Scottish Greens Urge UK to Lift Palestine Action Ban
Maggie Chapman, a Scottish Greens spokesperson, said people who had demonstrated, organized campaigns and spoken publicly about the situation facing Palestinians had played a role in keeping Palestine on the political agenda.
"The people who have marched, organised and spoken out against Israel’s genocide have helped force Palestine onto the political agenda. They deserve to be heard and their rights respected," Chapman said.
Her comments followed remarks by Miliband earlier in the week in which he acknowledged public anger over the situation affecting Palestinians.
"We hear the millions of people in this country and indeed elsewhere who have been moved and outraged by the plight of the Palestinian people."
"You were right. And under (Prime Minister) Andy’s (Burnham) leadership, we have reset our approach."
Chapman said Miliband was right to recognize the anger expressed by people who had witnessed the destruction in Gaza and called for government action. However, she argued that the government should also reconsider the legal status of Palestine Action.
She said the government’s acknowledgment of public concern would be undermined unless it reversed the proscription of the group, which has resulted in arrests of people accused of supporting or expressing support for the organization.
"That acknowledgement will ring hollow as long as Labour maintains a ban that has criminalised hundreds of people for calling out genocide and other war crimes, waving banners and wearing t-shirts."
Chapman added: "If the Labour Government is remotely serious about changing course, it must end the proscription of Palestine Action and defend our fundamental rights to freedom of expression and peaceful protest."
She also called for the UK to halt arms sales to Israel, saying the government should ensure that Britain is "no longer complicit in the oppression of the Palestinian people."
The British government’s decision to proscribe Palestine Action has resulted in thousands of arrests involving people accused of supporting the direct-action organization.
The group was officially banned on July 5, 2025, under the Terrorism Act. The move followed an incident in which members entered a Royal Air Force base and sprayed paint on two aircraft. Police said the action caused damage estimated at £7 million ($9.4 million).
The legal status of the ban has since been challenged in British courts. The High Court ruled in February that the proscription was disproportionate and unlawful, but that ruling was subsequently overturned by the Court of Appeal.
In July, the UK’s highest court granted permission to Palestine Action co-founder Huda Ammori to challenge the Court of Appeal decision that upheld the ban.
Human rights organizations and UN experts have also criticized what they described as an increasingly restrictive approach to peaceful protest in Britain. They have called on the government to reconsider the designation of Palestine Action as a terrorist organization and address concerns surrounding freedom of expression and peaceful demonstrations.
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