LONDON

The UK government’s attempt to brand direct action protesters as terrorists is being considered a total collapse of credibility following a High Court ruling that said its ban on Palestine Action was "unlawful" and "disproportionate."

And the Home Office now finds itself caught between a defiant judiciary, skeptical public, and a mounting human rights crisis.

Tim Crosland, a former government lawyer and co-founder of Defend Our Juries activist group who himself faced arrest under the Terrorism Act last year, spoke to Anadolu and warned that the government is currently trapped in a "moral and legal void," holding activists in a state of "catastrophic limbo" while its primary justifications for the ban crumble under scrutiny.

The legal battle is overseen by Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, whose decision to appeal the ruling has been met with accusations of hypocrisy.

Crosland said the "extraordinary" irony that Mahmood, who in 2014 participated in protest at a Sainsbury’s in Birmingham to oppose goods from occupied territories, is now the primary architect of a crackdown on similar direct action tactics.

"Shabana Mahmood is the same Shabana Mahmood who ... said, 'Well, this is what it takes to make a difference—this kind of direct action,'" Crosland observed. "So it is quite extraordinary to see her ... in such a short space of time being the home secretary, determined to fight this ruling from the court."

Thousands in ‘limbo’

The immediate legal debate centers on whether the proscription order should be quashed instantly.

The government argues for the ban to remain in place until the appeal is heard, a move Crosland describes as potentially devastating. Since the law came into force on July 5 last year, Defend Our Juries reports that 2,787 people have been arrested for protesting Israeli actions in the Gaza Strip and alleged complicity of the British authorities.

On Feb. 18, re-trials begin for the first major prosecution of Palestine Action members for breaking into Israeli defense company Elbit Sytems in Filton, near Bristol in 2024. The six activists were acquitted for attempted burglary.

The activists had been held on remand for around 17 months prior to the trial — far longer than the usual six-month legal limit — because terrorism legislation was used early in the case even though final charges were non-terror offences.

The consequences for those targeted are not merely legal, but existential. "People have lost their jobs. People have been prevented from seeing relatives who were ill overseas, because they've been denied travel visas, because they're under investigation for terrorism, because they've held a cardboard sign against genocide," Crosland explained.

He added that banks, fearing association with designated groups, have summarily closed accounts of peaceful protesters.

Crosland warned that if the order remains in force during a protracted appeal process, thousands will remain charged with terrorism for acts as simple as holding a placard.

"The logic of that is that if the government loses at the Court of Appeal, keep the order in force until the appeal to the Supreme Court. And this could be months and years, and that cannot be right," he said.

On Feb. 20, a consequential hearing will see the home secretary set out her formal expectations for the appeal.

'Most conservative judges that you could find'

Perhaps the most significant blow to the government’s credibility is the nature of the court that ruled against it. Crosland said the high court judges involved were "the most conservative judges that you could find."

One judge had previously ruled in favor of continued F-35 parts exports to Israel, which killed more than 71,000 people in Gaza over two years and destroyed the enclave. "It’s quite something that that court ... found the proscription to be unlawful," Crosland said.

However, he noted that the government's position has weakened even further since that judgment due to the Filton case.

"The jury, who hears all the evidence, refused to find Palestine Action guilty of anything, not even of the low-level charge of criminal damage," Crosland said. "So, on appeal, that will be really significant information ... the jury have randomly selected members of the public who heard the evidence over weeks have decided that there was no—refused to convict them of anything."

‘Smoke and mirrors’

Beyond the courtroom, the government’s narrative was further undermined by its own advisers.

Jonathan Hall KC, the government’s independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, dismissed government insinuations of Iranian funding or "secret intelligence" as "smoke and mirrors."

"In other words, the government's own terrorism adviser has more or less said that the then-home secretary, Yvette Cooper, was dishonest with the public and with parliament," Crosland remarked.

With the jury’s refusal to convict, and the adviser's dismissal of the evidence, Crosland believes the group’s co-founder, Huda Ammori, is in a "strong position for the appeal."

'Convicted of nothing'

Crosland also drew attention to a "horrific" situation regarding activists held on remand. He said dozens of Palestine Action members are currently in prison despite having been convicted of nothing, with some serving time equivalent to a four-year sentence while awaiting trial.

"None of those people were charged with terrorism offenses," Crosland said, arguing that the government used the "terrorist" label to poison the legal well. He argues these individuals are filling a void left by a government that is "actively complicit in crimes against humanity."

"When you take a hammer to the instruments of genocide, to the machinery of genocide, that is a peaceful act. It's an attempt to stop violence," he said, framing the activists' actions as a moral obligation to "beat swords into plowshares."

‘Orwellian’ surveillance

Despite the court’s ruling, Crosland described the ongoing police behavior as "chilling and Orwellian."

Met Police did not arrest people holding signs following the Friday ruling, but declared to continue with "gathering evidence of those offences and the people involved to provide opportunities for enforcement at a later date."

"It really came across as a police service that is not independent ... but is actually still really looking to be private security to Elbit Systems and the Israeli lobby," the former government lawyer said. "You're in a hole and stop digging."

In a message for Cooper and Mahmood, Crosland said: "Listen, government, to the thousands of people who've risked terrorism charges by holding up cardboard signs. And what is their message? Their message is that when you're on the side of genocide, you don't just lose your soul, you lose the public too, and you're going to lose elections."

While general elections are not due before 2029, local government polls are scheduled to take place in May amid rising popularity of Nigel Farage's Reform UK and falling ratings of Prime Minister Keir Starmer.