The largest hunger strike on these islands since the 1981 Republican prisoners’ protest in the Maze prison in the north of Ireland is barely being registered by the mass media. The Filton hunger strikers are a group of Palestine Action imprisoned activists, many of whom have refused food for weeks in protest against their detention and the presence of Israeli arms manufacturer Elbit Systems in Britain.
The Filton 24 were arrested in connection with an August 2024 raid on the Elbit plant in Filton, Bristol. They are accused of property damage and related offences and remain held on remand without trial. They are demanding the closure of Elbit Systems’ UK sites, the lifting of the government’s ban on Palestine Action, and for bail and fair trials rather than indefinite detention.
Eight prisoners are currently or recently have been on an open ended or partial hunger strike. So far, six prisoners have refused food for up to four weeks, with more expected to join.
Four of the hunger strikers have been held on remand since last November, far exceeding the six-month pre-trial custody limit. Prisoners report dangerous neglect and inhumane treatment.
The hunger strikers have also highlighted the Labour government’s escalating crackdown on the right to protest and on democratic rights, including the banning of Palestine Action and mass arrests of those who defy it. Amnesty International has raised concerns about the misuse of terrorism powers by the government and the excessively long periods of pre-trial detention being imposed.
Clearly, the state is attempting to break the prisoners’ morale. It is also trying to send out a stark signal to all activists and protesters of what awaits them should they take militant action.
Protests in support of the hunger strikers
On 5 December, around 70 activists blockaded Elbit’s Filton site, demanding justice for the hunger strikers. Protests have also taken place in London and other parts of the UK. Many of those playing a leading role in these mobilisations are people from an Irish background. This reflects the strong association felt by many Irish people with the plight of the Palestinians, shaped by their own history of colonial oppression and Ireland’s long tradition of hunger strikes as a deliberate, collective resistance.
It is imperative that socialists and the wider trade union movement mobilise to support the demands of the Filton protesters. The call to end all arms manufacturing for the Israeli state in the UK must be linked by socialists and trade unions to the demand for a just transition of those workplaces, bringing them under democratic public ownership and converting them to socially useful production, with no loss of pay, hours, or conditions for the workers.
The crackdown against Palestine Action and Gaza protesters should send alarm bells ringing throughout the organised workers’ movement. Such authoritarian tactics can be used against trade unionists in struggle, and other activists. Socialists fight for the right to free protest and for the reversal of the anti-democratic legislation introduced by successive Tory and Labour governments.