Palestine Action co-founder set to challenge terror ban in High Court
On July 4, Ammori failed in a High Court bid to temporarily block the ban coming into effect, with the Court of Appeal dismissing a challenge to that decision less than two hours before the proscription came into force on July 5.
READ MORE: 'Beyond shameful': Harvie urges SNP to explain secret talks with Israeli diplomat
The ban means that membership of, or support for, the direct action group is now a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison, under the Terrorism Act 2000.
The Labour Government is opposing the bid for the legal challenge to be allowed to proceed, with the hearing before Mr Justice Chamberlain due to begin at 10.30am on Monday at the Royal Courts of Justice.
Cooper announced plans to proscribe Palestine Action on June 23, stating that the vandalism of the two planes, which police said caused an estimated £7 million of damage, was 'disgraceful'.
Four people – Amy Gardiner-Gibson, 29, Jony Cink, 24, Daniel Jeronymides-Norie, 36, and Lewis Chiaramello, 22 – have all been charged in connection with the incident, and are due to face trial in early 2027.
At the hearing earlier this month, Raza Husain KC, for Ammori, said the proscription was an 'ill-considered, discriminatory and authoritarian abuse of statutory power'.
He also said that the Home Office 'has still not sufficiently articulated or evidenced a national security reason that proscription should be brought into effect now'.
Blinne Ni Ghralaigh KC, also representing Ms Ammori, told the court that the harm caused by the ban would be 'far-reaching' and could cause 'irreparable harm to large numbers of members of the public', including causing some to 'self-censor'.
Ben Watson KC, for the Home Office, said Palestine Action could challenge the Home Secretary's decision at the Proscribed Organisations Appeal Commission (POAC), a specialist tribunal, rather than at the High Court.
Mr Justice Chamberlain said that an assessment on whether to ban the group had been made as early as March, and 'preceded' the incident at RAF Brize Norton.
READ MORE: 3 women charged under Terrorism Act after breaching Edinburgh arms factory
Dismissing the bid for a temporary block, the judge said that the 'harm which would ensue' if a block was not ordered was 'insufficient to outweigh the strong public interest in maintaining the order in force'.
He added that some of the 'consequences feared by the claimant' were 'overstated'.
At a late-night Court of Appeal hearing, the Lady Chief Justice Baroness Carr, Lord Justice Lewis and Lord Justice Edis threw out a bid to challenge the High Court's decision, finding that there was 'no real prospect of a successful appeal'.
Since the ban came into force, dozens of people have been arrested at protests in cities including London, Manchester and Cardiff, including an 83-year-old reverend.
Over the weekend, more than 100 people were arrested across the UK under suspicion of terror offences at protests against the Palestine Action ban.
There have also been several people charged in Scotland under suspicion of terror offences.
Most recently, an activist was arrested on Friday at a protest in support of Palestine Action in Glasgow for holding a sign which read, "Genocide in Palestine, time to take action".
And on Thursday, The National told how a man was charged under terror law for displaying a poster in the window of his property which read "Support Palestine Action! Free Palestine".
There were two pro-Palestine protests which took place in Edinburgh on Saturday, although no arrests have taken place at the time of writing.
Separately, three women are due to appear in Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Monday morning under the Terrorism Act after a van was driven into the fence of the Leonardo factory in Edinburgh.
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Scotsman
3 hours ago
- Scotsman
Susan isn't sitting on the fence over support for Palestinians- Vladimir McTavish
Susam Riddell at the Hot Water Comedy Club With only a week to go until the start of this year's Fringe, there is no such thing as bad publicity. Comedians will do anything for a few column inches at this time of year. However, nobody has ever planned to find themselves up in court on a terrorism charge. Sign up to our daily newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Edinburgh News, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... But that is what happened to a friend of mine, Glaswegian stand-up Susan Riddell on Monday. Last weekend, along with two others, she allegedly drove a van into the fence of arms manufacturer Leonardo in North Edinburgh, in protest against Israeli atrocities in Gaza. The company, formerly BAE Systems, has been alleged to be supplying weapons to the Israeli Defence Force. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Susan has been charged with malicious mischief and contravening the Road Traffic Act. However, as this could be interpreted as supporting Palestine Action, she is also charged under the UK Government's draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act. Photographs of the incident are on the BBC News website. The van has crashed into the perimeter fence of the Leonardo complex from the next door car park at Morrison's on Ferry Road. One panel of the fence has been slightly dislodged. We all remember the images of the bodged attack on Glasgow Airport from 2007. A car rammed into the front of the terminal building at high speed and burst into flames, engulfing the driver in fire, only for the guy to be dragged out of the inferno and given a sound kicking. That was a terrorist incident. Susan's incident took place next the Click & Collect pick-up point. I'd be willing to bet more damage has been done to that fence by careless drivers. This is not so much taking a sledgehammer to break a nut as taking a pneumatic drill to open a pistachio. Riddell has now had to cancel her Fringe show, due to her bail conditions preventing her from entering Edinburgh. Did the judge think she was planning on driving into another fence? In Edinburgh during the festival, where hour-long traffic jams are the norm? She may have had to cancel her 2025 Fringe, but Susan Riddell has one hell of a story to tell next year. That show has already written itself. Personally, I will drive through a fence to see it.
The Herald Scotland
4 hours ago
- The Herald Scotland
Does anyone believe Starmer will grow a spine like Macron has?
Doug Maughan, Dunblane. In the name of God, go There have been many disturbing and distressing scenes in Gaza showing the effects of the profound upheaval on the people endeavouring to eke out an existence there. One would have to have a heart of stone not to be moved by these scenes, particularly those involving women and children. A scene which particularly moved me recently was of a young mother, ill in bed in hospital, saying goodbye to her young daughter, who had already been made ready for her funeral. I am reminded of the words of Oliver Cromwell to the Rump Parliament and later used by Leo Amery to Neville Chamberlain: "In the name of God go." Today I would direct these words to all those responsible for the inhumanity and cruelty being inflicted upon the ill-used people of Gaza. Ian W Thomson, Lenzie. • Just last week, we heard about the gargantuan efforts of mostly working-class musicians, led by the incredibly tenacious Bob Geldof to help people, thousands of miles away, who were starving. All it took was a broadcast by Michael Buerk to make Bob spring into action. With the undoubted help of Midge Ure, they saved thousands of lives. We found out recently that even the normally hard-hearted Tory government contributed. Today, we know that people are being deliberately starved by a so-called democracy by the name of Israel. The governments of the world, with a few exceptions, are allowing this to happen. Shame on them. It is being left, once again, to the people to point out how very wrong this is. Be in no doubt, these are crimes against God and humanity. Jane Porteous, Kinross. The West is complicit In your recent article '[[Israel]] strikes kill at least 20 in [[Gaza]] as Lammy threatens more sanctions' (The Herald, July 23) the Foreign Secretary is quoted as saying he is 'appalled and sickened by [[Israel]]'s actions in [[Gaza]]'. I suggest that Israel's actions with regard to its treatment of the Palestinians will go down in history as an extreme example of the inhumanity of which we as a species are capable. Being halfway through the third decade of the 21st century, we apparently have made little progress in our 'moral evolution'. I wish to pass on some sentences from an article by Rabbi Noa Sattath, Executive Director of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel which I read in the liberal/left Israeli newspaper Haaretz (July 22): 'Israelis forget that human beings live in Gaza. If people aren't human beings, they can be starved, beaten and raped. We need to extricate ourselves from the moral abyss into which we have tumbled.' I suggest that the 'we' referred to in the immediately previous paragraph is not just the Israeli government but those countries in the West which have aided and abetted Benjamim Netanyahu in his genocide. One way of our making reparations to the Palestinians would be for the UK to take the lead in working towards the implementation of the two-state solution. John Milne, Uddingston. Read more letters Other dates to remember Disturbingly, much of our media continue to imply that the current conflict in Gaza had its origin on October 7, 2023. Along with "9/11" the date is a shorthand for attacks in which Americans and Israelis died. I challenge you to tell me what September 16 or April 13 or April 9 represent. Significantly, few of your readers will know but it is your duty to remind them of these dates. On April 9, 1948 the Palestinian village of Deir Yassin was attacked by the Irgun and other Zionist terrorists and 107 civilians killed. The rest were driven out in this early attempt at ethnic cleansing. On September 16, 1982 the refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila in Lebanon were attacked by Lebanese fascists, assisted by Israeli forces and between 1,500 and 2,000 men, women and children were massacred. On April 13, 1996 Israeli aircraft attacked a village in South Lebanon, Mansouri, after ordering the inhabitants to evacuate. The volunteer ambulance driver packed his own family and his neighbours into the ambulance to flee. The ambulance was rocketed, with the death of all it occupants except the driver. I could go on. The list is endless. So you see that this horror did not begin on October 7, 2023 and, for the Palestinians, it continues and is likely to do so until they are eliminated. Our press could do the right thing and commemorate these anniversaries. unless it is only the lives of Americans and Israelis that matter. I beg you to do so. David Currie, Tarland. But why Troon? 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Thank you for your service. Councillor Alastair Redman, Kintyre and the Islands ward, Islay. It's economics, not misogyny The lack of common sense, relativity and any basic understanding of how sponsors choose to invest their cash creates a spurious argument about gender injustice ("Fresh funding boost to resolve gender 'injustice' in Scottish golf", The Herald, July 24). All sports sponsorship is based on the value of brand exposure via the media and TV in particular. The whole assessment is based on viewing figures. Gender has nothing to with it. Indeed, the separation of male and female sports is, in itself, based on the belief that female sportswoman would struggle very badly to survive in any male version of a sport. Women's golf has made huge strides forward in the past 20 years, as has women's football. However, I headed along to Irvine this morning (July 24) to play at my course and passed by Dundonald Golf Club at around 9.30am. The Women's Scottish Open is being held there today. No traffic jams, no police directing traffic. Consider that compared to the men's event at the Renaissance Club recently. This is why TV put so much more cash into men's golf. It's economics, not misogyny. It's like trying to say the SPFL teams should be getting the same as English Premier League teams. It's just not possible. In order for women's golf or football to continue to grow it's essential that more women start to actually attend the tournaments and matches. If there were 20k people a day at the Women's Scottish Open then it wouldn't take long for TV to pump more cash in. The big objective for the leaders of women's sports is to increase attendances steadily over the next five years. That's common sense. John Gilligan, Ayr. 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MoD: it actually stands for Masters of Delay. The wretched Establishment at its best. Andrew Liddell, Banknock.
Scotsman
4 hours ago
- Scotsman
Dear Donald Trump, Gaza needs Berlin Airlift-style rescue mission and you can make it happen
After Israel agrees to allow aid into Gaza from other countries, the world must respond decisively Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Earlier this week, Henry McLeish, a former First Minister, wrote what was essentially an open letter to Donald Trump, urging him to intervene to save lives in the Gaza Strip. 'Mr President, the United States must act now or forever be associated with this catastrophe, ethnic cleansing and genocide,' he said. Another former First Minister, Humza Yousaf, and his wife Nadia El-Nakla, a Dundee councillor, posted a video online in which they said the latter's relatives, including her cousin Sally, were being starved in Gaza. 'Sally is one of millions in Gaza. Her husband goes out all day searching for food, often to come home with nothing. And when I say home, I mean a tent and almost 40 degree heat,' Yousaf said, adding children were being 'starved, displaced, bombed, all while the world watches'. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad And the current First Minister, John Swinney has said it is his responsibility to raise 'the unimaginable suffering we are witnessing in Gaza' with Trump, ahead of their meeting during the President's visit to Scotland. Naeema, pictured on Wednesday, holds her malnourished two-year-old son Yazan in their damaged home in the Al-Shati refugee camp, west of Gaza City (Picture: Omar Al-Qattaa) | AFP via Getty Images Gesture politics This country may be far away from Gaza, but there are bonds of family, friendship and simple, shared humanity that make the suffering of innocent Palestinians an urgent issue for many Scots. Trump is in a unique position to help Gaza's population of more than two million. According to some, the US and other countries should do so by recognising the state of Palestine, an idea he has dismissed. This may be necessary at some point, but it seems like gesture politics when what Gazans really need is a ceasefire, food and medical help. Israeli army radio has reported Benjamin Netanyahu's government has now given permission for foreign countries to resume parachuting aid into Gaza. The international community should respond by launching a Berlin Airlift-style rescue mission. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Trump has the power to make an operation on that scale happen by utilising America's military and economic might to rush in food and medical supplies. He is said to want the Nobel Peace Prize. Saving the people of Gaza from starvation and war would certainly warrant one. A man holds a sign saying 'a hungry journalist writes a report about the hungry' during a protest by journalists in Gaza City (Picture: Omar Al-Qattaa) | AFP via Getty Images 'Gaza to be wiped out' If the world continues to fail to address the situation, Palestinians in the Strip face a horrifying fate. A joint statement issued by more than 100 humanitarian organisations on Wednesday said: 'Every day without a sustained flow [of aid] means more people dying of preventable illnesses. Children starve while waiting for promises that never arrive.' When is this going to stop? How many more people are going to starve to death? Israel's ultimate intentions are unclear but far-right politicians, including some in government, have made some truly terrifying statements. In November 2023, Israel's heritage minister Amichay Eliyahu suggested dropping a nuclear bomb on Gaza was an option, claimed there was 'no such thing as uninvolved civilians in Gaza', and said 'we wouldn't hand the Nazis humanitarian aid'. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad He has remained in government and claimed earlier this month that 'the government is racing ahead for Gaza to be wiped out... Thank God, we are wiping out this evil'. Hours later, after midnight, Netanyahu released a statement on social media – in English – saying Eliyahu 'does not speak for the government I lead'.
