Woman is 'deeply caring friend', Hamas trial hears

A woman accused of expressing support for Hamas laid flowers at a memorial for hostages taken on 7 October 2023, her friend told a court.

Hanin Barghouthi, from East Sussex, denies expressing an opinion or belief in support of the organisation, which the UK has proscribed a terrorist group, at a rally in Brighton the day after the attack.

During her trial on Thursday, her friend Taya Amit, who was born in Israel, said she "bumped into" Barghouthi about a week after the video of her speech "circulated".

Amit told Kingston Crown Court that Barghouthi immediately asked "are you OK?" and "are people you know safe and OK?", adding she was "deeply, deeply caring for how I was doing".

Jurors were previously shown video from 8 October 2023 where Barghouthi can be heard telling a crowd that "yesterday was a victory" and was "beautiful and inspiring to see".

Amit told the court that Barghouthi had visited a local memorial for hostages taken in the Hamas attack "to read all the stories of the hostages" and had "brought flowers".

She said she can trust Barghouthi "with anything" and leaves conversations with the defendant feeling like "we understand each other better".

The court also heard evidence from Susie Scott, a professor in the sociology department at University of Sussex, where Barghouthi was studying at the time.

The professor described the student as a "mature, conscientious, diligent, thoughtful, polite, respectful, considerate, kind, caring and generous" individual.

"In my experience, Hanin shows honesty, reliability, integrity of character," she told the court.

The defendant previously said she "had not heard about Nova" - the music festival where hundreds of people were killed and dozens taken hostage - before giving her speech.

She told jurors she found a video on Instagram that appeared to show a digger moving towards a wall in Gaza, which she believed was a "hopeful video".

She said she "didn't believe there was more news" other than the "break-out" shown in that video.

"I do not support Hamas," Barghouthi previously told jurors.

Hamas is considered a terrorist organisation by the US, UK, Israel and many other countries.

The trial continues.

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