The proscription of Palestine Action was sold to MPs and the media on the basis of a deliberate campaign of lies, fronted by Yvette Cooper, then Home Secretary, and Mark Rowley, Commissioner of the Metropolitan police. Both have deep commitment to Israel. Cooper is owned by the Israel lobby.
What is worse, they then attempted to reinforce these lies by fitting up young activists with false charges and corrupting all principles of justice in an effort to obtain false convictions. This was brought home to me most forcefully in examining thousands of pages of documents released to me by the Home Office as disclosure in the Scottish judicial review of the legality of the proscription of Palestine Action.
I am not allowed to reveal these thousands of pages to you, even though they have already been redacted, with large sections blacked out, and in some instances gisted, or given in precis, removing “sensitive” information.
But I shall reveal one single paragraph of one single document because I think it is overwhelmingly in the public interest to do so. It is an essential illustration of the appalling behaviour which our Israeli-controlled Establishment has been exhibiting throughout this attack on Palestine Action – an organisation which, I would remind you, is trying to prevent the provision of arms to a genocide.
That screenshot paragraph is from the Proscription Advisory Group, prepared by the Counter Terrorism Police, recommending proscription. It is part of a narrative they seek to build of an “escalating pattern of violence”. The claim is in essence that Palestine Action has moved from violence against property to violence against people.
The problem is, it is not true.
In the Filton trial the attempts to convict activists of violence against people – the aggravated burglary and violent disorder charges – all failed before a jury. There were twelve charges between aggravated burglary and violent disorder – and twelve acquittals. In the other incident referenced in the above paragraph – the Sandwich action – the charges of personal violence have all quietly been dropped.
So let us go through the extremely alarming list of serious charges involving violence that were given in that essential paragraph, from the internal Home Office documents arguing for proscription. And let us mark up the actual truth.
- Aggravated Burglary – no convictions
- Violent Disorder – no convictions
- Administering a Noxious Substance – no convictions
- Threats to Kill – no convictions
- Actual Bodily Harm – no convictions
- Grievous Bodily Harm – no convictions
- Participating in Activities of an Organised Crime Group – no convictions
The only footnote to this is that there is one single conviction of GBH, but the jury specifically found not guilty of intent, in relation to the melee that developed at Filton after the security guards attacked the activists.
This is an astonishing, lengthy list of fabrication – offences in which the jury found as a matter of fact against the Crown. Non-existent offences were listed by the Police to recommend the proscription.
The proscription was based on an entire litany of offences which never happened.
But much worse than this is the attempt to enforce convictions under false pretences in the Filton trial. The catalogue of how this was done is well known now.
Judge Johnson ruled that the defendants were not permitted to refer to their motives. He ruled that the jury may not be informed of their absolute right to acquit. He attempted to have the leading defence barrister, Rajiv Menon KC, prosecuted for contempt of court for informing the jury of their rights. He ruled that terms including “genocide” and “ethnic cleansing” may not be used in court. He ordered that the notebooks and other writings of the accused be redacted to withhold from the jury any information related to Elbit’s supply of weapons to Israel. He enforced the concealment from the jury of the nature of the weapons and equipment that had been damaged. He granted anonymity to senior Elbit staff and admitted their evidence without the defence being able to cross-examine. He ruled that the trial had not been prejudiced by the Secretary of State and the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police stating the offences as fact throughout national media. He allowed the release to the media of highly edited and selective prosecution video footage during the trial which gave a false impression of events. He permitted the admission of Metropolitan Police video evidence which they had given over to Elbit’s sole custody for an entire year. He ruled that the jury must not be told of his stated intention to consider adding terrorist aggravation to any convictions – which adds 150% to time served in jail.
That is an astonishing list of nefarious actions by Judge Johnson. Read it again. Many people will surely conclude, it is Judge Johnson who should be in jail.
Despite all of Johnson’s attempts to rig the trial, despite the state trying the defendants twice when it failed to achieve convictions the first time, the Crown failed to attain its convictions on Aggravated Burglary, Violent Disorder and GBH with Intent.
But my God, they tried. How they tried!
Yvette Cooper specifically relied on the specific police litany of lies in her article for the Observer to promote the proscription, where she wrote:
Palestine Action has claimed responsibility for – and promoted on its website – attacks that have seen those allegedly involved subsequently charged with violent disorder, grievous bodily harm with intent, actual bodily harm, criminal damage and aggravated burglary. Charges that include, in the assessment of the independent Crown Prosecution Service, a terrorism connection.
The “independent” Crown Prosecution Service is of course a joke, the independence of both the prosecutor and of judges like Johnson being a polite fiction of the British Establishment. The executive does not issue direct orders to judges like Johnson nor to the Director of Public Prosecutions. They don’t have to issue direct orders. Those people are only in their positions because they know what is expected of them.
The one thing they cannot reliably control is a jury, however much they may try to manipulate the information available to them. The charges in the Filton trial of aggravated burglary (which means going equipped with a weapon intending to use it against a person), of violent disorder and of GBH with Intent were always massive, politically motivated overcharging.
They were never likely to be got through a jury – given the total lack of evidence for them – no matter how much Judge Johnson attempted to manipulate the trial.
Yvette Cooper was prepared to disregard legal advice that her article would prejudice the trial, safe in the knowledge that Johnson would only ever bring contempt of court charges against the defence and not against the State.
Our hearing in the Scottish Court of Session tomorrow will hear our motion that the proscription in Scotland should be suspended pending the Scottish judicial review, because in the meantime hundreds of people are having their civil liberties restricted and facing possible arrest, and scores are facing charges for terrorist offences merely for exercising their right of free speech.
The UK government is opposing with a counter motion to sist (postpone) the entire Scottish judicial review until all English proceedings are concluded, including a probable eventual Supreme Court decision. Their key argument is that it is constitutionally undesirable for English and Scottish courts to reach opposing decisions in a matter of “national security”.
That Scottish courts should respect English decisions they present not as colonialism, but as “Comity”.
They state that the constitutional argument is so important that the Advocate General herself, Catherine Smith KC, will represent the UK government in person. Indeed this hearing was delayed by two weeks to fit her diary.
Their argument is of course disingenuous. They are not seeking to postpone the Scottish hearing, they are seeking to stop it altogether. If it is constitutionally unacceptable to reach a different decision from the English court, then what would be the point of a Scottish judicial review at any stage?
Furthermore they are entirely illogical because the status quo is that the government has lost to Palestine Action in England at the High Court. It is the government which is appealing there. So if they really believed in “comity” they would drop the government case in Scotland to achieve the same position as England!
Most of the argument we have submitted to court consists of analysis of the effects of the proscription and the impact of suspending it.
The government by contrast have not addressed the proscription at all. They are depending entirely on the constitutional argument that the court should not be hearing the case. But these exact arguments were already dismissed by the court at the permission stage. They do not become any more compelling just because a UK government minister is stating them.
Why is the government so confident it will win on the constitutional point and does not need to address the proscription?
I fear the appearance of the minister is evidence of an Establishment stitch-up. My hackles rise particularly at the remarkable fact that, while the permission hearing was livestreamed and in Court No 1, this much more important hearing is not being livestreamed and is relegated to court No 6, with a much smaller public gallery. If the case is, as the government itself states, of such constitutional importance that the minister must appear in person, why is it being hidden from the public gaze?
Unfortunately I can’t think of any answers to that question which are not deeply troubling.
We desperately need more money to continue this legal case. Each stage of hearing like this costs about £30,000 and the eventual judicial review will cost much more.
Again please contribute if you can but do not contribute if it causes you difficulty. If you know people who are able to afford to help and likely to be sympathetic, please do contact them and ask their assistance. We are trying to keep a lot of very good people out of prison.
You can donate through the link via Crowd Justice, which goes straight to the lawyers, or through this blog.
https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/scottish-challenge-to-proscription/
Alternatively by bank transfer:
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MURRAY CJ
Account number 3 2 1 5 0 9 6 2
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Bank address NatWest, PO Box 414, 38 Strand, London, WC2H 5JB
Or crypto:
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Judge Jeremy Johnson (recipient of a second-class degree at Oxford) represented MI6 at the inquest into the death of Princess Diana.
Later he got appointed to the Investigatory Powers Tribunal, which considers complaints against MI6, shortly after he got a knighthood.
Fox. Henhouse. UATW-MF!
As for the argument that it is “constitutionally undesirable” for English and Scottish courts to reach opposing decisions in a matter of “national security”, and leaving aside my rejection of the idea that Britain actually has a constitution, isn’t a constitution supposed to be something to with law? So law goes out of the window when the executive cites national security? Without even, say, an enabling instrument?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raul_Hilberg
As the Nazi regime developed over the years, the whole structure of decision-making was changed. At first there were laws. Then there were decrees implementing laws. Then a law was made saying, “There shall be no laws.” Then there were orders and directives that were written down, but still published in ministerial gazettes. Then there was government by announcement; orders appeared in newspapers. Then there were the quiet orders, the orders that were not published, that were within the bureaucracy, that were oral. Finally, there were no orders at all. Everybody knew what he had to do.[37]
Does this seem familiar?
Fear not, Craig, in the event the judgement in Scotland goes against ” you ” ( goes against Justice ) be assured…… just as soon as the moveable feast that is the Ritual Of The Telling The Jocks To Fuck Off ( the * submission * of a S30 farce ) has been completed for another few years and ” both sides ” ( of the same dirt-ingrained coin ) are satisfied with the result – that eponymous ” Fuck Off Jocks ” – Uriah Swinney & his Gay Lord Cavalier Battalion will come together to discuss the possibility of – at some point, maybe, creating a committee with the express aim of working out the best, most urgent, manner in which to find a pen with the requisite tint AND the right type of paper on which to write a strongly worded, eh……well…….word, condemning – or possibly praising ( that will depend on what Swinney’s instructions are ” from above ” ) the decision.
If that incredibly potent Word of Mass Distraction doesn’t have the desired, chilling effect, JS + GLCB will up the ante by threatening the Nuclear Option – and this doesn’t bear contemplation, so terrible are the potential consequences, yes, he/they/yon will ADD ANOTHER WORD to that initial salvo.
The World holds it’s breath
Catherine Smith is / was a spook (like mother like daughter). In her site biography for the John Smith Centre (for which she was Chair ‘till she stood aside when elevated to Advocate General) she describes herself as having worked “… internationally on conflict resolution and democracy building in the NGO sector, working particularly in the countries of the former Soviet Union.”. This is an amended blurb of the original which specifically made reference to working for “London based NGO Links”.
The curiosity here is that NGO Links wasn’t “London based”, it operated out of the University of Arizona and was effectively a political influencing outfit targeting Easter Europe, specifically in this case, the former Soviet Republics of Georgia. The true nature of this game is given away by tracking the funding of NGO Links. The largest financial backer of NGO Links was the US Government’s, National Science Foundation. Now why would an agency tasked with furthering scientific knowledge and research within the territorial boundaries of the United States be payrolling an operation pushing “Westernisation” in the Caucuses?
” Now why would an agency tasked with furthering scientific knowledge and research within the territorial boundaries of the United States be payrolling an operation pushing “Westernisation” in the Caucuses? “.
For the same reasons the CIA has several bases in Tellytubbyland East (* Ukraine ), ie to spread harmony in that volatile region and, specifically, to inculcate a deeper understanding of Russian concerns with a view to resolving present and avoiding future conflicts; just like those U.S Biolabs in the region are selflessly dedicated to improving the health – mental as well as physical – of those pacific, nurturing Sons & Daughters of St Stepan De Bandera – the National Hero/Saint of that God-blessed country. Obviously 🙂
*Any the Zelly-huggers here or elsewhere got a word to say about the deliberate targeting of a Girl’s College by the Forces Of The Light, resulting in the horrible deaths of young, innocent women? Any word, even one?
No, they’re no doubt waiting for the inevitable – and likely VERY SEVERE – response from the Russians to this disgusting attack before expressing any opprobrium., whilst failing to give the context for such retaliation, or even mentioning that aspect.
The ” most corrupt country in Europe “( still ),U.S of Zion Neocon savages + ridiculous EUK Clown Troupe are all going to get what they’ve been so avidly longing for – direct military confrontation with Russia. They won’t like what they get, though will all doubtless have insulated bunkers to retreat to if all explodes into unimaginable conflagration. Unlike the daft c***s here and elsewhere cheering the insanity on.
Maybe the latter can wear masks and socially distance; that should keep them safe , eh? Or, wait, I know, the altruists of Big Pharma will almost certainly develop a vaccine that protects against radiation and- knowing their incredible ingenuity – can even deflect the normally lethal shock waves from exploding nuclear bombs away from valuable individuals and onto, eg Muslims.
Robert Hughes
May 27, 2026 at 08:26
Well Robert.
For one thing, the UA deny attacking the school. Cui bono?
A second point, what possible advantage could Ukraine gain by attacking a school on its own territory?
A third point, even if some UA officers were evil and mad enough to attack and kill 6 children, the attack would pale into insignificance compared with the systematic barbarity of the Russian destruction of (to name but two). Mariupol and Bucha.
https://www.lbc.co.uk/article/mariupol-occupation-russia-ukraine-opinion-5HjdZJj_2/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bucha_massacre
I hope that is a fair response to your invitation for comment.
“A second point, what possible advantage could Ukraine gain by attacking a school on its own territory?”
JK redux
The above must surely be sarcasm – after the Neo-Nazi’s bombed schools, hospitals and civilian areas in the Donbas for eight years, (war crime in themselves) only when the Yanks couped Ukraine in 2014 – did the corporate Controlled Media stop penning articles on Neo-Nazism in Ukraine.
Republicofscotland
May 27, 2026 at 20:39
Given the singular emphasis given by the Russian regime to this murder of children – either by the UA or Russia – it is plausible that this is a false flag operation.
(Or even a mistake.)
But an attempt by the increasingly desperate Russian regime to build support at home and abroad is more likely.
Does anyone here doubt that Putin would sacrifice Ukrainian children to protect his regime?
Remember the staged apartment bombings??
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1999_Russian_apartment_bombings
@RoS. I stopped taking anyone trying to flog the Putin is Satan/Zelly is Churchill ” unprovoked aggression ” pish around two weeks into the SMO – now or soon to be an actual no-holds-barred War. I don’t even read comments by, eg JK on this issue. I’m so disgusted and gobsmacked by the absolute lockstep and all-pervading Anti-Russia, Pro-War narratives it’s just disappointing to find the same shite being spread here.
So if you’re reading this JK, don’t bother addressing me personally on this subject; I consider you and your ilk ” Useful ” Idiots and complicit – albeit in a minuscule way – for the path of lies, insanity and potential catastrophe we’re being led down by the worst collection of cartoonishly awful politician $ * leaders ever – certainly in the modern era
Robert Hughes
May 28, 2026 at 06:36
Robert, you did say:
“Any the Zelly-huggers here or elsewhere got a word to say about the deliberate targeting of a Girl’s College by the Forces Of The Light, resulting in the horrible deaths of young, innocent women? Any word, even one?”.
You shouldn’t complain if the answer isn’t to your liking.
Whoops Aocalypse? LOL
If it wasn’t so dreadful, it would ba hilarious. Dog help us all.
In the event, head for the centre of your nearest town or city. You DONT want to be in the 6-15 mile “frying tonight” zone).
Edinburgh boy Ludo explains;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GJttnC8PoA
But this was over 40 years ago, they (we) pay more now for higher ‘yield’ from the bombs.
A famous, intelligent man once said “…we must abolish nuclear weapns, before tey abolish us….”
What do you think happened to him?
“– it is plausible that this is a false flag operation.”
Like Bucha, eh? This is classic Dreyfus handwriting expert. All the deaths of civilians on the Ukranian side are deliberate attacks by Russia and all the Russian ones are false flags.
@ JK Redux, Pears Morgaine:
Starobelsk (where the college housing the undergraduate students was hit, resulting in the deaths of 21 mostly female students aged 18 to 21 years) is a town in Lugansk Oblast. Lugansk Oblast is one of the self-proclaimed People’s Republics that broke away from Kiev, in part over the law introduced in 2014 that only the Ukrainian language is to be used in public life, effectively outlawing the Russian language in a mostly Russian-speaking region.
Both Lugansk Oblast and Donetsk Oblast were subjected to ongoing harassment by Kiev from 2014 up to February 2022 through such methods as targeted assassination of their political and military leaders, resulting in the deaths of some 14,000 people in that roughly eight-year period. On the eve of Russia’s SMO, a 250,000-strong Ukrainian army was positioned along the 2014 ceasefire line to invade both oblasts.
Most of the young people killed did indeed have Ukrainian surnames (several ending in “-enko”, a typical Ukrainian surname ending).
They did it for a very simple reason: they hate the “separatists” and do not want them to live happily in Russia. The number of kids killed in Starobelsk is not 6 but 21. All names and photographs are already published.
The Bucha story is a total fake. On March 5th 2022, as the column of the 324th Guards Para Regiment was rolling in their APCs along Yablonskaya St, it was shelled by Ukrainian artillery, and some of the onlookers who crowded the sidewalks were killed by the fragments. The team of independent experts examined the bodies and found they were killed by flechettes coming from the Soviet 122 mm shells used in D30 horwitzers. However, Russian defense ministry denied they still use such shells and claimed that VSU still uses them. In any case, if any civilians got killed by artillery fire, this was an accident and not a war crime. This was a battle area, and both sides used artillery and aviation (Russian Su-25 and Su-34 bombed the glass factory area, Ukrainian Su-24 bombed the residential blocks nearby). The names of those killed in Bucha remain unpublished.
But, of course, being a Russophobic asshole, you’ll buy the Bucha story and deny anything that happened in Starobelsk.
” But, of course, being a Russophobic asshole, you’ll buy the Bucha story and deny anything that happened in Starobelsk ”
Exactly, Yuri. Still flogging the ” Bucha massacre ” propaganda automatically renders the person doing the flogging worthy only of being laughed at. I supposed the same person will tell you they communed with ” Ghost of Kiev “. HA!
Another reason the Ukraine/NATO filth targeted that Girls Dorm was simply as provocation; they, in their mentally/morally sick condition, thought the more outrageous the attack the more severe the Russian response, and when that response occurs they can start wailing about those barbarous Russians, backed-up by EVERY MSM/Political source in the West, with the hope/intention that will colour the public’s perception of the situation and make it easier to promote all-out war against Russia as a noble necessity: ’cause otherwise, well, y’know how it’s brave Ukraine that is holding back the barbarians from the Gates of Europe? if that supreme effort fails, Europe will be overrun by Orcs…blah blah fuckn blah ……Only idiots, children and people like JK could believe that utter pish
Yuri K
May 28, 2026 at 04:16
Not Russophobic. That would be foolish to hate (?) 100 million people.
Many of them decent people trying to live their lives without coming to the attention of the State.
And some brave Russian journalists and activists have paid with their lives for their opposition to the Putin regime.
As to assholes, we all have one. Using the names of body parts as abuse is kindergarten politics Yuri.
If you are Russian, you sound like a tankie Stalinist, not someone who would risk his life for his fellow Russians.
“Using the names of body parts as abuse is kindergarten politics Yuri.”
A bit like calling someone a “tankie Stalinist” then, n’est-ce pas?
Yuri was undoubtedly wrong to call you an arsehole, arseholes serve a useful and vital purpose and, looking back at your posting history, you fail that test miserably.
some of the onlookers who crowded the sidewalks were killed by the fragments.
From what warped conspiracy Facebook page did you get that tripe? Those people, all 458 including 18 children, had their hands tied behind their backs and were shot at close range. Plenty of photos online if you want to go look for them. I’ll lay odds you pride yourself in ‘dong your own research’ so go to it. Some people were killed by flechettes but that is a separate matter and despite denials they were fired by Russian artillery.
It’s not necessary to go far back in history for evidence of Russian false flags, the attack on Putin’s residence in December was clearly staged, nobody living nearby saw or heard anything and the only evidence presented was an image of some wreckage which could’ve come from anywhere. No CCTV footage although the place must’ve been covered from every angle.
As far as Starobelsk is concerned Ukraine had nothing to gain and much to lose. Russia on the other has gained useful propaganda internationally and something to use on the domestic front to try and reverse flagging support for the war.
Cui bono.
It’s also a mystery as to why Russia’s air defence system, which we’re assured is the best in the world, didn’t intercept these drones or at least give warning so the victims could get to shelter. The area is home to the elite Rubicon drone unit so ought to have had enhanced protection.
It was of course the Rubicon that Ukraine was targeting, if the dormitory was hit by mistake or because of Russian counter measures then “this was an accident and not a war crime.” so everything’s OK…
I can’t confirm it but there are claims that those killed all have Ukrainian names. I wouldn’t like to think that Russia was using some of the 20,000 Ukrainian children it illegally kidnapped as human shields.
“Pears Morgaine”…..
As we say in Scotchland… “that right, aye”?
But you wouldn’t know.
“and were shot at close range.”
But by whom? As you say, cui bono? As far as Bucha was concerned Russia had nothing to gain and much to lose. Ukraine on the other gained useful propaganda internationally and something to use on the domestic front to try and reverse flagging support for the war. Goose – gander.
As far as Bucha was concerned Russia had nothing to gain and much to lose.
Fair comment but the bodies were recorded by reconnaissance satellites before Ukraine re-took the town.
“Fair comment but the bodies were recorded by reconnaissance satellites before Ukraine re-took the town.”
Pictures or it didn’t happen.
“It’s also a mystery as to why Russia’s air defence system, which we’re assured is the best in the world, didn’t intercept these drones or at least give warning so the victims could get to shelter.”
Only to you, not to CNN, who have been crowing about how the new Palantir-based control systems enable the drones to do just that.
Worth adding for the sake of those who don’t already know that Catherine Smith is the daughter of John Smith, former Labour Party leader.
What is it with leaders of the Labour party and offspring in MI6? Thinking of Stephen Kinnock.
Euan Blair has done well for himself too – worth at least a third of a billion £, and that’s just on the books.
It isn’t a lobby, it’s a proxy. British politicians are not beholden to “Israel” they are beholden to American Caesar who used the zionazis as a Brownshirt militia who frighten careerists and brown noses with the threa of promiscuous allegations of antisemitism, it’s the real version of the Voigt-Kampff test. Fail it and you’re little people.
You think the literal brownshirts of Zionism were agents of the US government?? Was the US government behind the Montefiores, Rothschilds, and Herzl, and if they weren’t then what was the story of how and when they took over Zionism? (We can presumably agree that Zionism is an organisation?)
I mean, objectively Zionism is both an American thing and a Christian thing. There are 15 million Jews on the planet, of which about 80ish percent are Zionist. There are 50 million fundamental Christians in the US alone that are Zionists (for even more bizarre reasons than the Jews). Zionism is just Colonialism with a tiny hat, it’s the same as Manifest Destiny or whatever the Conquistadors pushed when eradicating the S.Americas. Isreal only exists because it suits the financial interests of a tiny group of Plutocrats and Oliogarchs, the same group that control the combined western security apparatus and the NATO vasal states via their employee in the Whitehouse. People just get confused because they’ve bought into the basic propaganda that we were ever a democracy and that the branch managers we “elect” actually have any power.
@Dean – “objectively Zionism is both an American thing and a Christian thing.”
I thought Zionism came from Europe and was Jewish.
Agreed the ideology is similar to Manifest Destiny, and also that it is colonialist. The “mother country” is not the USA though. It’s not any geographically-based country in fact. It’s something else.
Have you read Yuval Noah Harari’s book “Sapiens”? Most of the middle class (and upwards) in the Occupation know this book. It’s not really principally about the emergence and dominion of the supposedly intellectually superior and “destined to win” homo sapiens species of hominids.
As for Christianity, sure, there are powerful Christian nutters in the USA who love the Occupation and who would dance in the streets on the day a red heifer is sacrificed. Christianity has the huge weakness of trying to bring together a universalist God and a tribal god personifying the interests of a very small ethnic group, with vile stories of him helping them wipe out their enemies and victims, etc. Another religion than Christianity plays more of a role in relation to Zionism.
It has been supported by a lot of Christians true but in a relatively minor way. Those actively pushing Jewish supremacism and supposed rights to a large chunk of West Asia, and doing the military atrocities and actual support work seem to be Jewish. See David Miller’s work tracking this.
Typo frenzy
It isn’t a lobby, it’s a proxy. British politicians are not beholden to “Israel” they are beholden to American Caesar who uses the zionazis as a Brownshirt militia who frightens careerists and brown noses with the threat of promiscuous allegations of antisemitism, it’s the real version of the Voigt-Kampff test. Fail it and you’re little people.
One of the main people pushing the idea that the Occupation regime is a tool of the USA has been Noam Chomsky, friend of Jeffrey Epstein.
This idea is very useful, partly because it ties in with opposition to BDS.
No, it encourages BDS towards the USA too, being a colony of the United States doesn’t absolve either Israel nor the United States. Anti-semetic tropes about groups of nefarious Rabbis in darkened rooms absolves both.
That Rabbi straw man will definitely stop people from mentioning that the Israel lobby owns virtually every British cabinet member and bankrolls virtually every congressional and presidential campaign in the US; that Trump was best friends for 15 years with Israel’s premier blackmail op and so on. Oh no, by mentioning those realities did I actually say something about nefarious Rabbis in darkened rooms!? I must be a terrible antisemite, so I won’t ever mention it again. ks, Dean.
spot on. these are facts, antisemitism is a worn out red herring.
@Dean – What’s your best example of how the idea that the Occupation regime is a tool of the USA has encouraged BDS towards both the Occupation and the USA?
Chomsky is on record as opposing BDS against the Occupation. Never heard of him encouraging it against the USA either.
BDS isn’t everything, but I cannot take someone seriously who says they oppose Zionism but who also opposes BDS.
Judge Jeremy MI6 Johnson has a lot on his record, but these two points stood out:
⬤ “He (admitted evidence from senior Elbit staff) without the defence being able to cross-examine.”
What’s the point of having a trial if the defence can’t test prosecution evidence? Are senior Elbit staff God almighty? Oh wait.
⬤ “He permitted the admission of Metropolitan Police video evidence which they had given over to Elbit’s sole custody for an entire year.”
What’s the point of the host country having its own police force? Why not let the Community Security Trust (or maybe Marks and Spencer) keep charge of all the “evidence” and handle all the judicial preparations?
Johnson’s crimes (which would have been thought outrageous perhaps even only 10 years ago) are reminiscent of when judge Mark Lucraft
⬤ thuggishly threatened defendant Mark Gordon with a year in prison awaiting a retrial if he didn’t give up his right to a fair trial after a previous conviction was disclosed in court.
Think you’re in the wrong place if trying to provoke clearly obvious antisemitism.
Those alleged criminal offences … the desperate practice of stacking the charge sheet – not to mention the sentencing for terrorism without prosecution (ECHR Article 6, right?). There has to be enough in Johnson’s nefariousness list to establish a mis-trial, surely – the challenge is getting the review to a judicial arena some remove from Establishment reach where Darwinian survival of the venal would choke itself.
Your exposition of the argumentation here is sound, Craig. It might be precisely because the authorities don’t want their scant case and AG humiliation live-streamed nationwide that you’re ex-communicado in Court 6 ;).
Go do some independent reading on the Locherby trial. It was such a clear stitch up that not even the family members of victims believe it. It is still the official story today though, decades later.
Locherbie … involving admissions of ‘guilt’, false confessions and shady intelligence operators amongst the main players, wasn’t it ? Not really comparable with Pal Action, frankly.
Good Afternoon Moderator.
Would it be OK to post a poem on this thread ? It does not directly reference the Judicial Review or Palestine but it does have a tangential relationship to the current geo-political situation (in my opinion, at least culturally). This is probably a bit vague but I wouldn’t want to post the whole thing and then it be removed. If the answer is no, I well understand. Thanks for your consideration in this matter.
—
[ Mod: It’s probably not a good idea at this early stage, as it may distract attention away from the legal manipulations highlighted by Craig in the article above, which are still ongoing in Edinburgh at the moment.
There are more appropriate places you could post it, though. Where depends on its content. There are recent threads on the influence of Zionism in UK government and law (Zionism Has Poisoned the UK’s Central Nervous System), opposition to US influence in Venezuela (An Inspiring Story), and the Iran War (The Strait of Hormuz).
Alternatively, you could post it in the Discussion forum on a thread of your choice or creation. ]
Thank you Moderator.
I will check this out.
“Judge Johnson ruled that the defendants were not permitted to refer to their motives. He ruled that the jury may not be informed of their absolute right to acquit. He attempted to have the leading defence barrister, Rajiv Menon KC, prosecuted for contempt of court for informing the jury of their rights. He ruled that terms including “genocide” and “ethnic cleansing” may not be used in court. He ordered that the notebooks and other writings of the accused be redacted to withhold from the jury any information related to Elbit’s supply of weapons to Israel. He enforced the concealment from the jury of the nature of the weapons and equipment that had been damaged. He granted anonymity to senior Elbit staff and admitted their evidence without the defence being able to cross-examine. He ruled that the trial had not been prejudiced by the Secretary of State and the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police stating the offences as fact throughout national media. He allowed the release to the media of highly edited and selective prosecution video footage during the trial which gave a false impression of events. He permitted the admission of Metropolitan Police video evidence which they had given over to Elbit’s sole custody for an entire year. He ruled that the jury must not be told of his stated intention to consider adding terrorist aggravation to any convictions – which adds 150% to time served in jail.”
And I thought Scotland’s colonial COPFS and Judiciary were the most corrupt of them all – How Johnson got away with that is unbelievable – my only surprise is that they didn’t rig the jury – but they’ll learn from that and rig it next time.
So many governments and politicians in Israel’s pocket, either paid for or blackmailed – many via Epstein.
I suspect that they did engineer the jury …
Police officers can serve as jurors in England…
“Their key argument is that it is constitutionally undesirable for English and Scottish courts to reach opposing decisions in a matter of “national security”.
If that’s so, then surely they should lose, on the grounds that all cases are, or should be, judged solely on the basis of the law, established legal precedents, and the proven facts of the case.
I was curious on reading at the Filton trial the use of the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act for charging purposes, highlighted in the screenshot paragraph here. This is an Act that has been going for 150 years.
Getting hard data on the use of the 1861 Act in modern times is like getting blood from a stone but it seems that it has actually increased over the last twenty – five years for s18, Wounding or causing GBH with intent, s20, Inflicting GBH / unlawful wounding and s47 Assault occasioning actual bodily harm (ABH) .
My AI summary says: “by 2010–2022, s.18, s.20 and s.47 are being used at far higher volumes, in a more structured, stratified way, and within a much larger violence against the person caseload than in 1950–2000”.
Be that as it may, but to dredge up laws relating to “offences against the person” to justify proscription of Palestine Action which has focused particularly on property and particular property at that, raises suspicions that the fracas at the Filton factory was deliberately contrived to enable the CPS to introduce these offences against the person which carry much severer sentences than it would otherwise. And of course to add grist to the proscription mill.
The British State of course has lots of form on this kind of thing, like the Framework Act of 1812, which made the activities of the Luddites, desperately trying to stave off starvation from losing their means of subsistence, a capital offence.
The rulers were terrified of the Luddites. There may be a lesson there.
The North of England had a lot of radical struggle in its past history, before the rise of King Andy the Brylcreem Boy with His Personal Adviser on the Nightlife Economy.
So did the USA, for example with the IWW, which has gotta be in the running for the greatest organisation in the entire history of the working class.
Declassified has similar article on this – and it looks like private arms firms will exaggerate damage to their wares to trigger a terrorism act.
“What emerges from this timeline is that the authorities may have developed a new way of interpreting the threshold for “terrorism” – based on the “serious damage to property” limb of the Terrorism Act – and retroactively applied it to the Thales case.
That the authorities may have modified their interpretation of what constitutes “terrorism” raises serious concerns in and of itself, particularly given there has been no parliamentary or public consultation on the matter.
If any reinterpretation of the threshold for “terrorism” occurred after the Filton incident, this would raise concerns about ex post facto modifications of how the law is administered.
In other words, in light of the absence of any legal precedent, it would not have been possible for the defendants to know that the incident could be treated as terrorism at the time that it took place.”
https://www.declassifieduk.org/revealed-how-britain-weaponised-terrorism-laws-against-activists/
@Republicofscotland, and Declassified UK also reported that a similar abuse of legal process was going on in Germany (where Basic Law is closest to their Constitution, I gather). This presumably should add to public pressure in both jurisdictions for constitutional reform. Post-WW2 institutions cannot last forever, and the British Royal prerogatives are even further out of step.
Yip, that’s right – I think this is the article in question.
https://www.declassifieduk.org/uk-citizens-subjected-to-show-trial-in-germany-lawyers-say/
“That the authorities may have modified their interpretation of what constitutes “terrorism” raises serious concerns in and of itself, particularly given there has been no parliamentary or public consultation on the matter.”
and particularly since it appears that the definition of “terrorism” is no longer exclusive to the use of terror. You can be a terrorist without having terrorised anyone.
In the past I joined some of the protests at the UAV Engines Factory at Shenstone, near Lichfield, an Elbit compay. The demonstrators were committed but peaceful. The worst that happened was a few protestors climbed on the roof – different names, different kitbags. I even gave my support at Cannock Magistrates Court on behalf of the “Elbit Nine”
It disturbed me then and disturbs me now that freedom to protest against government-sponsored acts of terror is being compromised. The evil of drones has been demonstrated by last weeks triple drone attack on a college dormitory in Starobelsk killing 21 young people (17 girls) with their whole lives in front of them murdered while they slept.
https://www.facebook.com/john.gossip/posts/pfbid02MguCa8TxTestMXfzvVYEpNSBE1hkYscUsvN7tDfPRoiuZUHVMrCZ6mYxz7swxLtCl?
There is an illuminating report on today’s court proceedings in the National.
https://archive.is/GDeW0
Craig is concerned that Lord Young may be walking back his previous criticisms of the UKG’s case.
What is going on is something of a Stockholm-syndrome where european state- and media authorities in the West sympathize with a foreign regime and it’s genocidal war – over their own citizens. Citizens that organize and mere protest a Genocide – of another state (not even their own!) – is to be crushed and citizens that is kidnapped on international water by israel – get no support whatsoever. Truly mind boggling.
So much endless talk about “russian-interefence” and “russia-collusion” past years – meanwhile state authorities and media turn silent on the real, actual israeli collusion that goes on, right in the open.
Same treachery goes on among the arab leaders, so when israel massacre and senselessly bomb the whole of Lebanon – killing thousands of lebanese, it is not israel’s fault that lebanese children are dying, no, according to the pathetic PM of Lebanon, it is because Hezbollah use children as human shields. Again evidence of the Stockholm-syndrome.
https://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/320349-aoun-in-al-adha-message-do-not-sacrifice-our-children-or-waste-their-blood
And how dumb are these leaders? Hezbollah could de-militarize tomorrow but israel will nevertheless find another excuse to continue to wage the war and occupy more lebanese territory.
In a way,, what is going on today in Lebanon is almost like a re-run of the “Sabra and Shatila” but on a grand scale, where the lebanese gov. let israel move in and massacre for sectarian and political gain.