Olufemi Okeniyi

A shockingly corrupted trial that exposes the British state’s weaponization of censorship and secrecy laws has just begun. The Grayzone's @MaxBlumenthal details how six activists from the direct action protest group Palestine Action face terrorism charges and the possibility of long prison terms – but the jury in the case is forbidden from knowing this. The UK media is similarly banned from reporting on these facts, while the defendants in the case are blocked by court order from explaining their motives for damaging and occupying Israeli weapons factories on British soil. Blumenthal explains why Palestine Action is being targeted with such a draconian prosecution: because they are effective. Having caused the closure of Israeli factories, they have provided activists around the world with a workable model for raising the cost of occupation and genocide. Now, he argues, the British state is so determined to prevent their acquittal before a potentially sympathetic jury that it rigging the trial and perverting whatever's left of democracy, all to preserve its special relationship with Israel.