Palestine Action co-founder given permission to challenge decision to ban group - as police arrest 77 supporters at protest outside court

By FRANCINE WOLFISZ, NEWS REPORTER Published: 20:03, 30 July 2026 | Updated: 20:03, 30 July 2026 The co-founder of Palestine Action has been given the green light to go to the Supreme Court and challenge a Home Office decision banning the group as a terrorist organisation. Huda Ammori was granted permission to take the case back to the courts on the same day as 77 activists were arrested outside a court for openly stating they supported Palestine Action. The Court of Appeal ruled in June that the decision to proscribe the group last year under the Terrorism Act 2000 was lawful, overturning a High Court decision in February that the ban should be quashed. However Ms Ammori sought to take the case to the Supreme Court on the basis that then-Home Secretary Yvette Cooper had incorrectly applied her own policy, and that it interfered with freedom of speech and freedom of association. On Thursday, the Supreme Court website showed that justices – Lord Sales, Lord Leggatt and Lady Simler – had given Ms Ammori the go-ahead to challenge the ban on the basis Ms Cooper had incorrectly applied her own policy. Permission to challenge the decision based on interference with freedom of speech and freedom of association was refused. The hearing is expected to take place between October 1 and December 21. As the Supreme Court granted the green light, dozens of pro-Palestine supporters gathered outside Westminster Magistrates' Court, where almost 2,000 people had received a summons to appear on Thursday. Huda Ammori (right) with Palestine Action co-founder Richard Barnard, pictured in 2024, has been granted the green light to challenge the group's prohibition in the Supreme Court Scores of pro-Palestine supporters gathered outside Westminster Magistrates' Court, where almost 2,000 people had received a summons to appear on Thursday Some 77 activists were arrested by Met Police officers outside the court for openly stating they supported Palestine Action The Court of Appeal ruled in June that the decision to proscribe the group last year under the Terrorism Act 2000 was lawful. Pictured: A demonstrator is arrested after showing support for Palestine Action Daily court listings show 1,855 people had been charged with carrying a placard in Parliament Square supporting Palestine Action. The defendants, many of them in their 60s and 70s, were told their cases have been adjourned until October 26, pending the outcome of the appeal against the group's proscription. Hundreds of protesters from the activist group Defend Our Juries attended court in a mass show of solidarity for those charged under terrorism laws. As a result, Met Police posted on X: 'People are beginning to gather outside Westminster Magistrates' Court after activist group Defend Our Juries announced a mass show of support for the proscribed group Palestine Action. 'Expressing support for Palestine Action is an offence under the Terrorism Act. Officers have begun making arrests.' Among those arrested were environmentalist Sir Jonathon Porritt, 76, while the Met said the number of arrests had reached 'double figures' just after midday. Defend Our Juries earlier posted a copy of a summons notice telling defendants: 'Please do not attend* unless you receive further instructions directly from Westminster Magistrates' Court.' A Supreme Court hearing seeking to overturn the ban is expected to take place between October 1 and December 21 Daily court listings show 1,855 people had been charged with carrying a placard in Parliament Square supporting Palestine Action - and were summoned to appear on Thursday More than 2,700 arrests under the Terrorism Act 2000 have been made since the banning of Palestine Action. Deputy Assistant Commissioner Andy Valentine said: 'The law is clear. Expressing support for proscribed organisations is a criminal offence and anyone doing so can expect to be arrested. 'There are any number of ways to express views on the humanitarian situation in Gaza or on Israeli military action that don't involve criminality. 'Doing otherwise is an intentional decision and one which has a detrimental impact on the public, court staff, victims and witnesses attending court, and those trying to go about their lawful business in the local area. 'It also affects Londoners more broadly whose local police officers are withdrawn from communities to police this operation. 'The fact that there are no hearings related to Palestine Action taking place at the court tomorrow makes the decision to continue with this event all the more nonsensical.'