Activists protest in solidarity with pro-Palestine hunger strikers

Protestors sprayed red paint over and blockaded Aspen Insurance headquarters on Tuesday in central London. Organisers say Aspen Insurance was targeted because they provide employers liability insurance to Elbit Systems, one of Israel's largest weapons contractors.

Supporters claim they are taking direct action against Elbit Systems in solidarity with the six prisoners who have been on hunger strike for 52 days over their treatment and the proscription of Palestine Action.

Labour HQ in Newcastle was similarly attacked on Monday night allegedly in protest of the government's response to the hunger strikers. The words 'Free the hunger strikers' were spray painted on the building's walls and several windows were smashed.

Another protest in solidarity with the pro-Palestine hunger strikers took place on Tuesday outside the British Council headquaters in Johannesburg, South Africa. 

In a statement released following the action, the protestors wrote that "their continued imprisonment without trial, reports of reluctance to provide them with adequate healthcare, and the government’s refusal to meaningfully engage with their demands places the responsibility for loss of life with the British state."

The statement continued, comparing their hunger strike to those carried out by South African anti-apartheid activists, Palestinian political prisoners and Guantánamo Bay detainees.

It finished by urging the UK government "to reflect on the historical consequences of a Thatcherite response to the hunger strike that led to the deaths of Bobby Sands and nine other Irish Republican political prisoners in 1981."