Two British pro-Palestinian activists at "imminent risk of death" due to hunger strike
Keir Starmer's executive refuses to meet with the lawyers of those detained, who have been in pretrial detention for over a year.
LondonTwo British activists linked to the Palestine Action (PA) group, Heba Muraisi and Kamran Ahmed, are at "imminent risk of death" after reaching 67 and 60 days, respectively, without food on Thursday, according to medical professionals, family, and friends. In the UK, it is impossible not to compare this case to that of Bobby SandsThe most famous of the ten IRA political prisoners, who died during the Irish republicans' hunger strike in 1981. Sands prolonged the protest for 66 days, to the bitter end.
The one who lasted the longest, Kieran Doherty, died after 73 days without food. The one who lasted the shortest, Martin Hurson, only lasted 46. Of the republican prisoners who died that year, only three resisted longer than Muraisi, who has already surpassed most of those historical cases. A third PA activist, Lewie Chiaramello has reached his 46th day of hunger strike today. A fourth, Teuta Hoxha, ended her strike this week after 58 days. The action was initiated by eight people. Muraisi, Ahmed, and Hurson were imprisoned in November 2024 for their alleged involvement in thefts at the British subsidiary of the Israeli arms group Elbit Systems in Filton, near Bristol, where they allegedly damaged equipment. The fourth, Chiaramello, has been in prison since July 2025, accused of damaging a Royal Air Force base in Oxfordshire, where two military aircraft were sprayed with red paint. The trial is not expected until May, which would mean they have spent more than 18 months in pretrial detention. Palestine Action, a group that has promoted protest actions against the genocide in GazaIt has been banned by the Labour government, which has labeled it a "terrorist organization." However, this designation is currently under review. judicially, in a process initiated last November in the High Court of Justice of England and Wales. A decision against the government could lead to the release of those detained under its ban.
According to medical reports that friends, family, and colleagues of the two hunger strikers in the most serious condition have sent to the British media, Muraisi, 31, presents "uncontrollable muscle spasms" which could indicate serious neurological damage. The activist says he has to "remind himself to breathe," according to the organization. Prisoners for Palestinewho keeps a second-by-second counter of the protest. Transferred to a prison far from her disabled mother, Heba Muraisi vowed to continue the hunger strike until she was returned to her previous facility. Ahmed, 28, who has been hospitalized five times since the start of the strike, suffers from "intense chest pains," breathing difficulties, speech problems, and partial hearing loss. However, his sister says he remains "mentally resilient" and determined to continue the strike to the end. Doctors warn that exceeding 40 days without food puts anyone in a critical situation. Dr. James Smith, an emergency physician and lecturer at University College London, says Muraisi is "fully within the period where irreversible damage is likely and the risk of death increases every day." Cardiovascular collapse, arrhythmias, organ failure, and serious infections are real threats, he emphasizes.
Government inaction
Keir Starmer's Labour government has repeatedly refused to meet with representatives of the hunger strikers or their families. The Secretary of State for Prisons insisted that the prison system has protocols for such cases and that government officials cannot interfere in ongoing legal proceedings. However, UN experts, including Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Palestinian territories, They have urged London to act urgentlyRecalling that "the state is fully responsible for the life and well-being of the people it detains."
Almost 45 years after the deaths of Bobby Sands and nine other republicans, the United Kingdom is once again facing an uncomfortable question: how far can a state go before inaction has irreversible consequences? In this case, the responsibility would fall on Labour's Keir Starmer and his Justice Minister, David Lammy. In 1981, it was the Iron Lady, Margaret Thatcher, who refused to lift a finger for the IRA militants.
