The government’s appeal of the overturning of the ban on Palestine Action is set to be heard at the Court of Appeal, located at the Royal Courts of Justice [Richard Baker / In Pictures via Getty Images]
132 academics, writers and other public figures have signed a letter to the UK Court of Appeal in protest at the ban on Palestine Action, risking arrest in the UK in the process.
The letter, dated 24th April, reads “We oppose genocide, we support Palestine Action”, according to a press release from Defend Our Juries, the campaign organisation fighting against the ban.
Alongside Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, signatories included author Sally Rooney, philosopher Judith Butler, and academics Laleh Khalili, Ilan Pappe and Avi Shlaim.
A spokesperson for Defend Our Juries said that “if the police proceed to arrest these scholars on terrorism charges, the authoritarian nature of the ban will be further exposed”.
“But if they don’t, the more than 3,000 previous arrests of people for saying precisely the same thing will be shown to be not just unlawful but arbitrary and discriminatory,” the group added.
The UK government’s proscription of Palestine Action in July 2025 came following years of direct action at several sites belonging to Israeli arms manufacturer Elbit Systems, and in particular, the break-in at RAF Brize Norton that saw the damaging of several planes.
Since then, thousands of people who have been protesting the ban have been arrested for holding up banners and placards with the words “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action”.
This includes a protest in Trafalgar Square on 11 April, which saw hundreds arrested by London’s Met Police.
Penny Green, a Professor of Law and Globalisation at Queen Mary University of London and signatory, said: “It is both indefensible and revealing that peaceful protesters opposing genocide are being branded as terrorists while the Labour government, itself complicit in Israel’s state terror, avoids accountability.”
Catherine Rottenberg, a Professor of Media and Cultural Studies at Goldsmiths University of London and another signatory, said: “In the name of defending freedom and democracy, our government is undermining both democracy and freedom.”
“We the people must stand up and defend our freedoms, with Palestine Action as our most urgent test case.”
The ban was overturned by High Court judges on 13 February for being unlawful, “disproportionate” and a breach of freedom of expression, though the Home Office has since appealed.
The government’s appeal is set to be heard at the Royal Courts of Justice on 28 and 29 April, where the Court of Appeal is located and where the letter, which has since garnered several hundred more signatures, was sent.
