Court bid to block Palestine Action 'terror group' designation fails
Palestine Action was included along two extreme right groups, the Maniacs Murder Cult (MMC) and the Russian Imperial Movement (RIM), in the motion which went before parliament, which passed on Wednesday.
Neither of the neo-Nazi groups had ever been mentioned in Parliament before, with Palestine Action accusing the government of including them to ensure that the motion passed.
No Scottish MPs voted against proscribing the group, with the SNP abstaining.
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The motion also passed the House of Lords, meaning it would become law on Saturday once signed into law.
Before the initial vote was held, Palestine Action was granted a hearing for temporary relief which would delay the implementation of the proscription pending a potential legal challenge.
That took place before Mr Justice Chamberlain at the Royal Courts of Justice on Friday.
Huda Ammori, the co-founder of Palestine Action, asked the High Court to temporarily block the Government from proscribing it under the Terrorism Act 2000, pending a potential legal challenge against the decision to ban the direct action group.
Raza Husain KC, representing Ms Ammori, said: "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.
"We ask you, in the first instance, to suspend until July 21 what we say is an ill-considered, discriminatory and authoritarian abuse of statutory power which is alien to the basic tradition of the common law and is contrary to the Human Rights Act.'
Blinne Ni Ghralaigh KC, also representing Ms Ammori, said if a temporary block was not issued and the ban came into effect, the harm would be 'far-reaching', including 'irremediable harm to Palestine Action itself' and 'irreparable harm to large numbers of members of the public', causing some to 'self-censor'.
Large crowds had gathered outside, including pro-Israel group Our Fight who carried a banner saying 'stop the lies - there is no genocide in Gaza'.
Pro-Israel demonstrators outside the court in London (Image: Lucy North/PA Wire) However, the group said that they did not support Palestine Action being designated a terror group.
Speaking on the street, Mark Birkbeck told the PA news agency: 'We don't actually support proscribing Palestine Action. We don't think they are a terrorist organisation and in fact, our argument is that it makes a mockery of what terrorism is.
'It's bizarre that (the Government) is presenting this as some kind of aggressive step.
'My suspicion is that Palestine Action are going to run rings around them.
'These people know what they are doing. I don't agree with them, I don't agree with their politics, but they've been doing this for years."
Ben Watson KC, for the Home Office, said that if a temporary block was issued it would be a 'serious disfigurement of the statutory regime'.
He said Palestine Action could challenge the proscription at the Proscribed Organisations Appeal Commission, a specialist tribunal, rather than at the High Court.
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