US Sanctions Block Crowdfunder for Palestine Action Court Challenge
An online crowdfunder to raise money for the UK Supreme Court challenge to the ban on Palestine Action was blocked as a result of US sanctions against the group.
The case reaches the court in November. CrowdJustice, a UK company, declined to host a fundraiser for legal fees to fight proscription of Palestine Action because it uses the US company Stripe as its payment processor. Proscription is the formal legal term for a ban under anti-terror law. Stripe confirmed that it cannot support accounts or transactions linked to, or for the benefit of, Palestine Action, including where funds are being raised for legal proceedings. The Guardian
The legal challenge was brought by Huda Ammori, a co-founder of Palestine Action. The UK Supreme Court lists the case as UKSC-2026-0099, R (on the application of Ammori) (Appellant) v Secretary. Ms Ammori challenged the Home Secretary's decision to proscribe Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation under section 3. UK Supreme Court
Then-Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced her intention to ban Palestine Action under UK law in June of the previous year. Supporting Palestine Action became illegal in the UK in 2025 after the government banned it under anti-terror legislation. The Home Office spent £700,000 defending the proscription in the High Court. The High Court held the ban unlawful. The Court of Appeal overturned that decision.
A previous CrowdJustice fundraiser for legal fees for the High Court challenge raised more than £300,000 within days. Former British diplomat Craig Murray, who is separately challenging the legality of the ban in Scotland, had his own CrowdJustice fundraiser for legal fees taken down after the US designation.
Palestine Action was designated by the United States pursuant to Executive Order 13224, as amended. Sanctions are government penalties that can freeze assets and bar transactions. The sanctions were imposed by Donald Trump using powers introduced by President George W. Bush in 2001 after the 9/11 al-Qaida attacks. The U.S. Department of the Treasury issued a release covering Palestine Action. U.S. Treasury The U.S. Department of State issued a release titled "Imposing Sanctions on Violent Far-Left Terrorist Groups" covering Palestine Action.
The United States also imposed sanctions on the transnational group Masar Badil and an Italy-based entity alongside Palestine Action. Reuters The UN rights office condemned the United States' designation of Palestine Action as a terrorist group. Reuters
Police in Liverpool, Britain arrested dozens of supporters of the banned group on September 28 outside a venue. Ammori called on Prime Minister Andy Burnham to reverse the ban on the group.
The broader context here is access. A proscription challenge listed for November must be paid for now. The record in this case puts Home Office defence costs at £700,000 for the High Court phase alone, while the challengers previously needed more than £300,000 from public donations within days. If payment infrastructure treats defence funds as barred activity, the ability to take a proscription case through appellate review narrows, whatever a court might decide on the merits.
In my view, the questions to watch are procedural and financial as much as legal. Whether Ammori's team can assemble a compliant funding route before the hearing, whether the Scottish challenge proceeds on a parallel track, and whether the Supreme Court engages with the interaction between domestic proscription and foreign designation will determine how much precedent UKSC-2026-0099 sets for later cases.
