High-profile figures including environmental activist Greta Thunberg, author Sally Rooney and musician Brian Eno have shown their support for Palestine Action - days before a High Court hearing determines the lawfulness of the group's ban.
The trio are among 130 people who have signed a letter to the court of appeal, with the following words: "We oppose genocide, we support Palestine Action".
Over 3,000 arrests have been made for supporting Palestine Action since last summer and the letter marks the first time writers and grassroots activists have joined forces to defy the ban, The Guardian reports.
The letter is signed by scholars from across the word including the UK, France, Argentina, Australia, Canada and the US.
One of the signatories is Peter Hallward, professor of modern European philosophy, at Kingston University, who said: “This absurd and contradictory situation clearly cannot last much longer. And if enough people are prepared to defy such an incoherent and unjustifiable law, then we may be able to persuade the government that it’s neither legitimate nor enforceable.”
In February, three High Court judges ruled the Home Secretary's ban on the group was unlawful but said the ban should remain in place until the appeal, which is due on Tuesday.
After the February ruling, the Met Police initially stated it would stop arresting people for supporting the proscribed organisation but has since gone on to resume making arrests.
Other high profile figures who have signed the letter to the court of appeal include writers Tariq Ali and China Miéville; musician Nadine Shah; Matt Black, founder of Ninja Tune records; queer theorist and philosopher Judith Butler; and the environmental campaigner Jonathon Porritt.
Porritt said: “If you ignore what is happening in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem, you put your own humanity on hold. If you fight for the rights of all Palestinians, by supporting Palestine Action, hope can be reborn.”
Thunberg was arrested in December for carrying a banner at a rally which read: "I support the Palestine Action prisoners. I oppose genocide." The placard referred to several Palestine Action supporters who were on hunger strike at the time in prison while awaiting their trials.
The letter has been published online by civil liberties campaign group Defend Our Juries. The signatories risk arrest in the same way protesters have been detained at rallies throughout the UK since last summer's ban.
Charles Secrett, who led the UK division of Friends of the Earth, said: “Orwell warned that the first step towards tyranny is the abuse and misuse of language by an authoritarian government. Labour’s perverted interpretation of the word ‘terrorist’ in designating Palestine Action and its supporters as terrorists is a case in point.
“It is a travesty of justice and freedom of expression to equate peaceful, placard-carrying people of conscience, like students and pensioners, with violent extremists from groups like Isis [Islamic State] and al-Qaida.”
Irish novelist Rooney, who has penned the books Normal People and Conversations with Friends, cancelled her attendance at a UK awards ceremony last year after stating on record that she would give proceeds from her works to support Palestine Action.
Rooney issued a statemented criticising the ban’s effect on freedom of expression, and described how her books could vanish from stores as a result of her support for the group.
Current Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said she agreed with the High Court’s ruling in February, calling the group’s ban “disproportionate”.
