The article reports that the UK High Court determined the government’s decision to blacklist Palestine Action was unlawful. Crucially, the British government failed to meet the legal threshold required to impose one of the most severe restrictions available under counter-terrorism law.
To the CTV News and Associated Press,
I am writing on behalf of Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (www.cjpme.org) regarding the AP article published by CTV News titled: “Britain’s High Court says government acted illegally in outlawing protest group Palestine Action.”
The article reports that the UK High Court determined the government’s decision to blacklist Palestine Action was unlawful. Crucially, the British government failed to meet the legal threshold required to impose one of the most severe restrictions available under counter-terrorism law.
I want to mention that in a media landscape that marginalizes Palestinian perspectives and relegates them to the end of articles, we appreciate that you gave space to Palestine Action co-founder Huda Ammori who described the ruling as “a monumental victory both for our fundamental freedoms here in Britain and in the struggle for freedom for the Palestinian people.” It is indeed a victory at a time when solidarity for the Palestinian liberation movement is facing heightened scrutiny and repression.
That said, the following sentence lacks essential context: “The government banned Palestine Action after activists broke into a Royal Air Force base in June to protest British military support for Israel’s military offensive against Hamas in Gaza, which killed tens of thousands of Palestinians.”
Israel’s military campaign has been described by the International Court of Justice, several UN Special Rapporteurs, and leading human rights organizations as genocidal, “with the specific intent to destroy Palestinians in Gaza – acts including killings, causing serious bodily or mental harm, and deliberately inflicting on Palestinians in Gaza conditions of life calculated to bring about their physical destruction.” This critical legal context is missing from the article.
- On January 31, 2024, in the case concerning the Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip (South Africa v. Israel), the International Court of Justice found it plausible that Israel’s conduct could fall within the scope of the Genocide Convention and ordered provisional measures requiring Israel to take all steps to prevent genocidal acts against the Palestinian people, measures with which Israel has continued to fail to comply.
- On October 1st, 2024, UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albaneseconfirmed that there are reasonable grounds to conclude that genocide is occurring in Gaza and warned that it risks expanding to the occupied West Bank.
- On November 24, 2024, the International Criminal Court announcedthat Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is subject to arrest warrants for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity, including the use of starvation as a method of warfare through the prolonged obstruction of humanitarian aid to Gaza.
- On September 16, 2025, the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel, along with Amnesty Internationaland numerous other human rights organizations, have concluded that Israel is committing the gravest crime under international law: genocide against the Palestinian people.
Moreover, on January 29, 2026, Israel itself corroborated the accuracy of the Palestinian Ministry of Health’s reported death toll in Gaza (now exceeding 71,000) after two years of manufacturing doubt on their reporting.
At minimum, the confirmed death toll of more than 71,000 Palestinians killed by Israel must be included. It should also be clearly stated that this figure is widely understood to be a severe underestimate, as it does not account for Palestinians buried under the rubble or who have died from starvation and lack of medical care due Israel’s ongoing blockade and siege.
I write in good faith to encourage accurate and accountable reporting in line with the guidelines of the Canadian Association of Journalists (CAJ), and I look forward to your response.