first arrests of palestine activists for chanting 'calls for intifada' since ban

Who are the hunger strikers?

Britain’s biggest collective hunger strike in nearly 45 years

From top left: Qesser Zuhrah,Amu Gib,Heba Muraisi,Jon Cink,Teuta Hoxha,Kamran Ahmed,Lewie Chiaramello and Muhammed Umer Khalid (Picture: Prisoners for Palestine)

Qesser Zurah,Teuta Hoxha and Kamran Ahmed have all been on hunger strike for more than a month while in custody over their alleged roles in pro-Palestine activity targeting a defence company plant and an RAF base.

They were later joined in the protest by Lewie Chiaramello and Muhammed Umer Khalid. Ahmed was hospitalised on November 25 after going into his fourth week of a hunger strike. Hoxha was hospitalised two days later,on November 27,as her health deteriorated rapidly,according to campaign group Prisoners For Palestine. 

Concerns are now mounting over the condition of the activists,who have been in prison for well over a year before they are tried,breaking the UK’s six-month pre-trial detention limit.

The Times reports that lawyers for the eight protesters have claimed in a letter to justice secretary David Lammy that without intervention,the deaths of the hunger strikers were ‘increasingly more than a mere possibility. It is a likelihood.

As many as 58 MPs have also signed an early day motion expressing ‘extreme concern’ about the condition of the hunger strikers.

Protesters sat on the floor outside the prison HMP Bronzefield in Surrey,where hunger striker Qesser Zuhrah was ill (Picture: Metro)

Former Guantanamo Bay detainee Mansoor Adayfi announced he would be joining the hunger strikes.

In a statement he said: ‘Hunger strikes are not protests of choice. They are protests of last resort.

‘The British government wants these men and women to disappear quietly.

‘The media wants to look away. This silence is a weapon of violence.

‘Today,I am joining this hunger strike in solidarity.

‘I do this because I see now that Guantánamo is embedded in the UK prison system.’

The Ministry of Justice said: ‘We continually assess prisoners’ wellbeing and will always take the appropriate action,including taking prisoners to hospital if they are assessed as needing treatment by a medical professional.

‘His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service has assured ministers that all cases of prisoner food refusal are being managed in accordance with the relevant policy,and with appropriate medical assessment and support,consistent with prisoner rights.’