimes in Gaza.

The group was proscribed as a terrorist organisation in July, making it a crime to be a member, which carries a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison. More than 1,000 people have since been arrested for holding signs in support of the group.

Huda Ammori, who helped found Palestine Action in 2020, was in July given permission to challenge the group's proscription, on the grounds it was arguably a disproportionate interference with the right to freedom of expression.

Britain's Home Office (interior ministry) is asking the Court of Appeal to overturn that decision and rule that any challenge to proscription should be heard by a specialist tribunal, rather than the High Court.

Palestine Action was proscribed shortly after some of its members broke into the RAF Brize Norton air base and damaged two planes in June, for which four members have been charged.

The group has particularly focused on Israeli defence firm Elbit Systems and Britain's government cited a raid at an Elbit site last year when it decided to proscribe the group.

Israel has repeatedly denied committing abuses in its war in Gaza, which began after Palestinian militant group Hamas attacked Israel from Gaza on October 7, 2023.

(Reporting by Sam Tobin, editing by Ed Osmond)