The Martyrdom of Garron Helm

Max Musson
Western Spring
October 24, 2014

There has been a sense of outrage and widespread disgust at the announcement recently that Garron Helm, a twenty-one year old member of National Action, has been sentenced to a month in prison for effectively little more than being rude to a privileged minority politician.

On 7^th August, Garron apparently used Twitter to send a message to Jewish Liverpool Labour MP Luciana Berger. The message showed a picture of Miss Berger with a Third Reich era Star of David superimposed on her head, with the words, “Communist Jewess Luciana Berger, Liverpool Labour Party MP … “. The Twitter message went on to quote Miss Berger stating, “Labour never failed on immigration”, before concluding with the statement: “You can always trust a Jew to show their true colours eventually.”

Clearly, it was most unwise of Garron to send such an obviously insulting message to someone such as Miss Berger, but young people often do fall into the trap of making impulsive gestures they later come to regret, especially on Twitter, a medium that seems to encourage such behaviour.

According to reports in the mass media, Miss Berger MP for Liverpool Wavertree, found Garron’s message, ‘grossly offensive’ and was ‘deeply shocked by the entire incident’. Furthermore, District Judge Andrew Shaw, who heard the case, reportedly described Garron Helm’s actions as calculated and “extremely abusive and upsetting” and Miss Berger after sentencing issued a statement saying: “This sentence sends a clear message that hate crime is not tolerated in our country. I hope this case serves as an encouragement to others to report hate crime whenever it rears its ugly head”.

From accounts of this case in the mass media one might be left with the impression that Miss Berger is a sensitive soul, unused to encounters in which her ethnicity or religion are issues of contention, that Garron Helm’s actions have impacted harshly upon her delicate sensibilities and that she has bravely responded to this ‘assault’ as a champion of the downtrodden in our society. However an examination of Miss Berger’s history suggests something rather different and one only has to take account of the array of influential organisations and people commenting on this case to appreciate the extensive support network that was apparently placed at her disposal in bringing the full force of our totalitarian state down upon the unfortunate Garron Helm.

First there is the police of course, who raided Garron Helm’s home to access his computer and in order to catalogue the belongings found there and which were later described as ‘Nazi memorabilia’ and ‘Nazi paraphernalia’. Had there been a pair of brightly polished jackboots among Garron’s possessions, a Hitler Youth dagger, or a swastika emblazoned ceremonial standard we can be sure that these things would have been listed in court and would have featured in the many subsequent news reports, but no, the ‘Nazi memorabilia’ and ‘Nazi paraphernalia’ apparently amounted to nothing more than one black flag bearing the runic emblem of the SS. In addition Garron had some political books and pamphlets, and a National Action flag.

Then there was the homosexual Liberal Democrat MP and coalition government Communities Minister, Stephen Williams, who is quoted as saying: “We welcome today’s guilty verdict which shows there is no place for purveyors of hate to hide. This ruling sends out a message to all those who use social media to send out antisemitic, anti-Muslim, homophobic and racist comments that it is unacceptable and that we are serious about ensuring that those involved are arrested and prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”

Furthermore, John Mann MP, chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group Against Anti-Semitism, declared: “This is an important and welcome decision. It should serve as a warning that either online or offline, antisemitic and racist hatred is simply unacceptable and will be tackled head on”.

We should note here that Luciana Berger is a member of the All-Party Parliamentary Group Against Antisemitism, whose stated aim is “To make antisemitism a societal concern …”, in other words, the purpose of this group is to seek out examples of ‘antisemitism’ that might otherwise go unnoticed and to make them seem like a serious issue in the minds of the public.

Lastly, according to the Jewish News website, “A Community Security Trust spokesman said: “Luciana Berger MP should be thanked for her role in this important case. CST welcomes the sentence and hopes it serves as a much needed warning to others.” The Community Security Trust is a shadowy group exclusively serving the Jewish community, which appears to have extensive informal connections with both the political police in this country, and also to the Israeli secret service.

Prior to becoming an MP, Juliana Berger had been a campaigner for a number of Jewish causes. She is an ardent Zionist and while at university was a student leader championing the state of Israel and campaigning against anti-Semitism, which she claims was rampant among left-wing student supporters of the Palestinians. She has claimed that she was once spat on for being Jewish and in 2012 after the Liverpool Music Awards pressed charges against music promoter Philip Hayes and brought about his conviction for a racially aggravated public order offence after he had apologised for telling her, “I fucking hate Jewish people!”

Luciana Berger seems to have a knack for attracting the attention of people who feel ill-disposed towards Jews.

As already stated, Berger is currently a member of the All-Party Parliamentary Group Against Anti-Semitism and it is evident that while it could not have been anticipated that Garron Helm would send his Twitter message to her, she was and is not a lone and helpless victim, but one of a number of self-styled adversaries of anti-Semitism, ready with an extensive and powerful support network, and determined to hunt down and make an example of any luckless ‘racist’ who happens to stumble across their path.

In his recent speech to mark Jewish New Year, David Cameron praised using vague euphemisms, “… the immense contribution that Jews make in Britain, excelling in every field, contributing in every community, and living by those values of decency, tolerance, hard work and responsibility that are so central to the Jewish faith and to British life”.

He went on to explain how the Jewish community is of assistance to other ethnic minority communities and vice versa, stating:

“Around the world Britain stands for diversity and cohesiveness. When mosques came under attack, who helped defend them? British Jews!

“When a synagogue was under threat from closure, who helped save it? British Muslims!

“This says a lot about who we are in this country, and it’s something we can celebrate and build upon.

What our establishment politicians and all of the ‘Friends of Israel’ groups and the All-Party Parliamentary Group Against Anti-Semitism, and the Community Security Trust fail to effectively convey however, is the actual benefit to the indigenous British in having a Jewish minority in our country. In fact beyond vague euphemisms, they seem to studiously avoid doing any such thing, preferring instead to employ Draconian ‘hate speech’ legislation designed to cow us into accepting the imposition of a multiracial/multicultural society.

You see, if as David Cameron tells us, Jews make an “immense contribution”,  “excelling in every field, contributing in every community”, then no-one should ever have a bad word to say about them, and there should be no need for All-Party Parliamentary Groups Against Anti-Semitism or Community Security Trusts. Everyone would love the Jews if only David Cameron would explain the benefits they bring.

In his speech however, David Cameron opts instead to ‘wave the big stick’, reminding us: ” … we will not tolerate anti-Semitism in Britain. No disagreements on politics or policy can ever justify racism or extremism in any form.

“As long as I’m Prime Minister we will do everything we can to tackle this and to be sure we learn the lessons of the past, as the Holocaust Commission led by Mick Davis is doing so effectively”.

When one considers that the ‘offence’ committed by Garron Helm is his first offence and that a custodial sentence for a first offence is normally reserved for criminal cases involving rape, grievous bodily harm or murder, the true enormity of the injustice that has been done here becomes apparent. Garron Helm, a young man of previously good character, has been awarded a prison sentence and will in future have a criminal record that will no doubt blight his employment prospects for years to come. No unbiased observer would conclude that natural justice has been served, that his punishment is proportionate to the crime, or that the action taken by the authorities has any prospect of producing a positive outcome, as might have been the case if a caution had been given or if Garron had been enrolled on a remedial course designed to demonstrate the many benefits that are allegedly derived from multiculturalism.

Instead, the very real danger is that this case will serve to reinforce the perception held by many that there is ‘one law for Jews and another law for everyone else’. Instead of reducing antisemitism, this case and the harsh sentence handed down to Garron Helm will almost certainly inflame feelings of resentment towards Jews within our society. It is highly unlikely for example, that Garron Helm will emerge from prison with a newfound admiration for Miss Berger, for Jews generally, for our government or for our judicial system.

What has happened here is not the action of fair and responsible authorities dispensing proportionate justice, engaged in a positive campaign to reduce anti-Semitism by promoting popular awareness of the great benefits derived from having a Jewish community within our midst, it is the kind of action that would be employed by a government hoping through the imposition of spiteful, punitive measures, to cow and deter those who might otherwise be tempted to voice criticisms of Jewish people, legitimate or otherwise.

Indeed rather than a sense of confidence in their own worth and a tolerance of others that one might expect of people who make an ‘immense’ contribution to society, there seems to be a tremendous sense of insecurity and paranoia amongst Jewish people and their supporters in government, suggesting that ‘so scant is any perceived evidence of their good deeds’, that a pogrom is just one tweet away and every single expression of disapproval of them must be crushed as thoroughly as a nut would be crushed by a sledgehammer. And we can only wonder why that is?

What government fail to see is that this policy – the one-sided zero tolerance policing of Draconian ‘race hate’ legislation – is counterproductive and must ultimately fail. While some may be cowed into silence by the threat of prosecutions, there will be others who will continue to question our apparent inequality before the law. Furthermore, we British will increasingly resent the entrapment of our young people and the damage done to their lives if they continue to be sought out and made an example of in the way that Garron Helm has.

What was it that a spokesperson for the Jewish Community Security Trust said? “Luciana Berger MP should be thanked for her role in this important case. CST welcomes the sentence and hopes it serves as a much needed warning to others”.

These are strange words, are they not?

Luciana Berger “should be thanked for her ‘role’”.

When someone is the victim of a crime, a mugging for example, they are not ‘thanked’ for their ‘role’ in falling victim to the mugger. One is usually only ‘thanked’ for one’s ‘role’ when one takes part in a planned exercise, identifying someone who can be conveniently be made an example of for instance?