In the UK’s latest political prosecution, a woman has been acquitted of thought crime after she expressed support for Palestinians. Natalie Strecker - an academic and former human rights monitor in Palestine - was prosecuted by Jersey Police following accusations that she had invited support for Hamas and Hezbollah.
Given the wave of similar prosecutions across the UK, this does not appear to be an isolated error, but rather a systematic attempt to stifle support for Palestinians.
Strecker has been involved with the Jersey Palestine Solidarity Campaign for many years. She made the comments “support the resistance”, “solidarity with the resistance” and “long live the resistance” on Twitter and TikTok. This prompted Jersey police to trawl through thousands of her social media posts, and despite not finding a single expression of support for a proscribed group, they decided Strecker must support Hamas and Hezbollah and therefore be a terrorist.
Police charged Strecker with two offences under the Terrorism Law 2002, even though she had posted “I don’t support Hamas” and “this is a call for non-violent action”. In other words, you can now be prosecuted if police decide you secretly meant the opposite of what you actually said.
Here is what we are dealing with: someone in the police (or government or a group like the CAA) dislikes an opinion you shared online, therefore, they scrutinise everything you’ve ever posted to see if they can use something against you. How is this possibly a proper use of police resources? It’s even worse when you consider they didn’t find anything incriminating, but went ahead with the prosecution anyway.
I would strongly advise anyone in the UK to use social media tools that delete old posts because you can and will be prosecuted for a single comment that you made a long time ago that you immediately forgot about.
In Strecker’s case, the judge was satisfied that she was motivated by peace and did not support illegal acts of violence. Presumably, this was because she is an avowed pacifist who explicitly called for “non-violent action”!
The prosecution argued in court that it is an offence under the Terrorism Law 2002 to say Palestinians have a right to resistance under international law. We’re not talking about Hamas here, the judge specifically asked them if, for example, it would be illegal to tell an international law class that Palestinians have a right to resistance and the prosecution insisted it was, arguing “Resistance is synonymous with Hamas and Hezbollah”.
It appears the prosecution feels Palestinians have no right to self-defence, even during a genocide - that would be a racist, genocidal position. We can only assume it is the private position of the UK government because one of its senior lawyers, Alison Morgan KC, was involved in the prosecution.
If convicted of saying naughty things on social media, Strecker could have faced ten years in prison under Jersey law. In other words, the government wanted to take a mother away from her young children for expressing opinions it dislikes. Sinister isn’t the word.
Strecker issued the following statement outside court after her acquittal:
I, Natalie Strecker, following one of the worst and most stressful years of my life, have finally been vindicated of the charges of inviting support for a proscribed organisation. I am grateful to the court and the jurats, for their deliberations and correctly concluding that, despite maybe clumsy wording on occasion, I never intended to invite support for any of the groups cited. I also thank them for the respect and fellow feeling they demonstrated to me throughout the proceedings.
I would like to take the opportunity to thank my incredible legal team, Mark and Tim for their assistance during this difficult time, I could not have asked for better representation. I also thank all of my friends, who have faithfully supported me during these difficult days, I love you all. I thank, too, all those in our community who have offered support and words of encouragement throughout this journey, it has meant everything. To my much loved husband, my mother-in-law, and family, I am so very sorry that you had to be put through this, and I am eternally grateful for your love and support.
This has personally been an incredibly traumatic and dehumanising time, compounded by old wounds triggered by the manner in which I was arrested. I am a care survivor, a survivor of abuse, because of the failings of our government and institutions as a child.
I walk out of court today with my head held high and in the knowledge that it was my character that was put on trial, and I won.
However, the Palestinian people, the most dehumanised community on our planet, continue to be subjected to genocide, apartheid and the most brutal ethnic cleansing. It is a stain on our collective conscience, and I implore islanders to keep doing all they can to bring it to an end, alongside working to end all the other genocides taking place, such as those in Sudan and the Congo.
As for myself, I remain committed to the struggle for a kinder, fairer world, in which the right to freedom, justice, equality and a life of dignity are guaranteed for all in our human family.
Thank you and free Palestine.
You would think the lack of evidence against Strecker would be enough for the judge to be scathing towards the police, but bizarrely, he said they were right to press charges. I suspect this was to avoid upsetting the politicians who want such court action to have a chilling effect. Even though Strecker was found not guilty, no one would want to go through the stress of a terror-related trial. In Strecker’s case, her home was invaded by six armed police officers who seized all of her devices and even watched her pee. It does not matter that Strecker was acquitted, she has been punished regardless.
The British state is trying to crush any support for Palestinian resistance. As most of my readers will be aware, resistance comes in many forms and ultimately means standing up to Israel’s illegal occupation and calling for the liberation of an oppressed people who are victims of genocide. It does not mean supporting terrorism or war crimes or the actions of proscribed groups, and the fact police/government acted as though it does, speaks volumes about their attitudes towards Palestinians. They see Palestinians, and anyone who thinks they are human, as the enemy.
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This is a campaign of terror to suppress the right to protest in all its forms. I am reminded of the Palestinian doctor, here in the UK, who has been suspended by the GMC for social media comments. They want us all to be so afraid that we dare not stand up, or say anything.
I cannot understand anyone who still supports this Labour party. They have allowed this to happen, actively encouraged it, talk proudly of the horror they are inflicting on their own citizens. They are part of a sticky oozing evil that has taken over our society. It reaches everywhere and no where is safe anymore.
If the judge, even while acquitting, claims that the police were right to bring the case ( i.e regardless of an absence of any evidence, to appease the government), then we are well onto step 2, the elimination of jury trials. I am glad for Natalie Strecker that she slipped through the door before it closed, but her trial highlights what lies ahead. Justice is breathing its last.