More than 130 public figures express support for the proscribed group as the UK prepares for another legal fight. Published On 24 Apr 202624 Apr 2026More than 130 public figures have written to the UK’s Court of Appeal expressing support for Palestine Action, days before a hearing to decide on the lawfulness of the government’s ban on the direct action group.A letter released Friday, bearing 132 signatures and addressed to the UK’s Court of Appeal, read: “We oppose genocide, we support Palestine Action.”Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of listThe declaration came in advance of hearings scheduled for April 28 and 29, during which the court is slated to hear the government’s appeal to uphold its proscription of Palestine Action.Internationally known figures, including the writer Sally Rooney, climate campaigner Greta Thunberg and American scholar Judith Butler are among those who signed the declaration.Others include British musicians Nadine Shah and Brian Eno, writers China Mieville, Lina Meruane and Tariq Ali, along with dozens of professors at leading universities such as Cambridge, Oxford, Yale, Columbia and the London School of Economics.The letter’s singular sentence has become a well-known slogan used to express support for Palestine Action, which the UK government proscribed as a “terrorist organisation” in July 2025.That designation – which placed Palestine Action in the same category as Hezbollah and al-Qaeda – makes it illegal to be a member of or express support for the group, offences punishable by up to 14 years in prison.In February, the UK’s High Court ruled that the government’s ban was unlawful and disproportionate, prompting London’s Metropolitan Police to say it would refrain from arresting demonstrators rallying in support of the group. Advertisement But with the government appeal pending, the Met reversed course, and officers arrested more than 500 people at a protest earlier this month. …
