Seven members of Palestine Action in Britain have been on hunger strike for over 30 days, with their lives now at risk, demanding bail, fair trials, repeal of counter-terror laws targeting peaceful protest, closure of Israeli weapons firms, especially Elbit Systems, and an end to state persecution.
Though none have been convicted, many are held far beyond legal pre-trial limits while their communications and basic rights are restricted. Several have been hospitalized after refusing food for over thirty days.
According to the Morning Star news agency based in Britain, the Palestine Action hunger strike is on track to become the largest since the 1981 Irish republican protest led by Bobby Sands, yet campaigners say it has faced a “mainstream media blackout.”.
Journalist Chris Hedges issued a statement that, “Since our governments refuse to halt this genocide, we must.”
Protesters confronted UK justice secretary David Lammy about jailed activists affiliated with Palestine Action who are on hunger strike.
One woman tells Lammy she has sent him and the justice ministry a letter, to which he responds that he “doesn’t know anything about this”:
According to the blog ‘Defence Issues and Peacebuilding’, Francesca Nadin, a spokesperson for Prisoners for Palestine, spoke about the people who have been out in droves protesting against the ban by holding signs supporting Palestine Action; she said: “People are being radicalised because of this. These are people that would never normally consider getting arrested”.
Four of the strikers took part in an action in which activists reportedly drove a repurposed prison van into an Elbit manufacturing hub and dismantled equipment inside. In all, 33 prisoners are locked away without trial, under the Bail Act of 1976 to prevent them from committing further actions aimed at blockading arms supply to Israel.
They have been held on remand, far exceeding the six-month pre-trial custody limit, a practice which has been the subject of a parliamentary Justice Committee inquiry: The role of adult custodial remand in the criminal justice system.
Francesca Nadin (above right) says there are incidents of patients being deprived of proper medical care, denied access to test results and of nurses being “manipulative” and “dismissive.”.
Harriet Williamson of Novara Media reports the names and precise health problems of seven of those imprisoned who have refused food — some for as long as four weeks — with more expected to join.
The hunger strikers demand:
- that Israel’s largest weapons company, Elbit Systems, cease operating in Britain,
- that the ban on Palestine Action, currently designated a terror group, be lifted
- and that there be immediate bail and a fair trial — basic democratic rights that should already be guaranteed.
Earlier this week, a judicial review on Palestine Action’s proscription came to a close and a judgement is to be released at a later date.
