In a landmark case, defendants on trial for conspiracy to commit criminal damage to the premises of a UK factory supplying military components to the Israeli army, during Israel’s assault on Gaza (‘Operation Cast Lead’), were finally acquitted. Their defence, that, by decommissioning the manufacture of arms components destined for Israel, they had acted lawfully to prevent war crimes, was upheld. The background to the case, to the police operation surrounding it, and its progress through the court is examined here.
See schNEWS video of the first day of the trial , < http://schnews.clearerchannel.org/snippetdecoms-day-one.flv>.
3.
See <www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Government/Communiques/2009/IDF_warns_Gaza_population_7-Jan-2009.htm>.
4.
Take, for example, the audio clip from Jenny Linnell of the International Solidarity Movement, <http://palsolidarity.org/2008/12/3740/ >.
5.
See the clip at <www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQWdXZ1_oQY >.
6.
Some of Sharyn Locke’s reports, used in the trial are at <www.youtube.com/watch?v=kh3FsU2gDCg> and <http://talestotell.wordpress.com/2009/01/16/14-mins-only/>.
7.
See <www.dsca.mil/PressReleases/36-b/2007/Israel_07-32.pdf >.
8.
See, for instance, <www.spectator.co.uk/melaniephillips/6117164/the-hellish-histrionics-ofhove-propaganda-court.thtml >. A transcript of the Judge’s summing up can be viewed on the Jewish Chronicle website, <www.thejc.com/35771/judge-bathurst-norman-full-summing >.
