"The Law is a ass"

Following a Brighton judge's recent direction to a jury to acquit activists who caused £200,000 criminal damage to an arms factory (EDO MBM Technology) on the basis that they believed the components were intended for Israel, I feel more and more that this is how it must have been for the Jews in pre-war Germany. Criminal behaviour now has a sustainable defence - if it is directed against the Jewish state, or even if there is a reasonable belief that this is the case.



This is not far from justifying attacks on British Jews, based on the reasonable belief that they might just possibly be supporters of Israel. British law is based on precedent - and the Brighton judge (Judge George Bathurst-Norman, born in Palestine and fetched from retirement specifically to judge this case) has indeed set a precedent.


When I see the coverage of the Middle East in the British media, I have no doubt why this is so. A continuous montage of half-truths and downright lies, bias and hate spews at us from the TV screens daily - where Israel is concerned. If you think this is exaggerated, that is because one becomes inured to it - like the steady drip of a tap one no longer hears.
Fortunately, I occasionally get relief from this (uniquely British?) phenomenon by travelling to France. Take, for example, last night's discussion on France 24, the French TV news channel, about the Gaza flotilla and the violence on the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara. The continuous backdrop to this discussion was a video of IDF soldiers getting beaten with metal rods and bars, as well as knives.

If there was any doubt in the viewers' minds, the pictures were captioned accurately. I do not recall any British TV station broadcasting such material, which throws a competely different light on this tragic episode to what we have been told in the UK.

Peace activist on board the MaviMarmara

But the Brighton judgement, if left unchallenged, marks a new low - even for Britain.