Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s famous admonition to “live not by lies” was the first thing that came to mind when the long-suffering George Zimmerman was finally acquitted.  However, I am hesitant to engage to in jubilant ululation since justice would’ve truly been served if Zimmerman was not indicted and put on trial.

Zimmerman’s ordeal reminded me of another notorious criminal trial that took place in Russia over a century years ago:  the Mendel Beilis blood libel trial.  In that case, a Jew from Kiev was accused of butchering a Christian boy and using his blood to make matza, the unleavened bread Jews eat on Passover.  Like in the Zimmerman case, there was no evidence of guilt and the trial only took place for the government to appease a mob of violent idiots.  Like Zimmerman, Beilis was acquitted regardless of the pressure of the authorities and the braying of the media.

Vasily Shulgin – a self-described anti-semite and hardline monarchist was an early supporter of Beilis’ acquittal.  He thanked the “simple Russian people” of the Beilis jury for saving the honor of the Russian court and of Russia itself.

We owe a debt of gratitude to the six brave women of the Zimmerman jury.  For they spoke truth to power and saved the honor of America.