Activists protest in solidarity with pro-Palestine hunger strikers

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

Supporters say 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.

The Labour Party's 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 spraypainted 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 headquarters in Johannesburg, South Africa. 

In a statement released following the action, the protesters 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 Guantanamo 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".