Prisoners for Palestine

AN URGENT APPEAL

The majority of right-thinking persons across the globe would support the fight for racial equality, oppose apartheid, and abhor and oppose the killing of human beings by other human beings. Consequently, those campaigning for such objectives should be praised.

This is not the case in the United Kingdom in 2025.

Prisoners for Palestine, supporters of the direct-action group Palestine Action, held on remand in prisons across the UK, have been conducting a coordinated hunger strike since 2nd November 2025. Their situation is now critical and we call on everyone to help support the reasonable demands made by them to the UK Government.

Those taking part are Qesser Zuhrah, Amu Gib, Heba Muraisi, Jon Cink, Teuta Hoxha, Kamran Ahmed, and Muhammad Umer Khalid; a further detainee, Lewie Chiaramello, is on a partial hunger strike (refusing food intermittently) and is reported to be diabetic, placing him at particular medical risk.

They are charged with alleged offences connected to direct actions in solidarity with Palestine. Most prominently, the alleged break-ins, damage and protests at sites linked to Elbit Systems, an Israeli defence contractor, and related actions such as a protest at the Brize Norton base military. These charges are a range of criminal offences, e.g., trespass, criminal damage and related public-order offences rather than public terrorism convictions. However, the government’s response to Palestine Action has been severe. The organisation itself has been proscribed under UK “terrorism” legislation, which has influenced how cases have been handled. It is claimed that the Government has been heavily influenced in their treatment of the strikers by the Israeli government and Elbit Systems itself.

The hunger strikers’ stated demands are political and procedural: immediate bail or release, an end to censorship of letters and books, the right to a fair and timely trial, de-proscription (removal from the banned list) of Palestine Action, and calls for closure of Elbit weapons factories in Britain.

Supporters frame the hunger strike as a protest against prolonged pre-trial detention, with some reporting detainees having been on remand for many months, even approaching or exceeding a year; alleged censorship and restrictions inside prison, and what they say is political policing of Palestine solidarity activism.

Their lawyers and campaigners report severe health deterioration for several strikers, such as multiple hospitalisations, significant weight loss, exhaustion and memory problems, and warn of grave risk if the strike continues. At least five detainees have reportedly been hospitalised and others are described as entering their fourth to sixth week without food in some accounts. Campaign groups and some MPs have called for urgent intervention by the UK Justice Secretary to ensure humane treatment and to consider bail. Protests and rallies in support of the strikers have taken place across the UK, demanding Government Action.

Opposition to the actions of the apartheid state, Israel, and the mass killings, torture, starvation and wider subjugation of the Palestinian people in both Gaza and the West Bank is something that everyone must support. The continuation of such racist policies is to be challenged at all points.

Grenada – Forward Ever calls for support of the Prisoners for Palestine. This includes: –

  • Support https://prisonersforpalestine.org and sign up for their mailing list;
  • Call on your UK member of Parliament to lobby the Justice Secretary to accede to the reasonable demands of the strikers.  The draft letter/email is at https://bit.ly/4oV7D9s;
  • If you are outside of the UK, call on your Government to lobby the UK Government on this matter. The draft letter/email is at https://bit.ly/4iTVtMu;
  • Supporting demonstrations in solidarity with the strikers and the people of Palestine;
  • Contact Prisoners for Palestine at prisoners4palestine@proton.me or https://prisonersforpalestine.org and utilise their support toolkit; and
  • Send letters and symbols of support to the strikers who, at the time of writing, are being held in the following prisons: –
  • Qesser Zuhrah, Amu Gib and Jon Cink are held at HMP Bronzefield – HMP & YOI Bronzefield, Woodthorpe Road, Ashford, Middlesex TW15 3JZ. Tel: 01784 425690.
  • Heba Muraisi is being held at HMP New Hall – HMP/YOI New Hall, Dial Wood, Flockton, Wakefield, West Yorkshire WF4 4XX. Telephone: 01924 803 000.
  • Teuta “T” Hoxha is detained at HMP Peterborough – HMP Peterborough, Saville Road, Westwood, Peterborough PE3 7PD. Telephons: 01733 217500.
  • Kamran Ahmed is held in HMP Pentonville – HMP/YOIPentonville Caledonian Road, London N7 8TT. Telephone: 020 7023 7000.
  • Muhammad Umer Khalid is held at HMP Wormwood Scrubs – HMP Wormwood Scrubs. PO Box 757, Du Cane Road, London W12 0AE. Telephone: 020 8588 3200.

The Executive Committee of Grenada – Forward Ever