The high court was wrong to rule that the ban on Palestine Action under terrorism legislation was unlawful, the court of appeal ruled Monday morning.

Palestine Action was proscribed under terrorism laws last year, but after a legal challenge by ​the group's co-founder, London’s high court in February deemed the government’s designation unlawful. It remained proscribed, pending the government's appeal.

Lady Chief Justice Baroness Carr, the most senior judge in England and Wales, said the five-person strong panel had “concluded that the proscription decision struck a fair balance.”

She described the group as “a covert organization operating with secret cells to avoid the detection and prosecution of those using violence to destroy the property of third parties” and said  “at no stage has Palestine Action suggested that its terrorist activities were either a mistake or an aberration.”

Due to the proscription remaining in place, it is still an offense to support, fund, or belong to Palestine Action.

Huda Ammori, who co-founded Palestine Action in 2020 and brought the appeal over the designation to the high court earlier this year, issued a defiant statement in response to the ruling.

She vowed to “not stop fighting for the ban to be lifted” and for the “end of the use of terror legislation against us.”

In a statement to TIME, British Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood welcomed the judgment upholding the proscription of the group.

"The court has found that Palestine Action has carried out acts of terrorism, celebrated those who have taken part in those acts, and promoted the use of violence. It is not an ordinary protest or civil disobedience group, and its actions are not consistent with democratic values and the rule of law," she said.

"This decision does not affect lawful protest in support of the Palestinian cause, which remains a fundamental democratic right. There is a difference between supporting Palestine and supporting a proscribed terrorist group."

Mahmood added that the government "will always take the strongest possible action" to protect national security and keep the public safe.

On Friday, four Palestine Action activists were jailed over causing £1.2 million ($1.6 million) of damage at the U.K. site of Elbit Systems, an Israel-based defense firm, in August 2024.

They had been convicted of criminal damage during a retrial in May and were sentenced to a total of over 20 years, as the judge issued longer terms after ‌determining there was a "terrorism connection."

The ruling sparked debate among U.K. lawmakers, with Labour MP John McDonnell referring to the scale of the sentences as “truly shocking.” 

“To impose years of imprisonment for protesting to save lives in Gaza is unjust,” he argued. “Especially sentencing on terrorist grounds they were never convicted of by a jury.”