Britain’s Green MP today declared her support for seven acquitted campaigners who caused £180,000 damage to an arms factory, backing their direct action.
Caroline Lucas, the MP for Brighton Pavilion, said she was “absolutely delighted” that the activists had been cleared, after successfully arguing they were seeking to stop Israeli war crimes.
[…]
Outside the courthouse, Lucas said :”I am absolutely delighted the jury has recognised that the actions of the decommissioners were a legitimate response to the atrocities being committed in Gaza. I do not advocate non-violent direct action lightly. However, in this situation it is clear the decommissioners had exhausted all democratic avenues and, crucially, that their actions were driven by the responsibility to prevent further suffering in Gaza.”
It’s not as though the “disarming of Jews” has any historical precedent, or anything.
It is a mix of people who are ignorant to history and ones who wish to repeat it that allow this crap to happen.
An irresponsible leap of logic, regarding anti-semitism and environmentalism, Kate.
Shame on you.
True Blue,
Read the headline again.
True blue
In USA they call loons like you RINO’s.
Well, that’s it then. I’m heading to the UK!
I intend to start robbing all the Jewish shops in Golders Green and Hatch End.
My defence if I’m caught? The less money in Jewish hands, the less money to fund Israeli oppression in Gaza.
What ought to be more concerning is that people can be ostensibly allowed to break into private property and wreck up the place using whatever fancifully contrived excuse for whatever idiotic cause they might support. So long as it’s a leftist cause of course. If anyone is a lawyer, to what extent does Lawful Excuse go in this case? I just find it disturbing that it is extended to whatever today’s cause celebre is.
Yet another story out of the UK showing that nation in an advanced state of social and moral decay. Further, only in the mind of a leftist can actions causing £180,000 of damage be described as “non-violent”.
Sad.
I am not a lawyer with standing but I do have an opinion.
Trial by Judge and Jury is exactly that…..a judge may set aside a jury decision if he/she decides that either of the counsel did not prove their case…..based upon the evidence.
Lawful Excuse may have precedent but it is not in any statute…it’s very much a shades of grey thing.
Based upon evidence this this was a political verdict which should be set aside on appeal.
“had exhausted all democratic avenues”- Does that means any party who loses an election is allowed to over throw the winning party? Oh wait, that’s already been tried in Canada.
The Crown better appeal the decision, otherwise this is a call to all fringe elements to wreck havoc upon England.
Just as scary, the fact that a jury agreed with the defense, how screwed up are the citizens of that country? (Did they import the jury from the Centre of the Universe perhaps?)
True blue conservative, there’s no leap in logic, it’s a Green Party MP advocating vandalism and destruction so long as it’s justified by being anti-Israeli.
Read, think, then comment.
I’m sure if they had done the same in protest of Hamas, they would not have been acquitted.
That’s the key point – Do we live in a society that is democratic and yet, declares that if we have ‘exhausted all democratic avenues’, then we can legally move to violent action?
Therefore, if the courts say: ‘No, you cannot vandalize and destroy X-factory because you, personally, do not agree with their products’..then, does this mean that you can go ahead and do it anyway..legally?
Why bother with the democratic system in the first place? It’s time consuming and prevents you from doing..what you decide is ‘right’.
By the way, is this same group going to tackle the arms shipments that go to Hamas? Fair is fair, and these leftist types self-define themselves as ‘all about social justice’.
The Rule of Law has died in England. Once the foremost Empire of the world, it now yearns instead to become a Third World country.
That’s what you get when you have a popular political party identified by a colour symbolizing faith in good feelings from worshipping the Goddess of the Earth. This is a faith-based nullity Party to be infilled with PC leftist causes at the whim of whomever is in charge. While most Green supporters are superficially intellectual, peaceful and happily untroubled with reason, the “movement” includes an activist element more violent, devious and dangerous than any non governmental non criminal organization. These faith-driven ENGOs, their proxies and their well financed outreach programmes have much in common with the Jihadists. The direct result, probably unintentionally causal, of the US Green jihad severely limiting access to energy over the last 40 years has no doubt funded the Islamic Jihad. One faith-based movement engaged in the anti-industrial revolution dovetailing nicely with a faith-based struggle to drag civilization back to a seventh Century Theocracy. A marriage made in Heaven or Hell?
Talk about your small dead animals.
400 Park Geese Die, for Human Fliers’ Sake
These are not just any geese – these are Canada Geese, and they are being killed by the merkins. 400 of them – with CO2!
Where is Greenpeace, Pembina Institute, PETA, Sierra Club, etc?
I went to Wikimedia and read the info on the “crystal night”.They wrote extensively on the night and its after math caused by the NAZI’s.Never once did they print National Socialist party which was shortened to Nazi.I wonder if their reason was to try and distance socialism from its not so nice history.
I haven’t had time to read all the comments, so maybe this has already been mentioned:
The judge, in his instruction to the jury, had opined that it would have been absolute hell living in Gaza during the Israeli attack. Translation: Wink, wink, nudge, nudge.
Vis-a-vis the UK rule of law, remember too, its claim of universal jurisdiction (a monstrosity) and also its libel tourism, allowing rich Arab Islamists to sue, say, a NYC writer for a book not even published in the UK. Yunno, a copy may arrive on its shores.
“The judge, in his instruction to the jury…”
Fine line that, between instructions and “jury tampering”.
Indeed, Skip.
I’m on-again-off-again (dry stuff), reading Lysander Spooner. He argued that there should be no judge instructions; that juries “should judge the justice of the laws”; that juries should decide on the punishment; that the Magna Carta did not provide for any other trial than by jury.
@spike 1 – that’s a damn good question. Why indeed does anyone use this artifical sepration of Fascism and socialism? They are one and the same thing. Let’s drop this useless term Fascism altogether. From Wikipedia:
Fascists believe that a nation is an organic community that requires strong leadership, singular collective identity, and the will and ability to commit violence and wage war in order to keep the nation strong.
“Sussex police said that, while they respected the decision of the court, 20 people had been convicted following four demonstrations against the US-owned firm over the past two years.”
US owned firm? Gee, I wonder if this might be some subtle nudge to Barry that the BP think might be going a little too far?
Of course, that would imply at least one functional neuron between the judge and 10 Downing St. Such an assumption may not be warranted at this time, given they left Michael Savage on the “banned from Britain” list.
JJM
That could be prophetic. If the UK government decide to freeze all Israeli funds with that excuse.
Than they would start on their own communities. Individual by individual. Remember the Japanese here.
We taught the Americans that larceny. As we did in WW1 with Germans & others.
Never forget the first Concentration camps in the boar war where English with the RCMP as guards.
JMO
“Direct action” is an anti-concept; the correct term is “violence”.
Colin: “only in the mind of a leftist can actions causing £180,000 of damage be described as ‘non-violent'”
You should have seen the comments of some of the G20 Black Bloc vandals in Toronto. They were not much different.
The fundamental moral principle of a civilized society is that no person has the right to initiate the use of force or fraud on any other person. A person may opine otherwise and be protected by freedom of speech, but once they start acting on their beliefs, the proper phrase to describe them is “criminally insane”.
Has anybody in the media correctly identified the Black Bloc as an “extreme left hate group” yet?
An arms factory that did not have overnight security!
They should have been punished, with real community service, so that maybe they could see the difference from the one they thought they were doing.
But I mean really? Really? Are we really that upset about it? Did anyone die? Was that attack on Gaza not tragic and bound to incite a crime of passion from some confused person or another.