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Family members of the Palestine Action-affiliated hunger strikers have called on Justice Secretary David Lammy to meet with the strikers before any of them die.
Speaking at a press conference in Vauxhall on Thursday, the sisters of hunger strikers Kamran Ahmed and Teuta Hoxha and the next of kin of Qesser Zuhrah alleged ill treatment of their relatives by prison staff, and pleaded with the Government to agree to a meeting to negotiate over the hunger strikers’ terms so that they can put an end to the strike.
29 Palestine Action-affiliated individuals are currently being held on remand for their alleged involvement in break-ins at a facility outside Bristol owned by the Israeli arms firm Elbit Systems and at RAF Brize Norton where military planes were sprayed with red paint.
Of these 29, seven are on hunger strike in five different prisons. Demands from the strikers include immediate bail,a lifting of the ban on Palestine Action, the closure of Elbit Systems on UK soil and the ability to communicate freely with family and supporters outside the prisons. Ministers have so far refused to meet with the strikers or their representatives to discuss their demands.
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Shahmina Alam, sister of Kamran Ahmed, a 28-year-old prisoner currently on day 39 of his hunger strike, stated that her brother: “saw the outpouring of videos from Gaza and the Palestinians being slaughtered; he couldn’t look away […] it drove him to stand for humanity”.
She said that her brother is committed to “the liberation of Palestine” and to “our rights in this country as a British citizen” as well as the rights to a fair trial and to not be censored. She claimed that because these had been denied he had taken the “most difficult decision to starve his body of nutrients”.
Alam told the press conference that while her brother’s ketone levels had previously stabilised, they are now rising rapidly to dangerous levels. She also said that his heart is giving in and that he is losing 0.5 kilograms in body weight each day.
She called on David Lammy to “please have this meeting” saying: “we haven’t asked for much. Stop declining the meetings from MPs. If you don’t want to speak to us, then at least speak to your colleagues. This is not about your politics, it is about the lives of eight individuals”.
Medical professionals believe that all of the strikers are in imminent danger of death, or permanent, life-altering injuries including irreversible brain damage, as a result of the advanced stage of their strike.
Six of the strikers – Qesser Zuhrah, Amu Gib, Heba Muraisi, Jon Cink, Teuta Hoxha and Kamran Ahmed – have refused food for at least 39 days.
Three of the strikers, Heba Muraisi, Amu Gib and Qesser Zuhrah are on days 46 or 47 of their strike.
Martin Hurson, one of the IRA hunger strikers in the H-Block of Long Kesh prison, to whom the Palestine Action-affiliated strikers are increasingly being compared, died after 46 days of his hunger strike in 1981.
Ella Moulsdale, 21, the next of kin of Qesser Zuhrah – who has been held on remand in HMP Bronzefield since November 2024, and who is on day 47 of her hunger strike – told journalists of the “excruciating pain” Zuhrah is in.
Zuhrah was taken to hospital last night. Her supporters who protested outside HMP Bronzefield, including Coventry South MP Zarah Sultana, claim that she was denied access to emergency medical care for several hours.
Moulsdale told journalists: “[Qesser Zuhrah] was 19 when she was taken from us. She was just starting at university and she had her whole life ahead of her. Her only crime was that she wanted Palestinians to live and she wanted the UK Government to stop manufacturing weapons of mass destruction [like] Quadcopter drones on UK soil”.
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She alleged that Zuhrah had been “left on her cell floor for over 20 hours waiting for an ambulance” and reported that Zuhrah has had severe chest pains, a dangerously elevated heart rate and low blood pressure. She stated that she did not know if Zuhrah remains in hospital or if she was back in prison custody.
At the press conference, Dr James Smith, an A&E doctor and lecturer at UCL presented an open letter signed by over 800 healthcare professionals urging intervention by Government. The letter, detailing medical neglect and ‘grave concern’ over the hunger strikers’ health states: “They are at very high risk of serious complications, including organ failure, irreversible neurological damage, cardiac arrhythmias, and death.”
Dr Smith argued that: “It is my view as an NHS doctor that the complexity of the hunger strikers care needs must now be engaged with regular specialist input, if not continuous monitoring in a hospital environment”.
He added that he and his colleagues were: “alarmed by accounts of substandard monitoring and treatment within the prison system, delayed treatment for hypoglycaemia – which may constitute a medical emergency, infrequent and incomplete clinical monitoring” and “dismissive engagement of the hunger strikers by prison staff”.
He added that the prisoners had been shackled while in hospital, even when using the toilet facilities and showering and claimed this was “something I have never seen or experienced in my medical career”.
Several MPs including Jeremy Corbyn, Independent MP for Islington North, and John McDonnell, Labour MP for Hayes and Harlington, have been trying to pressure David Lammy into meeting with the strikers or their representatives.
Corbyn claimed that MPs in the chamber had laughed when Lammy refused a meeting with representatives of the strikers and said that: “I find it contemptible that members of parliament should derive some kind of amusement from the minister’s obdurate refusal to carry out his own responsibilities”.
During the press conference, which was livestreamed, Corbyn addressed Lammy and the Prime Minister directly, stating: “David Lammy and Keir Starmer if you’re watching this press conference, do what your job requires you to do, uphold the prison regulations and make contact with the representatives of the hunger strikers in order to save lives”.
Minister of State for Prisons, Probation and Reducing Reoffending Lord Timpson said:
“We are very experienced at dealing with hunger strikes. Unfortunately, over the last five years we have averaged over 200 hunger strike incidents every year and the processes that we have are well-established and they work very well – with prisons working alongside our NHS partners every day, making sure our systems are robust and working – and they are.”
He added: “I am very clear. I don’t treat any prisoners differently to others. That is why we will not be meeting any prisoners or their representatives. We have a justice system that is based on the separation of powers, and the independent judiciary is the cornerstone of our system.”
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The hunger strike is occurring as Palestine Action awaits a judgement on the judicial review of its proscription under the Terrorism Act. This was the first time that a proscribed organisation has been granted the ability to challenge its proscription via judicial review.
Palestinians in Gaza continue to report that Israel is killing people in bomb attacks despite the ceasefire agreed between Hamas and Israel in October.
Heavy rain and the harshness of winter in a territory in which millions of people are now displaced are also contributing to deaths.
On 16 December, Al Jazeera reported that one person had been killed by a falling building that collapsed due to rain while a baby had died from the cold.