Activists accused in Britain of supporting the banned Palestine Action group have pledged to go on hunger strike in protest against being held in prison while they await trial.
Campaign group Prisoners for Palestine said the undisclosed number of inmates will begin their hunger strike on November 2, the 108th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration, claiming the treatment of those in custody has deteriorated since Palestine Action was proscribed as a terrorist group in July.
Prisoners for Palestine said five of its members being held are accused of being involved in the vandalism of two planes at RAF Brize Norton on June 20, causing £7 million ($9.3 million) of damage. Palestine Action claimed responsibility for the incident and for breaking into Israel-based defence firm Elbit Systems' site in Bristol last August.
Eight accused of being involved in the defence firm incident, allegedly involving sledgehammers, are due to stand trial at Woolwich Crown Court from November 17. Prisoners for Palestine said six activists were arrested at the scene last summer, with a further 18 arrested later.
The group said it delivered a letter to the Home Office on Monday and said those going on hunger strike, some of whom have been in custody for more than a year, are demanding that they are released on bail and the terror-related charges against them are dropped.
“This is a historic moment," a representative of the group said. "The government has left the prisoners with no other option but to hunger strike for their freedom and justice.”
The letter was handed in by two previously jailed activists, Francesca Nadin and Audrey Corno. “The government must make the correct decision and give the prisoners the basic legal rights that they have been denied," they said.
Dr Asim Qureshi, research director at campaign group Cage, which is helping to negotiate the hunger strike, said the hunger strike "will be the first of its kind in at least two decades".
“It brings into sharp focus the violence of the [prison] system in the UK, a violence we often associate with places afar,” he said.
A government representative said denied the allegations.
"We treat all prisoners fairly and equally, regardless of background circumstances," the representative said. “Palestine Action has conducted an escalating campaign involving criminal damage to Britain’s national security infrastructure, intimidation and alleged violence. That activity puts the safety and security of the public at risk.”
