By Jeannie Connerney
This is an update to an article which appeared in the Peace Advocate on January 7.
At least two Palestine Action hunger strikers have come face to face with death as open support for their demands surges.
On her 73rd day without food, Heba Muraisi, age 31, has trouble breathing and has been experiencing twitching on the side of her chest, indicating that her heart may be shutting down. “I’m dying,” she said last week.
Kamran Ahmed, age 28, is on day 66 of his hunger strike and has been admitted to the hospital for the sixth time. According to his sister, doctors have said he is experiencing heart muscle shrinkage, a heart rate which drops to 40 beats per minute, and the risk of sudden cardiac arrest.
Both prisoners have been held for over a year on remand; that is, they’ve been arrested, but not tried. They will have spent 18 and 20 months in prison before trial, despite the six-month limit guaranteed by the Crown Prosecution Service. Palestine Action was proscribed as a terrorist organization in August after the prisoners allegedly took part property destruction at Elbit Systems, a major provider of weapons used to carry out genocide in Gaza.
Lewie Chiaramello, who eats every other day due to diabetes, is on day 52 and Umer Khalid, who stopped fasting last month, restarted his strike five days ago. Former Guantanamo Bay prisoner Mansoor Adayfi has also joined in solidarity and has been fasting since mid-December.
Besides having been denied their legal rights, dozens of Palestine Action prisoners have also had communications and visits limited. The Labour government has repeatedly refused to speak to them or their representatives or address their five demands: end all censorship, immediate bail, the right to a fair trial, the deproscription of Palestine Action, and that Elbit be shut down.
“I’m genuinely thought they would have negotiated by now, if not negotiate, at least meet some of the demands in terms of fair trial, mistreatment of prisoners, and stuff,” said Ahmed. “But it seems that they’re just waiting for one of us to pass away.”
Meanwhile, protesters gather daily outside the prisons, and signers of three open letters recently joined members of the United Nations and Amnesty International, and President of South Africa Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa in condemning the UK government for their silence. The statements also urged Prime Minister Keirs Starmer and Minister of Justice David Lammy to act immediately.
On January 11 over 800 medical workers signed a letter reiterating their demands from a letter sent in December . The Open letter from healthcare workers demanding immediate action cites the legal and medical obligations of those who either work in prison administration or directly with the prisoners in the prison or hospital.
“We, the undersigned, call on all parties in positions of responsibility and authority, to act immediately to resolve this inherently dangerous and fragile situation, and safeguard the health and lives of the hunger strikers,” it says.
On January 12 former hunger strikers from Palestine, Ireland, and Guantanamo sent a joint letter in solidarity with Palestine Action prisoners to the attention of the UK prime minister and government. “We learned, through pain, permanent damage, and watching our comrades fall, how states behave when prisoners have no choice but to refuse the only right afforded to them: food,” it reads. The letter demands a ministerial meeting with families and representatives of the hunger strikers, immediate bail, the dropping of terrorism charges, fair trials, access to independent medical care, and an end to censorship.
The same day close to 100 authors and scholars signed a statement which echoes the words written on a protest sign held by activist Greta Thunberg when she was arrested in December: “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action prisoners.” Because such words are considered support for a terrorist organization, they are illegal in the UK. Signers include novelists Sally Rooney and China Miéville, scholars Judith Butler, Angela Davis, Ilan Pappé, Rashid Khalidi, and Naomi Klein, and journalists George Monbiot and Owen Jones.
Signatory Professor of Philosophy Peter Hallward called out the silence of the administration, saying that they, “seem perfectly ready to let this country’s most committed and courageous opponents of an ongoing genocide waste away and die.”
Said Heba Muraisi last week, “Physically, I am deteriorating as the days go by. I no longer feel hunger, I feel pain. I don’t think about my life, I think about how or when I could die, but despite this, mentally I’ve never been stronger, more determined and sure, and most importantly, I feel calm and a great sense of ease. Even though the risks may be lifelong consequences or a devastating end, I think it’s important to fight for justice and for freedom.”
This is an ongoing story.
