On 22 April, at Birmingham Crown Court, the trial of Majid Freeman formally commenced, presided over by Judge Andrew Smith KC. Freeman is charged with encouraging terrorism, as well as expressing and/or inviting support for Hamas, a Palestinian political and military organisation that is proscribed in the UK.
Persecution of a humanitarian
Freeman first travelled to Gaza in 2012 with the “Games 2 Gaza” summer camp, which worked to support traumatised children in the besieged territory. He travelled there again in 2013 to distribute medical aid to hospitals.
But when he had his home raided in July 2024, as the people of Gaza strained under the weight of a brutal genocide and with tens of thousands already killed by the Israeli military, Freeman had not travelled to Palestine or taken up arms. Indeed, there has been no allegation of any physical act of terrorism, financial support, or operational involvement on his part. Rather, he faces up to ten years in prison for charges based on a series of social media posts.
The right to resist
Freeman appeared in the dock just after 10.30am, wearing a light gray suit and black-and-white keffiyah. He sat at the back of the court, alone, separated from the main chamber by a glass barrier. He looked calm and sipped on a cup of water, but his liberty hangs in the balance. Supporters of the defendant filled the public gallery.
Freeman’s case is seen as a litmus test for both freedom of speech in Britain and for the ability of British citizens to express support for the right of Palestinians to resist against genocide and ethnic cleansing. The legitimacy of armed resistance against military occupation has long been enshrined in international law, with UN resolutions and the Geneva Conventions affirming the right of colonised peoples to fight back, but the prosecution seeks to convince a British jury that expressing one’s support of that right amounts to terrorism.
The prosecution sets out its case
This week, it is the prosecution’s turn to set out their case. Lead prosecution barrister Tom Williams, acting on behalf of the Crown, began by instructing the jury that his opening statement would be about providing a “wider picture, rather than evidence itself”. This is a theme that would be repeated, with the prosecutor saying at one point:
The message is coded, but it’s meaning, if you think about it, is quite clear.
Attempting to set the tone early on, the prosecution statement attempted to link reportage of the Charlie Hebdo terrorist attack to an entirely separate Instagram post Freeman had made about a cartoon published in the French magazine Libération, which mocked starving Palestinians during the month of Ramadan.
The cartoon, which Freeman had naturally condemned, showed a Palestinian man attempting to catch rats to eat. “Not before sunset”, another female character in the cartoon instructs, slapping his hand.
Freeman did not encourage violence in his response to the reprehensible cartoon, but the prosecution lawyer seemed to want the jury to read further into his intentions. “What did he want his followers to take from it?” he asked. It was a strange way to open a day that focused almost exclusively on posts related to the genocide in Gaza, but this was about “establishing a narrative”.
Prosecution’s first witness
At 11.50am, the jury were given a ten-minute break, and the judge, prosecution, and defence all left the chamber. When they returned, DC Sean Lambert, the East Midlands counter-terrorism officer overseeing Freeman’s case, was already waiting on the stand. Placing his right hand on the Bible, he was duly sworn in as the prosecution’s first witness.
As the trial stretched into the afternoon, the prosecution moved from one social media post to another, all related to the Gaza genocide. Some were written by Freeman himself; others were reposted without comment. Lambert was asked to confirm the time and precise number of likes on an endless stream of Twitter and Instagram posts, each one brought up on the screen in front of the witness stand for him to view.
One post presented as evidence read:
The heroic resistance are repelling the most depraved army in the world. The people of Gaza have ashamed us all with their bravery.
Another slide showed the jury that Freeman had reposted a video of someone arguing that:
most people in the world see Hamas as a legitimate resistance movement resisting against UK-sponsored Israeli genocide.
The prosecution noted that the defendant “didn’t say anything about the post”, but argued that a malign intention could be “gather[ed] from other context”.
A young lady speaking passionately in another video reposted by Freeman states:
Hamas are not a terrorist organisation just because the US and Israel deem it so; it is a legitimate resistance organisation.
Again, the defendant had not added any comment of his own, but merely shared the clip.
‘This is not a forum for solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict’
Earlier in the day, the prosecution lawyer had told the jury that “this is not the forum for solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict”, but it is hard to deny the political connotations of the trial.
Freeman was originally arrested just days after the general election on 4th July 2024, before which he had been active in the successful grassroots campaign to unseat Labour MP Jonathan Ashworth in Leicester South.
The Gaza genocide changed everything. The sheer brutality of the Israeli assault has stirred hearts and brought tears to the eyes of many. The bravery and dignity of the Palestinian people, as communicated in several of the social media posts presented as evidence today, has not only inspired others, but also highlighted the shame of humanity’s inability to effect change or justice.
Globally, public opinion will never go back to what it was, but rather than investigating the over 2000 citizens who travelled to serve with the Israeli military in its genocidal campaign, the British establishment seems more interested in suppressing the public’s natural affinity to those under the bombs.
Regardless of the outcome of Freeman’s case, the people of Gaza will continue to resist, and billions around the world will continue to support them.
The trial continues tomorrow.
Featured image via CAGE International
By The Canary
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