We are delighted that Natalie Strecker has today been found not guilty of inviting support for proscribed organisations by Jersey’s Royal Court.

However, this case should never have gone ahead in the first place. Natalie is a lifelong passionate campaigner for peace and human rights. She was put on trial for upholding the right of the Palestinian people to resist against the brutal occupation that they are subjected to, including the right of armed resistance, within the confines of international law. Far from resulting in prosecution, that is the position that all those committed to upholding international law should hold.

As we said at the time of Natalie’s arrest: there is a widespread global effort to criminalise activism for Palestinian rights. In Britain this is part of a broader crackdown on the right to protest, including through illegitimate usage of anti-terror laws.

We send our solidarity to Natalie who has been put through a traumatic ordeal by Jersey Police and we echo her comments outside court today when she said “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.”