The UK government’s proscription of Palestine Action as a terrorist group in July 2025 was taken against legal advice. At the heart of the campaign was UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI), a pro-Israel legal lobby now facing regulatory investigations. Beyond lobbying ministers, UKLFI has intervened repeatedly to silence lawful pro-Palestinian expression in Britain, a country where public opinion largely opposes Israel’s war on Gaza. With policing inconsistent and contradictions multiplying, critics say the ban reflects foreign lobby influence rather than rule of law.
A poster in the window that exposes the contradictions
On 23 August 2025, Merseyside Police knocked on Keith Hackett’s door in Liverpool. In his front window, Hackett had displayed a sign for weeks:
“I OPPOSE GENOCIDE. I SUPPORT PALESTINE ACTION.”
He expected to be arrested. Across Britain, more than 700 people have been detained since July for holding placards or banners expressing similar sentiments. Instead, the officer told him:
“There is no offence with it because it’s in a private dwelling … it would only be an offence if it was in a public place.”
Hackett was stunned. “I did not know that! I’m astonished,” he replied. “A lot of people are going to be astonished by that.”
The footage went viral. Campaign groups like Defend Our Juries said the contradictory policing showed the “embarrassing chaos” of the proscription. One supporter noted that in South Wales, police raided homes and even used a Geiger counter on tins of baked beans during searches for “evidence” of Palestine Action support. “How can anyone take this seriously?” the group asked. “The government should scrap this law. It must stop supporting Israel’s genocide.”
Ignoring legal advice, following lobby pressure
According to The Guardian, government lawyers warned the Home Office that proscribing Palestine Action would likely collapse under judicial scrutiny. The group’s tactics—occupations, lock-ons, damage to arms-factory property—have resulted in arrests and convictions for criminal offences, but do not amount to terrorism under the statutory definition.
Yet ministers pushed ahead. Civil service sources say pressure came from pro-Israel lobby groups, foremost among them UKLFI. By framing Palestine Action’s civil disobedience as “support for terrorism,” UKLFI and its allies created the narrative space for ministers to use extraordinary powers to outlaw a protest group.
Who are UK Lawyers for Israel?
UKLFI was founded in 2011 as a company limited by guarantee, with a linked charitable trust registered in 2016. Its mission is to counter “delegitimisation” of Israel through law.
Public-facing figures include:
- Natasha Hausdorff, international law specialist and legal director of the UKLFI Charitable Trust.
- Caroline Turner, solicitor and UKLFI director, who signs many of the group’s letters.
Behind them is a network of trustees, including Marc Polonsky, Susan Storring, Alan Melkman, Albert Levy and Dr Efrat Sopher.
The group portrays itself as a volunteer-driven network that receives hundreds of requests each year from Jewish members of the public who feel intimidated or silenced. Its “achievements” page lists dozens of interventions: pressuring universities to cancel motions, warning charities about their duties, and reporting artists to regulators.
But critics say those “achievements” amount to censorship.
When free speech was curtailed: UKLFI’s interventions in Britain
Over the past decade, UKLFI has targeted numerous lawful gatherings, performances and cultural events supportive of Palestine. Its strategy: letters warning institutions of potential breaches of terrorism law, equality law, charity law, or antisemitism guidance. In many cases, institutions capitulated.
1. Palestinian film festival cancelled in Edinburgh
In 2022, the Scottish Storytelling Centre planned to host a Palestinian film festival. UKLFI’s Caroline Turner wrote warning it was “inherently antisemitic and anti-Zionist” and threatened referral to the Scottish charity regulator. The festival was cancelled.
2. Pro-Palestine concert axed at Morley College, London
In November 2024, Morley College cancelled a concert titled The World Stands With Palestine after a UKLFI letter claimed the event aligned with Hamas and risked inciting hatred. The booking was pulled.
3. Gaza children’s artwork removed from hospital
Chelsea and Westminster Hospital hosted a display of art by children in Gaza. UKLFI complained it made Jewish patients feel “vulnerable, harassed and victimised.” The hospital took the exhibition down.
4. School textbooks censored
Publisher Pearson withdrew and revised UK school textbooks on Middle East history after UKLFI accused them of “anti-Israel propaganda.” Later versions were again withdrawn after criticism of distortion.
5. Targeting artists and musicians
UKLFI has filed complaints against pro-Palestinian musicians, including rappers Bob Vylan and Kneecap, and condemned Glastonbury artists who displayed Palestinian flags. In response, Massive Attack, Brian Eno and Fontaines DC formed an alliance to resist “threats into silence or career cancellation.”
These cases show a pattern: lawful cultural expression in solidarity with Palestine being curtailed not by police, but by letters from a lobby group invoking the law.
The investigations: SRA and Charity Commission
On 21 August 2025, the Solicitors Regulation Authority confirmed it had opened an investigation into UKLFI after a 114-page complaint by the Public Interest Law Centre and the European Legal Support Center. The complaint alleged UKLFI engaged in “vexatious and legally baseless” threats—strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs)—designed to intimidate and silence.
Separately, the Charity Commission confirmed an active case examining the UKLFI Charitable Trust and its relationship with the lobbying company. The key question: can a registered charity lawfully engage in partisan campaigns that silence political speech?
Lawfare: bending the law to silence dissent
UKLFI insists it acts lawfully, writing to organisations only when they may be in breach of their duties. But the effect of its interventions is clear: Palestinian cultural expression and solidarity activism are repeatedly shut down.
Critics call this “lawfare”: the strategic use of law not to secure justice but to win political advantage. In Britain, that means silencing Palestinian voices in universities, arts venues, schools and public institutions.
Proscription as the culmination of a campaign
The proscription of Palestine Action is the logical end point of this strategy. By portraying disruptive protest as terrorism, lobby groups succeeded in pushing ministers to outlaw a movement that had embarrassed the arms industry.
Now the contradictions are glaring: a poster in a private window is permitted, while the same words on a placard in the street are grounds for arrest. Terrorism law, stretched beyond recognition, has become a tool for censorship.
A wider struggle over democracy
Britain today is a country where:
- A hospital cannot hang children’s drawings from Gaza.
- A publisher must withdraw history textbooks to appease lobbyists.
- A concert celebrating Palestinian culture can be axed on the word of a lobby group.
- And a protest group exposing arms companies’ links to Israeli war crimes is branded “terrorist” against legal advice.
This is not just about Palestine. It is about the integrity of British democracy, free speech, and the independence of law from political pressure.
What comes next
- The SRA investigation may rule on whether UKLFI’s tactics amount to professional misconduct.
- The Charity Commission must decide whether UKLFI’s charitable arm is compatible with political lobbying.
- Legal challenges to the Palestine Action ban are expected, which could test whether the proscription can survive judicial review.
Until then, Britain remains trapped in contradictions. Citizens can support Palestine Action from their living rooms but risk prison if they carry the same message to the street. Events celebrating Palestinian culture can be shut down by a lawyer’s letter while arms factories supplying Israel remain untouchable.
The story of UKLFI is the story of how lobby-driven lawfare can reshape a democracy: silencing dissent, protecting power, and criminalising solidarity.