The defiant hunger strike by young people incarcerated in British prisons for their alleged involvement with the now-banned organisation Palestine Action is at a critical stage. If any of these brave and principled young people perish, their blood will be on the hands of the Labour government.
The hunger strike was announced by Prisoners for Palestine on 20 October and commenced on 2 November, the anniversary of the Balfour Declaration. It has been a dramatic wake-up call to the Palestine solidarity movement in Britain and has made abundantly clear who truly stands on the side of Palestinian liberation.
The hunger strikers have five demands:
- An end to all prison censorship of mail and communications.
- Immediate bail.
- The right to a fair trial, in particular the disclosure of documents relating to meetings between British and Israeli state officials, the British police, the attorney general, Elbit Systems etc.
- The deproscription of Palestine Action.
- The closing down of Zionist weapons manufacturer Elbit Systems factories in Britain.
Qesser Zuhrah and Amu Gib, who are detained in Bronzefield prison in Surrey, have now gone without food for 50 days. Heba Muraisi, held in New Hall prison in Yorkshire, is only a day behind, while Teuta Hoxha (Peterborough prison) and Kamran Ahmed (Pentonville, north London) have been on the protest for over 42 days. Francesca Nadin of Prisoners for Palestine told FRFI: ‘Now is the time for intensified action, as the prisoners say to us, it is our duty to match their sacrifice with our own direct action.’
Across the country and internationally supporters have protested outside prisons, dropped banners, jammed switchboards and besieged Ministry of Justice (MOJ) offices and media outlets to highlight both the hunger strikers’ demands and the lack for the first six weeks of any mainstream media coverage. The London Irish Brigade has staged regular protests at Downing Street and the BBC, and built vital links with comrades in the north of Ireland who experienced firsthand the same coldblooded indifference of a British government as Bobby Sands and nine others died on hunger strike in Long Kesh prison in the occupied north of Ireland in 1981. Zarah Sultana was alone among MPs to go to Bronzefield at 3am on 18 December and refused to leave until an ambulance came for a seriously unwell Qesser Zuhrah; her principled stance meant that many others then joined her outside the prison until the ambulance finally arrived 13 hours later.
This growing coalition faces a powerful enemy. Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Justice Secretary David Lammy appear every bit as prepared to watch the protesters die as their predecessors were in opposition in the 1980s when Michael Foot’s ‘opposition’ backed the Conservative government’s murderous response to the Irish hunger strike.
For weeks Lammy said nothing. When confronted by Kamran Ahmed’s sister on 11 December he claimed this was the first he’d heard about the hunger strike. Now, he hides behind Prisons Minister James Timpson, who claims it would be ‘inappropriate’ for anyone in government to meet with the prisoners and discuss their demands. This flies in the face of the Prison Service’s own guidance on ‘food refusal’, which states: ‘Staff must make every effort to try and find out why the prisoner is refusing food and/or fluids and address the reasons for their refusal.’ When an MP asked in Parliament for the Justice Under-Secretary Jake Richards to meet the family of hunger strikers, he flatly replied ‘no’ – a refusal which provoked ghoulish laughter from the Labour benches.
Meanwhile, the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), after months of dissuading members from protesting against the proscription of Palestine Action under the Terrorism Act, followed by weeks of ignoring the hunger strike, had no choice as matters became critical but to call a solidarity protest. It chose to do this on Tuesday 16 November, oblivious to the fact that the London Irish Brigade and other groups were already holding a protest at the same time. Eventually PSC conceded and moved its event to the following day.Shamefully, the PSC platformed MPs from the Zionist, murderous Labour Party including John McDonell, Apsana Begum, Richard Burgon and Nadia Whittome, who were rightly booed by many in the crowd.
Where we stand
FRFI stands solidly with everyone who resists the Zionist occupation of Palestine and opposes British imperialism’s support for the Israeli war machine. We call for the immediate release of the Filton 18 and Brize Norton 5, and for the dropping of charges against all Palestine Action and Defend our Juries protesters, as well as those of the SOAS 2, Tony Greenstein, Kwabena Devonish and everyone else criminalised in any way for their solidarity with the Palestinian struggle.
We continue to support all protests in solidarity with the hunger strike and to use the pages of our newspaper Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism! to amplify the prisoners’ voices and demands. Contact our local branches for details of actions in your local area.
Solidarity with the hunger strikers!
Defend all those who defend Palestine!
