Palestine Action protesters demand release of hunger strikers

Outside the UK's Ministry of Justice, there is a demand for urgent action as the Palestine Action members hunger strike enters its seventh week.

Chants of 'Free the Hunger Strikers' echo across the street with protesters accusing the government of political repression and complicity in the Gaza genocide.

The media has been basically told not to report their story until now. The story is only now beginning to come out, so I think that the more we can do to publicize it, the better. And that the British government should be on trial for war crimes at this point.

Protester 01

• Another protest outside the UK’s Ministry of Justice as concern grows for six Palestine Action prisoners on hunger strike.
  

  Hundreds gather outside UK Ministry of Justice, demanding strikers’ release

  Another protest outside the UK’s Ministry of Justice as concern grows for six Palestine Action prisoners on hunger strike.

The six prisoners, now on hunger strike, are being held on pre-trial detention.

Some are accused of breaking into a factory owned by Elbit Systems, Israel's largest arms producer; others allegedly entered a military base.

None have been convicted.

The campaigners say their conditions are rapidly deteriorating. Two have had to be hospitalized, raising fears of long-term injury or death.

• Two Palestine Action hunger strikers taken to hospital amid fears they could die
  

  Two Palestine Action hunger strikers taken to hospital amid fears they could die

  Two hunger-striking prisoners affiliated with Palestine Action have been hospitalized amid mounting concern over the deteriorating health of activists taking part in a weeks-long protest.

The way they're being treated in the dungeons, the British dungeons, is that they do not let them go to hospital.

They take 12 hours, 24 hours, before they get them to hospital, usually, and I've been to several of these prisons, usually, the hospitals are a few kilometers down the road.

So it's not as if they're going far away. It's because of the governor and the prison staff and obviously the Ministry of Justice behind us who are ordering these things.

Protester 02

Among other things, the hunger strikers are demanding immediate bail, the deproscription of Palestine Action, and, the closure of all Elbit sites in the UK.

They're not asking for much. They're remanded prisoners. They shouldn't be in there. They should be given bail.

And if they're not given bail, and you are going to keep them in prison for so long, don't torture them in prisons and treat them like terrorists.

I think the British state has left them with no option but to do this hunger strike for their freedom.

Nida Jafri, Prisoners for Palestine

• Palestine Action proscription High Court review
  

  Palestine Action proscription High Court review

  The UK High Court is reviewing the proscription of Palestine Action, a group formed in 2020 to oppose Israel

Critics also accused the Labour government of bending to pro-Zionist pressure, criminalizing direct action while protecting arms companies linked to the Zionist regime.

And what they want to do is intimidate people into not supporting the cause, and make people that might think I might want to get involved or might not want to get involved.

They want to scare those people off, which is why they're extreme with it really, I think.

Protester 03

• ‘Dying is worth it,’ says UK Palestine Action hunger striker facing risk of death
  

  ‘Dying is worth it,’ says UK Palestine Action hunger-striker facing risk of death

  Kamran Ahmed, who has been on hunger strike for 42 days, says the protest is worth the risk of death.

Despite weeks of protest and pleas, the Ministry of Justice has refused to meet with the hunger strikers families, claiming it will set a precedent.

With some of the hunger strikers now hospitalized more than once, and with the health of others deteriorating, there's a lot of public pressure for the government to act.

Protesters here are warning that if the government continues to delay it will be held responsible whatever happens next.

• British protestors arrested for chanting ‘globalize the Intifada’
  

  British protestors arrested for chanting ‘globalize the Intifada’

  The UK government has intensified its repression of pro-Palestinian activists, with arrests for chants like "globalize the Intifada" deemed racially aggravated, despite the lack of racial references or violence in the slogan.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.ir