Scottish mothers laid empty plates outside the BBC building in Glasgow, protesting what they see as a lack of coverage of an ongoing hunger strike.
Eight people who are alleged members of Palestine Action have been refusing food, two of them for 46 days, as they demand immediate bail, an end to the ban on Palestine Action and the stopping of restrictions on their communications.
The standard pre-custody time limit for crown court cases in the UK is 182 days, but some of those incarcerated are not expected to go to trial until 2027.
Four of those on hunger strike are accused of breaking into RAF Brize Norton in June and allegedly damaging two fighter jets, with the other four accused of breaking into an Israeli-linked defence firm in 2024.
Samuel Corner, who is accused of causing grievous bodily harm to a police officer during the break-in at Elbit Systems is not one of those on hunger strike. He denies the charge.
The hunger strike is believed to be the first since IRA prisoners in the 1980s, in which ten inmates starved themselves to death.
Lawyers representing the eight people currently on hunger strike warned last week that "there is the real and increasingly likely potential that young British citizens will die in prison, having never even been convicted of an offence".
On Wednesday campaigners from Mothers Against Genocide laid out 138 empty plates outside the BBC Glasgow office to represent each missed meal, calling on the broadcaster to "urgently report on the historic hunger strike" and "address its consistent failure to cover the ongoing genocide in Palestine".
A speech from Dr Eilidh Cameron Nicol, consultant paediatrician, stressed the effects of starvation on the body, underscoring the urgency of the strikers’ condition.
Sara Kytzia of Mothers Against Genocide said: "Our call to action is simple: we want to amplify the five clear demands of the strikers and call on the BBC to do their jobs and broadcast potentially life-saving coverage of this hunger strike and of the genocide in Gaza.
"The BBC has abdicated its responsibility to the public and to truth. These eight activists are bravely risking their lives to stand in solidarity with Palestine. The BBC has been shamefully silent, but it’s not too late.”
The hunger strikes were not covered by the broadcaster until December 10, after some of the prisoners had already been refusing food for over a month.
Kate, a mother of two and member of Mothers Against Genocide said: "I am here today because my heart is breaking for all those suffering forced starvation in Palestine and for the brave young people whose medical needs are being ignored as they hunger strike without trial in UK prisons.
"If it was my children, I’d hope the world would stand up for them all."
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