The British government’s support for Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza has been met with massive opposition. Over the summer, tens of thousands of people protested weekly. When the government continued its support of Israel’s war, a direct action group called Palestine Action formed. Two of the group’s actions targeted an Israeli arms manufacturer and a British air force base. A dozen activists were arrested and were “remanded” to prison, where they faced two years of incarceration before trial.
On November 2, the prisoners began an open-ended hunger strike, protesting not only British policy re: the Gaza War, but also prison conditions and they illegal treatment they were receiving in jail. As noted in the Democracy Now! program linked below, several of the prisoners are now near death and all of them are suffering severely from going without food for weeks. The government has refused to meet with representatives for the prisoners, and claim that their refusal to care for the prisoners’ health is only “following the law.” The hunger strike and the government’s actions have evoked memories of the hunger strike by Irish prisoners in 1981, when Bobby Sands died after 66 days.
Moreover, thousands of UK residents have been arrested for protesting in support of Palestine Action and the prisoners. Palestine Action has been labeled a “terrorist organization” by the government, and ANYONE expressing support for Palestine Action is likely to be arrested. This civil liberties crisis has generated further opposition to the government and further support for Palestine Action.
Perhaps the UK government would like to know what YOU think about their political prisoners starving to death in their attempt to seek justice. The consulate general of the United Kingdom in New York is located at 1 Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, 885 Second Avenue, 2nd floor and can be contacted by telephone on (212) 745 0200. Give them a call. Thanks.
(Video) “Witch Hunt”: Jailed U.K. Palestine Action Activists Continue Hunger Strike Despite Health Risks
From Democracy Now! [December 29, 2025]
---- Alarm is growing over the treatment and deteriorating health of eight pro-Palestinian activists jailed in the United Kingdom who are on hunger strike to protest their detention. The activists remain imprisoned as they await trial over charges linked to their work with Palestine Action, which the British government has banned under its Terrorism Act over direct action protests against Israel’s treatment of Palestinians. Several of the activists who began their hunger strike in early November are now in “a critical stage” and facing grave health risks or death, according to Dr. James Smith, a doctor supporting the hunger strikers. … We also speak with Francesca Nadin, a spokesperson for Prisoners for Palestine, which is supporting the jailed activists. She says the harsh treatment of the hunger strikers is part of a “coordinated witch hunt that reflects the wider repression of the pro-Palestine movement” in the U.K. and around the world. “The people that have taken part in this hunger strike feel like they have no other choice left to them but to take this into their own hands,” Nadin says. [See the Program]
How Palestine Action Sparked a Battle Over the Limits of Protest in the U.K
By Hagar Shezaf, Ha’aretz [Israel] [December 23, 2025]
---- Several dozen people carrying signs sat down outside the Royal Courts of Justice in center London court last month. Police officers stood around them, gradually beginning to pick up and detain anybody holding a sign with the phrase “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action.” The cause of the arrest: suspicion of supporting a terrorist organization. … Since its proscription as a terror group in the U.K. over the summer, more than 2,000 people have been arrested for voicing support for the activist group Palestine Action. But critics are sounding the alarm over the mass arrests: ‘We worry greatly that it normalizes the idea that protest is inherently a threat’. [Read More]
Palestine Action: Prison hunger strikes that shaped history
By Shola Lawal, Aljazeera [December 25, 2025]
---- The case has brought international attention to the UK’s treatment of groups standing in solidarity with Palestinians amid Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza. Thousands of people have rallied in support of Palestine Action every week. Hunger strikes have been used throughout history as an extreme, non-violent way of seeking justice. Their effectiveness often lies in the moral weight they place upon those in power. Historical records trace hunger strikes back to ancient India and Ireland, where people would fast at the doorstep of an offender to publicly shame them. However, they have also proved powerful as political statements in the present day. Here are some of the most famous hunger strikes in recent world history: [Read More]
Activist Gretta Thunberg is arrested for “supporting a terrorist organization.”
