Anti-Israel activist cleared of inviting support for Hamas after 7 October 

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”.

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”.

Before the jury returned their verdicts, Judge Plaschkes indicated that she had considered contempt of court against Greenstein, who gave a closing speech to the jury earlier on Friday.

The judge said that “on calm reflection” she had concluded that it was “a rambling speech delivered by an old man” and would not have impacted the jury’s decision.

In a speech outside court, Greenstein said he wanted to see David Lammy, Keir Starmer and Yvette Cooper on trial for “having helped Israel perpetrate a genocide”.