Palestine Action ban created ‘culture of fear’, UK appeal court hears

A protester holds a sign outside Royal Courts of Justice during the Palestine Action appeal hearing. Photograph: Vuk Valcic/Zuma Press Wire/Shutterstock

The ban on Palestine Action has created a “culture of fear” among those campaigning for Palestinian rights and judges were right to deem it unlawful, the court of appeal has heard.

Shabana Mahmood is challenging the high court’s decision in February that Palestine Action’s proscription, the first of a direct action protest group, represented a “very significant interference” with the rights to freedom of speech and assembly. It also found that the ban, which remains in place pending the appeal, was a breach of the home secretary’s own policy on proscription.