More than 130 prominent public figures have signed a letter to the UK's Court of Appeal expressing support for Palestine Action, days before a hearing that will decide the legality of the government's ban on the direct action group. The letter, released Friday, bears 132 signatures and states simply: 'We oppose genocide, we support Palestine Action.'

Signatories include internationally known figures such as writer Sally Rooney, climate activist Greta Thunberg, and American scholar Judith Butler. British musicians Nadine Shah and Brian Eno, writers China Mieville, Lina Meruane, and Tariq Ali, along with dozens of professors from leading universities including Cambridge, Oxford, Yale, Columbia, and the London School of Economics, also signed.

The hearings are scheduled for April 28 and 29, during which the court will hear the government's appeal to uphold its proscription of Palestine Action. In February, the UK's High Court ruled the ban unlawful and disproportionate, prompting the Metropolitan Police to initially refrain from arresting supporters before reversing course and arresting over 500 people at a protest earlier this month.

The proscription, imposed in July 2025, designates Palestine Action as a 'terrorist organisation' alongside Hezbollah and al-Qaeda, making membership or support punishable by up to 14 years in prison. Activist group Defend Our Juries warned that signatories now face potential terrorism charges, stating: 'If the police proceed to arrest these scholars on terrorism charges, the authoritarian nature of the ban will be further exposed.'

Several signatories issued individual statements condemning the government's appeal. Professor Neve Gordon of Queen Mary University of London called the decision 'yet another sign of the government’s moral bankruptcy,' accusing it of 'silencing the messenger.'

Source: www.aljazeera.com