maria gallestegui has been advised by doctors to finish her hunger strike before doing permament harm to her body organs. she will start eating again after demonstrating outside the cabinet meeting at number ten this morning (tuesday) after 30 days without food

she has been camping outside parliament throughout the recent cold weather, and has collected a daily petition which she delivers to downing street each morning.

she is asking the british government to press for the lifting of the gaza blockade and to bring israel to account for suspected war crimes.

despite the extraordinary endurance and self-sacrifice she has shown, the mainstream media have once again shown their considerable bias with little or no coverage of this newsworthy act.

even more4 news, whose reporters initially showed interest in the story, did a turn-around after editors vetoed the piece.

while it is almost impossible to find out about the current situation in gaza, the devastation in australia (which happened to white people not arabs) where far fewer people have died or been injured, and fewer homes have been lost, has had wall to wall 'human interest' coverage.

maria's 'socpa-authorised' vigil for gaza (www.vigilforgaza.net) continues, so anyone wishing to demonstrate outside parliament can join her without legal hassle. up to 20,000 can come at any time of day or night for any period of time, without the need for further 'authorisation'.

photos by kind permission of richard wolff
www.richardkeithwolff.com