‘A fantasy’: How the Palestine Action ruling whitewashed the history of civil disobedience

‘A fantasy’: How the Palestine Action ruling whitewashed the history of civil disobedience Submitted by Katherine Hearst on Wed, 06/17/2026 - 09:02 Court upheld the ban on Palestine Action, denying it is a direct action group 'like the suffragettes' Police detain a demonstrator following a Court of Appeal ruling on the lawfulness of proscribing Palestine Action under terrorism laws, outside the Royal Courts Of Justice in London, 15 June 2026 (Reuters) Off On Monday, five judges quashed a High Court ruling that found the UK government's proscription of direct action group Palestine Action to be unlawful. In its judgement, the Court of Appeal noted the group's "covert" nature, saying that it is not "as it claims, a direct action civil disobedience group like the suffragettes". "It is a covert organisation that operates using secret cells to avoid the detection and prosecution of those using violence to destroy the property of third parties.