Since the Prisoners for Palestine rolling hunger-strike began on Sunday the 2nd of November, the anniversary of the Balfour Declaration, 4 prisoners are now on hunger-strike, including 3 at Bronzefield prison.
Today, Thursday 6th November, Jon Cink became the fourth pro-Palestine prisoner this week to refuse food, and join the open-ended hunger-strike. The prisoners have issued a list of demands, which include bail, the right to a fair trial, an end to mail censorship, and the deproscription of Palestine Action.
Jon was remanded to Bronzefield prison on the 3rd July 2025, after being arrested and interrogated by counter-terrorism police, in relation to the Palestine Action raid on RAF Brize Norton in June, where 2 leased transport aircraft were sprayed with red paint. While it has since been shown that government plans were already afoot to proscribe Palestine Action as a ‘terrorist’ group, at the time, then Home Secretary Yvette Cooper claimed that the Brize Norton action was the catalyst for the ban.
Since Palestine Action were banned in July, more than 2000 people have been arrested in protests organised by Defend Our Juries, with further mass protests being organised around the country between the 18th and 29th November. A judicial review against proscription will be heard between the 25th and 27th November.
Proscription has also led to a further deterioration in the treatment of the 33 pro-Palestine prisoners being held without trial. Jon has been subject to isolation, censorship, and arbitrary restrictions on visits and phone calls. He has even been forced to have some visits through a Perspex screen. Prison staff have also become increasingly hostile and aggressive towards him. In a message from Bronzefield, Jon said: “We know first hand that repression DOESmake the ground in which Resistance grows more fertile. But we also know that to resist is to act. And action is always a choice, not a consequence that we can merely anticipate…Everyday [is] a new opportunity for defiance!”
On joining the Prisoners for Palestine hunger-strike Jon stated: “We have a duty to resist wherever we are, weaponising everything at our disposal. The sacrifices I pay, for allegedly disrupting the genocidal system, are incomparable to the sacrifices paid by Palestinians and all people directly exposed to Imperial violence.”
Despite the growing number of prisoners joining the open-ended hunger-strike, there has still been no response from the government. Two weeks before the hunger-strike started, Prisoners for Palestine delivered a letter to the Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, which she appears to have ignored.
A spokesperson for Prisoners for Palestine, Francesca Nadin, said, “As the days pass, and more prisoners are forced to go on hunger strike, how much longer can we tolerate this? This supposed democracy rejects the notion of justice at every turn. We call on the public to support the prisoners in their hour of need.”
For media and press enquiries, contact us on prisoners4palestine@proton.me