A Portsmouth man was arrested yesterday for the second time outside the office of Portsmouth South MP and Labour Friends of Israel member, Stephen Morgan, under the Terrorism Act 2000. George Hibberd reports.
The man was holding the same sign he was holding during his arrest last week which read ‘Palestine Action are not terrorists. Free the Filton 24.’ The man was interviewed under caution and released under investigation with bail conditions requiring him to not protest outside Morgan’s office and to report periodically to the local police station.
The man was taking part in what have been daily protests outside the office of Stephen Morgan – who has received funding from Labour Friends of Israel and the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs – by local campaigners demanding he join their calls for David Lammy to meet with the Palestine Action hunger strikers. Three of the original eight activists are still on hunger strike in UK prisons. Heba Muraisi is now on day 65 of her hunger strike and has begun struggling to breathe. She has been reporting muscle spasms and pain in her arm. ‘I am deteriorating in this cell,’ she said. ‘I am dying.’
Kamran Ahmed is on day 59 of his strike and is suffering from intermittent hearing loss. When he stands up he experiences dizzy spells and his heart rate is periodically dipping. Hospitalised this week for the sixth time, he described extremely hostile behaviour from staff. He was cuffed for his whole stay which meant that doctors were unable to safely cannulate or properly monitor him.
The eight activists on hunger strike were arrested for taking part in direct action 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 six months – some of the strikers 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, Linda Spence, who witnessed the arrest, said, ‘As a former Labour party member I am sickened by how a Labour government is treating peace activists simply opposing genocide. Stephen Morgan must take action to listen to these brave young people, not oversee the arrest of protestors outside his office.’
The campaigners have reaffirmed that they will not be intimidated by this second arrest and will be protesting outside Morgan’s office again tomorrow and Friday 9th January at 10 am.
To find out more about the hunger strike, visit prisonersforpalestine.org.
Photo courtesy of George Hibberd.
