Huartan voice support for Palestine solidarity activists on hunger strike in UK prison

Huartan have spoken out in support of the imprisoned UK activists on hunger strike in solidarity with Palestine, comparing their protest to the 1981 strike led by Bobby Sands.

The activists are part of the Filton 24, a group of activists imprisoned without bail in the UK for their involvement in Palestine Action's August 2024 protests at an arms factory owned by RAF Brize Norton and Elbit Systems, Israel's largest weapons manufacturer.

Palestine Action was proscribed as a terrorist organisation in the UK in July following the factory protest. Proscription made showing support for the direct action network a crime punishable by up to 14 years in prison.

Six of the imprisoned activists are entering their fifth week of hunger strike, with a seventh having joined last week.

Their demands include an end to censorship of activists for Palestine, immediate bail and the right to a fair trial for all of the Filton 24, the shutdown of Elbit systems and the deproscription of Palestine Action.

According to Free the Filton 24, a campaign by the activists' friends and family, five of the hunger strikers have been hospitalised at various points during their imprisonment.

Huartan said the activists "join a historic legacy of political prisoners in Ireland and in Palestine who chose hunger as a weapon against British state violence and repression."

"Echoes of the 1981 hunger strikes are ringing loud in our ears," said Huartan, referring to the protest led by Irish republican prisoners in the north of Ireland during the Troubles. The 1981 strike led to the death by starvation of ten prisoners, including Sands.

"Like the hunger strikers of 1981, they are prepared to pay the ultimate price to expose the crimes of the British government and assert, with dignity and courage, the righteousness of their struggle.

"If our own history tells us anything, it's that the British government does not care about our lives. They will let these hunger strikers die in order to maintain a narrative which portrays the state as the victim and the hunger strikers as terrorists. We cannot allow them to do this."

Huartan encouraged fans to write to the prisoners, express their concern to the prisons, spread the word and organise in local communities to advocate for the strikers.

 

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The news follows the release of Huartan's self-titled debut album last month. Huartan discussed the record as well as using their platform to support Palestine in the latest issue of Hot Press, out now.