Judah's Lion and the Judge: the scandalous courtroom remarks of George Bathurst Norman

In the old days, when Anglo-Jews of a certain status relished the appellation "gentlemen of  the Mosaic persuasion", and often preferred the term "Hebrew" or "Israelite" to "Jew" with all its unpleasant stereotypical connotations, communal concerns tended to be raised sotto voce. The approach achieved results, but it was despised by more forthright  newcomers.

There are still critics who characterise Anglo-Jewry's elected leaders as "trembling Israelites".  But that charge could never be brought against the esteemed Vice-President of the Zionist Federation, the extraordinarily active and fearless Jonathan Hoffman (pictured, at a recent pro-Israel demonstration in London).  His willingness to play Daniel in the lion's den is legendary; indeed, his courage is itself leonine.

Now, Mr Hoffman has obtained the 87-page transcript of the case of Regina versus Robert Nicholls and Others, heard at Lewes Crown Court on 28-29 June, which after a scandalously biased-against-Israel summing up by Judge George Bathurst Norman resulted in the acquittal of all seven defendants, who successfully argued that in illegally breaking into and smashing up an armaments  factory they believed to be supplying Israel, they were preventing a greater crime.

Mr Hoffman's masterly blog here http://cifwatch.com/2010/07/14/the-judge-who-thought-he-was-defence-counsel/shows with analytical precision just how offensive, mischievous and improper Judge Bathurst Norman's summing up was - far more scandalous than at first imagined, although that was scandalous enough.

The blog's a must-read, and a must-do is the action that Mr Hoffman suggests.