Solidarity with the Palestine hunger strikers on the protest outside Downing Street (Picture: Guy Smallman)
The British state is willing to let eight political prisoners die. The Palestine hunger strikers stood up to the Labour government’s support for Israel’s genocide—and were imprisoned awaiting trial.
Hundreds of people rallied outside the Ministry of Justice on Friday and outside Downing Street on Thursday. Chants of “Say it clear, say it loud, hunger strikers make us proud,” were a defiant show of solidarity.
Palestine activist Yousef told Socialist Worker, “My heart goes out to the hunger strikers who have been detained in our prisons. They’ve been mistreated with no sense of humanity.”
“We’re hoping and praying that the government will listen to us and at least, at least, grant them bail.”
Yousef said this had become an issue of “state repression”. “Keir Starmer has changed the dynamic not just of our county, but of our legal system,” he said. “And the justice secretary, David Lammy, is claiming he knows nothing about it.
“To me we see clear as day the state in full support of the Zionist entity and it’s willing to let people die to do that.”
The demonstration swelled and blocked the road, one protester told Socialist Worker, “What can you expect from this regime?”
She pointed to her banner that mentioned hunger striker Kamran, who’s been “twice in hospital and denied being seen by his family. “But what can we expect from a regime that changes the judges on the judicial review into the Palestine Action ban to get the outcome they want?”
Frank Glynn, from the Irish Brigades, told the rally, “The reason we’re here is these young people decided to do something.
He said they are “political prisoners” not “terrorists”. “Each and every one of us has a duty over the next coming days,” he said.
“We might be back here in a week’s time and one of them may be dead—don’t dismiss that, their lives are on the line. Whatever you can do, do something—they deserve our support.”
After the protest, some activists marched to the BBC and broke into the headquarters at Portland Place. It was a stark reminder of the media’s complicity in genocide and its complete silence over the hunger strikers.
The whole Palestine and trade union movement should raise solidarity with the hunger strikers.
Jayne is a Palestine activist organising around the hunger strikers in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland.
She knows Amu Gib, who’s currently imprisoned and on hunger strike for alleged involvement at the RAF Brize Norton action.
“Amu didn’t take this step lightly,” Jayne told Socialist Worker. “They’re very strong and committed. I spoke to Amu on Wednesday morning—they are tired but sharp and committed.”
Jayne said that the overarching force behind the hunger strike is the “situation in Palestine, and to draw more eyes to that”.
“Specifically regarding Elbit Systems, the demand is to shut it down—it supplies 85 percent of military equipment to Israel,” she said.
Jayne slammed the government’s actions as “beyond the pale”. “At the start, I was sending letters and books to Amu—and these were being specifically withheld,” she said.
“At this point, some of them have been in prison for nearly two years and they haven’t been convicted for anything. Because they have been classed as terrorists, it’s giving the state a free rein to do whatever it sees fit.”
Jayne said that the state’s overwhelming repression stems from the fact that Palestine Action was “so successful”. “Social media was exploding, normal people were getting behind the group,” she said.
“The government has contracts with Elbit, Leonardo and so on, but Palestine Action disrupted that.”
In the Highlands and Islands, Jayne and fellow activists are “constantly bombarding” MPs with letters and “door-stepping them whenever we can”.
“This is about the wider situation in Palestine—they say there’s a ceasefire, but that’s not what I’m seeing,” she said.
Labour has faced a crisis over its role in Israel’s genocide—and letting people starve in prison for opposing Israel’s barbarity is only adding to that.
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