An attempt by leading Jewish organisations to make a legal intervention to support the proscription of Palestine Action (PA) has been rejected by the Court of Appeal, the JC can reveal.
The submission by the Jewish Leadership Council (JLC) and Community Security Trust (CST) was made ahead of a hearing this week. It was not accepted due to the court’s expedited timetable, according to the JLC.
PA had been proscribed by Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood with the support of parliament last year under the Terrorism Act after a series of attacks carried out on industrial and military attacks, including Elbit factories and RAF Briz Norton.
In February the ban was overturned by the High Court, which ruled that proscription was unlawful and resulted in a “significant interference with the right to freedom of speech and the right to freedom of assembly”.
Home Secretary Mahmood disagreed with the judges’ finding “that banning this terrorist organisation is disproportionate” and appealed against their decision.
The ban was allowed to stay in place pending a decision by the Court of Appeal, which is due hear the case later this week as the Home Secretary seeks to have the situation reversed.
The courts have accepted statements supporting PA’s position from Amnesty International UK, Liberty and the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and terrorism
Now writing today for the JC, JLC chair Keith Black has revealed: “An application to intervene from my organisation, along with the CST, was rejected due to the expedited timetable.”
Rejecting the notion that the ban is disproportionate in its impact on the rights to freedom of speech and of assembly, Black argues that PA’s methods “go far beyond any right to peaceful assembly”, noting that the group has carried out hundreds of attacks.
Politicians on both sides of the House of Commons raised concern after the High Court’s decision overturning proscription in February.
At the time, Labour Friends of Israel chair Mark Sewards MP backed the appeal by the Home Office seeking to restore the ban, saying: “Palestine Action cannot and must not be allowed to resume its pernicious activities.”
Greg Smith MP, chair of Conservative Friends of Israel, told the JC that he would back a new law if needed to proscribe PA, saying: “Parliament is sovereign. MPs already voted overwhelmingly to proscribe Palestine Action as a terrorist group, if it takes further legislation to complete this important counter-terror work, then so be it.”
Following the High Court’s decision, the Metropolitan Police initially paused the arrest of demonstrators rallying behind PA but revised its position on March 25, saying that “anyone showing support for the group is likely to be arrested.”
Approximately 2,700 people had already been arrested by police for backing the group in public following the ban, according to protest group Defend Our Juries.
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