Palestinian rights group wins a legal bid to challenge UK ban

LONDON (AP) — The co-founder of a U.K.-based Palestinian rights organization that has been outlawed by the British government won a legal bid Wednesday to challenge the decision to label the group a terrorist organization.

A High Court judge ruled that the government’s decision on Palestine Action can be reviewed. The ban puts Palestine Action on par with the likes of al-Qaida and Hamas. It means membership in the group or support for its actions is punishable by up to 14 years in prison.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper moved to ban Palestine Action after activists broke into a Royal Air Force base at Brize Norton in Oxfordshire on June 20 to protest British military support for Israel’s war with Hamas. The activists sprayed red paint into the engines of two tanker planes and caused further damage with crowbars.

Earlier this month, lawyers for co-founder Huda Ammori asked a judge to allow her to bring the High Court challenge over the ban, describing it as an “unlawful interference” with her freedom of expression.

On Wednesday, Justice Martin Chamberlain said two of the issues presented were “reasonably arguable” and that as such the challenge can proceed.

He said an argument can be made that the ban might conflict with rights to free speech, and that Cooper could have sought wider consultation before going ahead with the ban, which was backed by Parliament earlier this month.

“This landmark decision to grant a judicial review which could see the Home Secretary’s unlawful decision to ban Palestine Action quashed, demonstrates the significance of this case for freedoms of speech, expression and assembly and rights to natural justice in our country and the rule of law itself,” Ammori said after the ruling.

Police have made scores of arrests at demonstrations supporting the group on recent weekends.