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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…