The Good Law Project has threatened legal action against the UK government over its encouragement of schools and colleges in England to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance working definition of antisemitism. The recommendation forms part of a wider package of reforms following a review of antisemitism in education.
That review called for schools and colleges to treat antisemitism as a distinct category of harm. It found that one in five students overall reported having witnessed antisemitism. Many incidents were not reported by students or teachers because they lacked confidence that those incidents would receive an appropriate response.
The Good Law Project said it wrote to the government on Monday after discussions with Palestinian parents and students, as well as academics. Its letter outlined potential grounds for a legal challenge and requested further information about the policy. The organization said its decision on whether to proceed with a lawsuit would depend on the government's response.
The organization argued that schools have obligations to protect freedom of expression and avoid promoting partisan political views. It claimed the IHRA definition would prohibit criticism of Israel and questioned whether students whose relatives had been killed in Gaza could describe Israel as racist or compare its actions with the Holocaust. Those objections form part of its challenge to the government's recommendation.
Separately, the Good Law Project has expressed support for Palestine Action, whose appeal against its proscription is scheduled to be heard by the UK Supreme Court on November 4 and 5. The government designated the group a terrorist organization in July 2025, after activists entered RAF Brize Norton the previous month and spray-painted two military aircraft. Membership, inviting support and expressing support for the group are criminal offenses under the ban.
The High Court found the proscription disproportionate in February 2026. The Court of Appeal reversed that decision in June, finding the ban lawful. A co-founder of Palestine Action subsequently obtained permission to take the case to the Supreme Court.
The Jewish Leadership Council and Community Security Trust have received permission to intervene jointly in that appeal. In a submission on Monday, they argued that the Jewish community was particularly vulnerable to Palestine Action's violence. They said the group's targets before its proscription had expanded to include Jewish charities and Jewish-owned businesses in predominantly Jewish areas.
The two organizations supported the Court of Appeal's assessment that Palestine Action was a violent organization involved in terrorism whose activities and targets had become more serious and extensive. They argued that, because most British Jews and Jewish institutions have ties to Israel, targeting institutions activists regard as complicit with Israel threatens the mainstream Jewish community. Removing the ban, they said, would cause that community serious harm.
