The following report was received from Manchester Boycott Israel Group and Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism:
Manchester Boycott Israel Group organised a picket of Barclays bank on 15 April in Manchester, UK, with support from the Revolutionary Communist Group and Manchester Palestine Action in a day of protest in solidarity with Palestinian political prisoners. The event came as part of the Week of Action to support Palestinian Prisoners’ Day.
Barclays is Britain’s biggest banking supporter of the arms trade, investing in BAE Systems, Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Raytheon, all of which supply weaponry to the Israeli occupation forces.
Protesters also spoke about the role being played by G4S in the Zionist prisons and called on Britain to break its ties with the apartheid regime. Speakers highlighted the leadership of Palestinian prisoners such as Samer Issawi and Bilal Kayed in fighting to build the liberation movement and called for an end to British support for imperialist war on the region.
Meanwhile, also on 15 April, supporters of the RCG took to the streets of Glasgow, Scotland to mark Palestinian Prisoners’ Day. Participants gathered to suppot the 1,500 prisoners preparing to launch their hunger strike on Palestinian Prisoners’ Day, 17 April, to demand their rights and an end to administrative detention and solitary confinement.
Activists made their voices heard outside Barclays Bank, profiting from its investments in weapons companies like Raytheon. The cases of imprisoned PFLP leader Ahmad Sa’adat and the five young Hares Boys were highlighted, as well as the heroic struggle of Palestinian women both inside and outside the occupation’s dungeons.
Participants were joined towards the end by a comrade from Jenin, who has spent years campaigning for his friends in Israeli prisons.
“The liberation struggle in Palestine remains the key question of our time, and as solidarity is criminalised, we say ‘Free Palestine! Shoulder to shoulder with the prisoners’ fight! Zionism is racism!'” said the RCG Glasgow supporters in a statement.
