Climate activist Greta Thunberg was taken into custody during a protest in the heart of London. A video circulated by the Prisoners for Palestine group displayed the 22-year-old holding a sign stating her solidarity with Palestine Action prisoners and denouncing genocide outside the Aspen Insurance offices. The protest targeted the company for its association with the Israeli-linked defense firm Elbit Systems.
Subsequently, two activists splattered red paint on the front of the building before law enforcement intervened and made arrests. Meanwhile, six prisoners associated with Palestine Action are presently on a hunger strike in British correctional facilities.
The individuals on hunger strike, namely Qesser Zuhrah, Amu Gib, Kamran Ahmed, Heba Muraisi, Teuta Hoxha, and Lewie Chiaramello, are pressing the Government to lift the ban on Palestine Action. They are accused of participating in break-ins at a UK factory run by Elbit, Israel’s primary weapons manufacturer, near Bristol, and a Royal Air Force base in Oxfordshire last year, where two military planes were vandalized.
Their demands include the cessation of the ban on Palestine Action, the removal of communication restrictions, and the closure of Elbit. Legal representatives of the activists have censured Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Secretary David Lammy for declining to meet with them, alleging non-compliance with the Ministry of Justice’s hunger strike protocol.
Recent developments saw two of the hunger strikers, Kamran Ahmed and Amu Gib, hospitalized due to deteriorating health after more than 40 days without sustenance. Today’s protest in central London, organized by Prisoners for Palestine, was staged in solidarity with the hunger strikers. The City of London Police reported an incident where a building on Fenchurch Street was defaced with hammers and red paint early in the morning. Subsequently, arrests were made, including a 22-year-old woman for displaying support for Palestine Action, deemed a proscribed organization under Section 13 of the Terrorism Act 2000.