Pro-Palestine group loses bid to pause ban

LONDON:

Pro-Palestinian campaign group Palestine Action's co-founder on Friday lost a bid to pause the British government's decision to ban the group under anti-terrorism laws pending their legal challenge.

Huda Ammori, who helped found Palestine Action in 2020, asked London's High Court to stop the proscription of Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation, before a full hearing of her case that banning the group is unlawful, later this month.

British lawmakers this week decided to ban Palestine Action after its activists broke into a Royal Air Force base and damaged two planes in protest against what the group says is Britain's support for Israel. Proscription would make it a crime to be a member of Palestine Action that carries a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison.

Proscribed groups under British law include Daesh and al Qaeda.