A Portsmouth man was arrested yesterday outside the office of local MP and Labour Friends of Israel member, Stephen Morgan, under the Terrorism Act 2000. The man was holding a sign reading ‘Palestine Action are not terrorists. Free the Filton 24.’ The police took him to Hilsea Police Investigation Centre and released him after deciding not to take down his details nor take any further action against him.
The man was taking part in what have been daily protests outside Morgan’s office by local campaigners demanding he join their calls for David Lammy to meet with the Palestine Action hunger strikers. Four of the original eight activists are still on hunger strike in UK prisons. Heba Muraisi is now on day 61 of her strike and is losing the ability to speak.
The activists on hunger strike were arrested for taking part in actions to damage the property of Israeli weapons manufacturer Elbit Systems and for spraying paint on an aircraft at RAF Brize Norton. They are being held on remand longer than the usual maximum 6 months – some of the detainees will not be put on trial until 2027.
The hunger strikers have five demands:
- End censorship – They want to be able to send and receive communications without restriction, surveillance or interference from the prison administration.
- Immediate bail – They want to be released from custody while awaiting trial. Some of them will have been imprisoned for nearly two years without a conviction. The right to a fair trial, they say, must include the right to prepare for it in freedom, not behind bars.
- Right to a fair trial – They demand that all relevant documents related to their cases are released in full. This includes all meetings between British and Israeli state officials, the British police, the attorney general and Elbit Systems representatives.
- Deproscribe – They demand the immediate dropping of all terror-related charges and ‘links’, and an end to the use of the Prevent strategy. Further, they demand that the British government deproscribe Palestine Action.
- Shut Elbit down – Finally, they demand that the government does not use taxpayer’s money to fund the machinery of genocide and that its contract be cancelled. Furthermore, they demand that all Elbit systems’ sites and its subsidiaries in the UK are permanently shut down.
Portsmouth South constituent, Stephanie Lewis, who was also protesting outside Morgan’s office today said, ‘It is just astounding when you see, as someone who also attends counter protests with Stand Up To Racism – and I’ve witnessed the most horrendous harassment and intimidation of people who are seeking asylum in their own homes. That is policed as legitimate protest but you can’t stand outside an empty office of your elected representative.’
The campaigners have said that they won’t be intimidated by this arrest and will be protesting outside Morgan’s office again tomorrow at 10 am. George Hibberd, who witnessed the arrest said, ‘It’s hard to know if this quite likely unlawful arrest was ordered by Stephen Morgan’s office, or if it was the choice of the attending police officers or their seniors. Either way, we won’t be deterred. We will continue to hold Stephen Morgan to account, as is our duty whilst those brave hunger strikers risk imminent death and a genocide continues in Palestine.’
To find out more about the hunger strike, head to prisonersforpalestine.org.
