“A monumental victory both for our fundamental freedoms here in Britain and in the struggle for freedom for the Palestinian people,” declared Huda Ammori, co-founder of Palestine Action, last Friday. The High Court of the United Kingdom had just ruled that the government’s designation of Palestine Action as a “terrorist organization” last June had been unlawful. The ban was “one of the most extreme attacks on free speech in recent British history,” according to Ammari.

This decision was not a gift by a benevolent judiciary, but rather the result of massive and determined solidarity work. The British state’s attempt to suppress anti-imperialist resistance with draconian measures has failed.

Palestine Action was targeted because of the group’s direct actions against the Israeli weapons manufacturer Elbit Systems and its British subsidiary, which has several production facilities in the UK. The company describes itself as a “backbone” of the Israeli military, bragging that it has supplied the equipment to murder tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza.

Activists targeted not just Elbit’s factories but also associated banks, real estate firms, and insurance companies, highlighting the responsibility of British imperialism for the genocide in Gaza. The baseless accusation of “terrorism” was part of this complicity — a reflection of the economic and geopolitical interests of UK imperialism. Under the Terrorism Act, membership or even support of a proscribed group could be punished with up to 14 years in prison. The police regularly attacked people protesting against the ban, including elderly and disabled persons.

The court’s decision came after protests by imprisoned activists, especially the Filton 24, who were charged for an action against an Elbit facility. Eight of them went on a months-long hunger strike — the largest political hunger strike in the UK since 1981. They demanded the lifting of the ban, the dropping of terrorism charges, the disclosure of the links between the British state and Elbit, and the closure of all Elbit sites in the UK. As their health deteriorated dramatically, the government of Prime Minister Keir Starmer tried to ignore the protests.

But this plan failed.

At its last congress, the Trades Union Congress joined the call to lift the ban on Palestine Action, and to end all restrictions on the right to protest. Hundreds of doctors, lawyers, and cultural figures expressed their solidarity in open letters. Rallies were held outside prisons, courts, and party offices, and prominent figures like Greta Thunberg were arrested. There was also international solidarity in front of UK embassies from Boston to Johannesburg.

In early February, six activists from Palestine Action were acquitted by a jury. Governments around the world — including in Germany, the United States, France, and elsewhere — are attempting to criminalize Palestine solidarity. This is the spearhead of a broader authoritarian and militaristic turn, but these legal victories are an important signal that it is possible to beat back the repression.

Trade unions in particular have an important role to play here. Other union federations in imperialist countries must follow the TUC’s example and take up the fight against repression of Palestine solidarity. Now more than ever, we must demand the severing of diplomatic ties to the genocidal state of Israel, the immediate legalization of all Palestinian and pro-Palestinian organizations, and freedom for political prisoners.

First published in German on February 15 in Klasse Gegen Klasse.

Translated by Nathaniel Flakin

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