Anti-Zionist activist cleared of inviting support for Hamas after October 7
Tony Greenstein from Brighton, was charged with one count of inviting support for a proscribed terrorist organisation
A Jewish anti-Zionist activist has been cleared of inviting support for Hamas after the October 7 attacks.
Tony Greenstein, 72, of Brighton, was charged with one count of inviting support for a proscribed terrorist organisation relating to three posts he made on October 7 2023, after the Hamas-led attack on Israel.
Greenstein described Gaza as a “human prison” and told Kingston Crown Court that while he believed the attack was “justified”, he does not support Hamas.
He said: “When a colonial power holds another people down, they have the right to resist.”
On Friday afternoon, a jury of five women and seven men found Greenstein not guilty after two hours 11 minutes of deliberation.
Greenstein grinned and looked visibly emotional as the verdict was read out, and supporters in the public gallery gasped excitedly.
Giving evidence to the court on Thursday, Greenstein said Palestinians had been “locked up” for 57 years and accused the judge of “turning a blind eye to genocide”.
“It was a cage in which people lived.
“Imagine you could not escape 25 miles north of here and five miles wide, and imagine having to live there and not being allowed out,” he said.
On multiple occasions during his evidence, Judge Sarah Plaschkes KC halted proceedings to ask Greenstein to stop talking about the history of Israel and Palestine.
Greenstein said to the judge: “That’s the problem with the ruling class in this country, they turn a blind eye to genocide.”
Judge Plaschkes warned Greenstein about treating the trial as a “political forum” and said the jury was “not concerned with events in the Middle East”.
In the social media posts, Greenstein wrote the line: “Please share. Full support for the Gaza ghetto uprising,” the court heard
Jurors were told the posts had links to a blog, which included the line: “The time to fight is now. Whatever criticisms one can make of Hamas, we should congratulate them on this well planned and audacious attack on the Zionist enemy.”
Greenstein, whose father was an Orthodox Jewish Rabbi, argued “congratulating” Hamas was a figure of speech, and called the prosecution’s assertion “absurd”.
He had also written extensively about disagreeing with Hamas in his blog which has more than 3,500 posts, the court heard.
Titles of pieces Greenstein had published included “Hamas does its best to make Palestinian lives a misery”, and encouraged those who had “illusions” in Hamas to “think again”.
Greenstein is expected to give a speech outside.