Right now six political prisoners are on hunger strike in British prisons, risking their lives to resist the ongoing genocide in Gaza and expose the UK government’s complicity in this.

An open letter with five demands has been issued to the Ministry of Justice and the Home Office. The Ministry of Justice claimed it had 30 days to respond and over 40 days later there has been no response despite the hunger strikers being hospitalised multiple times.

The five demand are

1. To end all censorship and surveillance of communications to those being held on remand.

2. Immediate bail

3. A fair trial. Documents between state officials and Elbit Systems remain undisclosed to the defendants. These documents should be released in full.

4. The de-proscription of Palestine Action

5. Shut down Elbit Systems factories. Elbit systems has secured £355 million in UK contracts with a pending £2.7 billion deal with the Ministry of Defence.

As the hunger strikers enter a critical stage where they are potentially at risk of sudden death the British government still refuses to engage with them and the mainstream media are largely silent.  This hunger strike is the largest in a British prison since the early 1980’s. The public has a right to know how the British government is treating the hunger strikers and that by refusing to engage they are putting these young activists lives at risk.  It’s become apparent that the British State is willing to let the hunger strikers die rather than engage with them.

Their only crime is one of conscience, they could not sit idly by whilst weapons manufactured in this country by Elbit Systems are being used in the genocide in Gaza, or while flights were taking off from RAF Brize Norton support the Israeli war machine. The conditions in prison have deteriorated since the proscription of Palestine Action so they are taking action in the only way left to them using their bodies as a last resort.