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Hunger striker loses ability to stand as the strike hits day 55

Prisoners for Palestine have announced that hunger striker T Hoxha has lost the ability to stand. Hunger striker Heba Muraisi, meanwhile, is losing the ability to speak.

Held without trial

The hunger strikers have endured 18 months in prison without trial. As a consequence of this and other instances of alleged mistreatment, they recently launched legal action against justice secretary David Lammy. Notably, these activists were imprisoned before the government proscribed Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation.

The hunger strikers have the following demands:

  • Immediate bail.
  • The right to a fair trial.
  • An end to censorship of their communications.
  • The de-proscription of Palestine Action.
  • The closing of all UK-based Elbit Systems sites (Israeli weapons manufacturer).

In a 26 December press release, Prisoners for Palestine said:

Yesterday, a message received by Heba Muraisi described the effects 53 days of continuous hunger striking had had on her body. In a new statement, Muraisi explained she ‘can feel myself get weaker as each day passes’ with bruising on her arm and ‘constant body ache’. She also explains she can ‘no longer lie on my side as it hurts my face’ and is losing the ability to ‘form sentences, and struggling to maintain conversation’. Despite the alarming impact on her body and being on hunger strike for 54 days today, Heba indicated her commitment to continue the hunger strike action until her demands are met.

In HMP Peterborough, T Hoxha reported no longer being able to stand without blacking out, with dizzy spells and brain fog reportedly increasing, leaving her virtually bedridden in what is her second hunger strike just three months after her first one.

They also note that the continuing hunger strikers have four additional demands:

  • Heba Muraisi to be transferred back to HMP Bronzefield.
  • Prisons to drop all non-association orders of prisoners.
  • Prisoners to be able to access all activities and courses.

History of hunger strikes

Prisoners for Palestine have also reported:

On Christmas day, the biographer of Bobby Sands, Denis O’Hearn, wrote an open letter to the British government, pleading with them to meet the solicitors of the hunger strikers. O’Hearn noted how ‘even in the case of the Irish hunger strikes of 1980 and 1981, where the prisoners were considered at war with the British state, the government opened a dialogue with the prisoners and their representatives.’ He warned that ‘The consequences of failure to do so now, both the physical consequences for the prisoners but also the historical stain on the current British government is a violation of human rights that no government should contemplate.’

Meanwhile, the British government continues to refuse to meet with the representatives of the hunger strikers, who are deteriorating alarmingly, with the likelihood of death becoming more and more certain with each passing day.

Additionally:

Unlike the prison guards, who lock up the prisoners early to go home to their Christmas dinner, the hunger strikers don’t get a Christmas break. Just like the Christians in Gaza, who continue to suffer in the freezing cold at the hands of the settler-colonial entity. The hunger strikers say to us, don’t forget the people of Palestine over Christmas, and continue to demand a meeting with the British government on their behalf.

Watchers the world over continue to show support for the hunger strikers:

Featured image via Calla

By Willem Moore

This post was originally published on Canary.