Editor’s note: Palestine Action activist Francesca Nadin, 39, has been imprisoned on remand awaiting trial since 29 June.
She was arrested and charged with “conspiracy to commit criminal damage” against two Leeds banks, Barclays and JP Morgan. Both banks invest in Israel’s biggest weapons producer, Elbit Systems.
This is Francesca’s second letter from inside a British jail, exclusively published by The Electronic Intifada.
In the Western world, we are in the midst of a linguistic battle which affects all of us and our freedom of speech. To control how we speak is to wield power. That is why it is so important to carefully consider how we define ourselves.
I define myself as a political prisoner, a contentious term for which there is no standard legal definition – least of all in the UK, for the obvious reason that it is not in the government’s interest to make one.
There are currently 21 Palestine Action activists jailed in Britain. We are all political prisoners, not only because our actions are politically motivated, but also because we are victims of state repression. ….more
