To the government of the United Kingdom:
We, the undersigned, write to you today as survivors of state violence.
We are a collective of former hunger strikers from Palestine, Ireland and Guantánamo Bay. Hunger strikes end only when power intervenes, or when people die. 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.
As such, we write in uncompromising solidarity with the hunger strikers held today in British prisons: Qesser Zuhrah, Amu Gib, Heba Muraisi, Kamran Ahmed, Teuta Hoxha, Jon Cink, Lewie Chiaramello, and Muhammad Umer Khalid. They are imprisoned on remand, without trial and without conviction. For some, their remand has lasted over a year, and for most, they will not see trial for two.
The UK government has chosen prolonged remand, isolation and their censorship. It has chosen to restrict their contact with loved ones, allow medical neglect, and deployed the language of terror in an insidious attempt to deliberately strip these prisoners of public sympathy and basic rights before any trial takes place.
We cannot forget what the hunger strikers today stand for. They stand for Palestine. They stand for dismantling the infrastructure of weapons that kills Palestinians. They stand for the end of the apartheid regime implemented by the Israeli government. They stand in solidarity with the Palestinian prisoners. They stand for the complete liberation of Palestine, from the river to the sea.
For years, Palestinian prisoners have been subjected to systematic abuse inside Israeli prisons, including well-documented torture, extreme sexual violence, medical neglect, and death in custody. Yet, the UK government, through its unwavering support for the Israeli state continues to choose to be complicit in its actions. It chooses to continue to arm Israel and shield Israeli officials from accountability while Palestinian bodies – men, women and children – are violated and destroyed in their streets, in their homes, and behind bars.
The Palestine Action political prisoners began their hunger strike when they had no other choice. The state’s decision to rely on the use of the classification of “terror” to enforce the systematic repression of those who refuse to conform has left them with no other alternative as they seek the rights they are entitled to by law.
This is not a new phenomenon: the use of the word “terror” has long been used to manufacture fear, to poison public perception, to justify the repeated violation of even the most basic human rights. Once this label is attached, rights become conditional, liberty becomes transactional, and the presumption of innocence evaporates. The rule of law that is so proudly claimed to be upheld is swiftly desecrated in the face of a singular word, deployed by unscrupulous politicians determined to protect their own interests: “terrorist”.
The proscription of Palestine Action was not about safety. It was about control. The repeated and flagrant breaches of sub judice were not about convincing the public that this was a dangerous organisation; it was about condemning the prisoners before they stood trial. It was about isolating them, criminalising solidarity, and sending a warning to anyone who might speak or organise against the Israeli war machine.
No trial held under an atmosphere of state-manufactured fear can be deemed as fair, and no jury exposed to decades of terrorism rhetoric can operate free of bias. These prisoners were smeared the moment the announcement of their arrest made mention of a “terrorism connection”, despite those proceedings not having taken place.
We therefore demand the following:
1. An urgent ministerial meeting with families and legal representatives to agree on actions that will preserve the lives of the hunger strikers. Immediate bail for the Palestine Action prisoners (known as the Filton 24) and all hunger strikers.
2. Dropping of terror charges designed to criminalise dissent.
3. Fair trial conditions free from fear-driven narrative and political interference.
4. Immediate access to independent medical care chosen by the prisoners.
5. An end to censorship and restrictions on family visits.
In 1981, Britain chose to let the Irish hunger strikers die in the Long Kesh prison. In the 2000s, Britain chose silence over the plight of the detainees at Guantánamo Bay. For decades, Britain – along with other governments – continued to choose inaction in Palestine. Each time, British officials claimed responsibility rested elsewhere. Each time, history recorded the truth.
The Suffragettes, despite being force-fed and labelled as terrorists, are today celebrated as heroes and freedom fighters. The Long Kesh prisoners, despite the smears they faced, are now seen as a vital part of the peace achieved under the Good Friday Agreement. The Guantánamo Bay prisoners, despite their inhumane treatment and public consent for torture, remained untried and were largely released without conviction.
Just as they were all vindicated, history will too vindicate the Palestine Action prisoners who sought to stop the slaughter of innocent people, against the wishes and interests of the British government.
We are not merely observers, but witnesses to the injustice currently being dispensed by the hands of the state against people who history will no doubt vindicate, as it has done those hunger strikers who have gone before.
Signatories:
Shadi Zayed Saleh Odeh, Palestine
Mahmoud Radwan, Palestine
Othman Bilal, Palestine
Mahmoud Sidqi Suleiman Radwan, Palestine
Loay Odeh, Palestine
Tommy McKearney, Ireland
Laurence McKeown, Ireland
Tom McFeely, Ireland
John Nixon, Ireland
Mansoor Adayfi (GTMO441), Guantanamo
Lakhdar Boumediene, Guantanamo
Samir Naji Moqbel, Guantanamo
Moath Al-Alwi, Guantanamo
Khalid Qassim, Guantanamo
Ahmed Rabbani, Guantanamo
Sharqawi Al-Hajj, Guantanamo
Saeed Sarim, Guantanamo
Mahmoud Al Mujahid, Guantanamo
Hussein Al-Marfadi, Guantanamo
Osama Abu Kabir, Guantanamo
Abdul Halim Siddiqui, Guantanamo
Ahmed Adnan Ahjam, Guantanamo
Abdel Malik Al Rahabi, Guantanamo
Ahmed Elrashidi, Guantanamo
The views expressed in this article are the authors’ own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.
