#pal-action — Public Fediverse posts

“Thousands sign complaint ahead of hearing to remove ‘biased’ Filton judge”

by Skwawkbox with The Canary

@thecanaryuk
@uk_politics

“More than 3,000 people, including legal experts, have signed a formal complaint accusing the security service-linked presiding judge in the trial of six ‘Filton 24’ Palestine Action activists of bias and discriminatory conduct. The complaint comes in advance of a hearing on Monday 8 June on an application by the defendants for Jeremy Johnson’s removal from the case. Justice Jeremy Johnson on the grounds of apparent bias and abuses of process”

https://www.thecanary.co/skwawkbox/2026/06/06/filton-24-judge-thousands/

#Press #SocialMedia #UK #PalAction #PalestineAction #Trial #Judge #Complaint #AbuseOfProcess #Justice #Terrorism #Discrimination #Johnson #Retrial #Jury #Bias

“Thousands sign complaint ahead of hearing to remove ‘biased’ Filton judge”

by Skwawkbox with The Canary

@thecanaryuk
@uk_politics

“More than 3,000 people, including legal experts, have signed a formal complaint accusing the security service-linked presiding judge in the trial of six ‘Filton 24’ Palestine Action activists of bias and discriminatory conduct. The complaint comes in advance of a hearing on Monday 8 June on an application by the defendants for Jeremy Johnson’s removal from the case. Justice Jeremy Johnson on the grounds of apparent bias and abuses of process”

https://www.thecanary.co/skwawkbox/2026/06/06/filton-24-judge-thousands/

#Press #SocialMedia #UK #PalAction #PalestineAction #Trial #Judge #Complaint #AbuseOfProcess #Justice #Terrorism #Discrimination #Johnson #Retrial #Jury #Bias

“Yesterday I Learnt That Santander has Frozen My Accounts – No Reason Given – No Reason Needed – Opposition to Israel’s Genocide in Gaza is Enough”

by veteran Socialist & anti-Zionist campaigner, Tony #Greenstein, in his latest blogpost

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@[email protected]
@[email protected]
@iran
@uk_politics
@UKLabour

“The British State’s Attack & Banks’ Complicity in Attacking Palestine solidarity Activists is Financial Terrorism”

https://azvsas.blogspot.com/2026/06/yesterday-i-learnt-that-santander-has.html

#Press #SocialMedia #UK #Santander #Banks #Labour #Starmer #IsraelLobby #AntiZionism #AntiGenocide #Terrorism #PalestinianGenocide #Gaza #Israel #IsraelLobby #PalAction #Mafia #Albanese

“Yesterday I Learnt That Santander has Frozen My Accounts – No Reason Given – No Reason Needed – Opposition to Israel’s Genocide in Gaza is Enough”

by veteran Socialist & anti-Zionist campaigner, Tony #Greenstein, in his latest blogpost

@[email protected]
@[email protected]
@[email protected]
@iran
@uk_politics
@UKLabour

“The British State’s Attack & Banks’ Complicity in Attacking Palestine solidarity Activists is Financial Terrorism”

https://azvsas.blogspot.com/2026/06/yesterday-i-learnt-that-santander-has.html

#Press #SocialMedia #UK #Santander #Banks #Labour #Starmer #IsraelLobby #AntiZionism #AntiGenocide #Terrorism #PalestinianGenocide #Gaza #Israel #IsraelLobby #PalAction #Mafia #Albanese

*** MUST WATCH *** & please Boost!!

“UK seeks to jail Palestine Action for ‘terrorism’ amid UK media blackout’

via The Grayzone on YT

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@[email protected]
@[email protected]
@iran

“A shockingly corrupted trial that exposes the British state’s #weaponization of #censorship and secrecy laws has just begun.

The Grayzone's Max Blumenthal details how six activists from the direct action protest group #PalestineAction face #terrorism charges [..] – but the jury in the case is forbidden from knowing this.

The UK media is similarly banned from reporting on these facts, while the defendants in the case are blocked by court order from explaining their motives for damaging and occupying Israeli weapons factories on British soil.

[..]

Now, he argues, the British state is [..] rigging the trial and perverting whatever's left of democracy, all to preserve its special relationship with Israel.

https://youtu.be/rkzxhQU6QIM?si=1POrpN8aHEZ9_3Wg

#Press #SocialMedia #UK #Labour #PalAction #Starmer #PalestinianGenocide

*** MUST WATCH *** & please Boost!!

“UK seeks to jail Palestine Action for ‘terrorism’ amid UK media blackout’

via The Grayzone on YT

@[email protected]
@[email protected]
@[email protected]
@iran

“A shockingly corrupted trial that exposes the British state’s #weaponization of #censorship and secrecy laws has just begun.

The Grayzone's Max Blumenthal details how six activists from the direct action protest group #PalestineAction face #terrorism charges [..] – but the jury in the case is forbidden from knowing this.

The UK media is similarly banned from reporting on these facts, while the defendants in the case are blocked by court order from explaining their motives for damaging and occupying Israeli weapons factories on British soil.

[..]

Now, he argues, the British state is [..] rigging the trial and perverting whatever's left of democracy, all to preserve its special relationship with Israel.

https://youtu.be/rkzxhQU6QIM?si=1POrpN8aHEZ9_3Wg

#Press #SocialMedia #UK #Labour #PalAction #Starmer #PalestinianGenocide

“The UK Is Carrying Out A Rigged Trial Of The ' Filton Six' To Continue Palestine Action Crack Down”

by The Dissident on Substack

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@[email protected]
@iran
@UKLabour
@uk_politics

“On Saturday, Britain’s Zionist police state arrested 500 protestors in London’s Trafalgar Square for simply holding signs that read ‘I oppose genocide — I support Palestine Action’.

For context, Palestine Action is an anti-war activist group best known for disrupting and causing damage to the UK-based facilities of Elbit Systems, the Israeli arms manufacturing company that played a crucial role in the Gaza Genocide”

https://open.substack.com/pub/the307/p/the-uk-is-carrying-out-a-rigged-trial

#Press #SocialMedia #Gaza #PalestinianGenocide #Zionism #SettlerColonialism #Resistance #DismantleZionism #DecolonizePalestine #GlobaliseTheIntifada #Iran #War #Trump #Israel #Lebanon #Hezbollah #PalAction #UK #ElbitSystems #IsraelLobby #Labour #Starmer #FiltonSix #Trial #KangarooCourt #MetPolice

“The UK Is Carrying Out A Rigged Trial Of The ' Filton Six' To Continue Palestine Action Crack Down”

by The Dissident on Substack

@[email protected]
@[email protected]
@[email protected]
@iran
@UKLabour
@uk_politics

“On Saturday, Britain’s Zionist police state arrested 500 protestors in London’s Trafalgar Square for simply holding signs that read ‘I oppose genocide — I support Palestine Action’.

For context, Palestine Action is an anti-war activist group best known for disrupting and causing damage to the UK-based facilities of Elbit Systems, the Israeli arms manufacturing company that played a crucial role in the Gaza Genocide”

https://open.substack.com/pub/the307/p/the-uk-is-carrying-out-a-rigged-trial

#Press #SocialMedia #Gaza #PalestinianGenocide #Zionism #SettlerColonialism #Resistance #DismantleZionism #DecolonizePalestine #GlobaliseTheIntifada #Iran #War #Trump #Israel #Lebanon #Hezbollah #PalAction #UK #ElbitSystems #IsraelLobby #Labour #Starmer #FiltonSix #Trial #KangarooCourt #MetPolice

“Palestine Action activists defeat Starmer regime’s attempt to criminalise them (again)”

by Skwawkbox with the Canary

@uk_politics
@UKLabour
@[email protected]
@[email protected]
@[email protected]
@iran

“Three anti-genocide activists have again been found not guilty of violent disorder at an Israeli weapons factory in Bristol.

Palestine Action activists, Charlotte Head, Samuel Corner and Leona Kamio, were all acquitted at Woolwich Crown Court on Monday, 13 April.

The three had already defeated the charges when a jury refused to convict them. However, the Starmer regime ordered a retrial and was ‘secretly’ charging them with terrorism by linking the ordinary criminal charges to supposed terrorism, without informing the jury, to allow for longer sentences”

https://www.thecanary.co/skwawkbox/2026/04/13/palestine-action-activists-acquitted/

#Press #SocialMedia #Gaza #PalestinianGenocide #Zionism #SettlerColonialism #Resistance #DismantleZionism #DecolonizePalestine #GlobaliseTheIntifada #Iran #War #Trump #Israel #Lebanon #Hezbollah #PalAction #UK #Starmer

“Palestine Action activists defeat Starmer regime’s attempt to criminalise them (again)”

by Skwawkbox with the Canary

@uk_politics
@UKLabour
@[email protected]
@[email protected]
@[email protected]
@iran

“Three anti-genocide activists have again been found not guilty of violent disorder at an Israeli weapons factory in Bristol.

Palestine Action activists, Charlotte Head, Samuel Corner and Leona Kamio, were all acquitted at Woolwich Crown Court on Monday, 13 April.

The three had already defeated the charges when a jury refused to convict them. However, the Starmer regime ordered a retrial and was ‘secretly’ charging them with terrorism by linking the ordinary criminal charges to supposed terrorism, without informing the jury, to allow for longer sentences”

https://www.thecanary.co/skwawkbox/2026/04/13/palestine-action-activists-acquitted/

#Press #SocialMedia #Gaza #PalestinianGenocide #Zionism #SettlerColonialism #Resistance #DismantleZionism #DecolonizePalestine #GlobaliseTheIntifada #Iran #War #Trump #Israel #Lebanon #Hezbollah #PalAction #UK #Starmer

@zleap @Declassified_UK @uk_politics @UKLabour

“A fish rots from the head down!”

Not so @metpoliceuk?

#UK #MetPolice #AbuseOfPower #TerrorismAct2000 #Israel #Palestiniangenocide #PalAction #Proscription #Labour #Starmer

@zleap @Declassified_UK @uk_politics @UKLabour

“A fish rots from the head down!”

Not so @metpoliceuk?

#UK #MetPolice #AbuseOfPower #TerrorismAct2000 #Israel #Palestiniangenocide #PalAction #Proscription #Labour #Starmer

“[UK] Met[ropolitan] police refuse to say if it shared classified documents with Israel lobby groups”

by HG in The Canary

@thecanaryuk
@thecanary
@uk_politics

“The Met Police is refusing to admit the existence of a classified document, which pro-Israel groups used to lobby the government over the proscription of Palestine Action”

https://www.thecanary.co/uk/2026/02/06/%e2%81%a0met-police-israel-lobby-groups/

#Press #SocialMedia #UK #MetPolice #Israel #IsraelLobby #PalAction #Proscription #Terrorism #Labour #Starmer #WeBelieveInIsrael

“[UK] Met[ropolitan] police refuse to say if it shared classified documents with Israel lobby groups”

by HG in The Canary

@thecanaryuk
@thecanary
@uk_politics

“The Met Police is refusing to admit the existence of a classified document, which pro-Israel groups used to lobby the government over the proscription of Palestine Action”

https://www.thecanary.co/uk/2026/02/06/%e2%81%a0met-police-israel-lobby-groups/

#Press #SocialMedia #UK #MetPolice #Israel #IsraelLobby #PalAction #Proscription #Terrorism #Labour #Starmer #WeBelieveInIsrael

“The jury were right to acquit the Palestine Action defendants. Here's why”

by Jonathan Cook on Substack

@uk_politics
@[email protected]
@[email protected]
@[email protected]

“Jurors bravely set aside social conditioning, the natural instinct we all share to defer to authority, and expectations fomented by establishment media. Instead they considered the actual evidence”

https://open.substack.com/pub/jonathancook/p/the-jury-were-right-to-acquit-the

#Press #SocialMedia #UK #PalAction #UKPolitics #Elbit #Filton6 #Proscription #Acquittal #Charges #Terrorism

“The jury were right to acquit the Palestine Action defendants. Here's why”

by Jonathan Cook on Substack

@uk_politics
@[email protected]
@[email protected]
@[email protected]

“Jurors bravely set aside social conditioning, the natural instinct we all share to defer to authority, and expectations fomented by establishment media. Instead they considered the actual evidence”

https://open.substack.com/pub/jonathancook/p/the-jury-were-right-to-acquit-the

#Press #SocialMedia #UK #PalAction #UKPolitics #Elbit #Filton6 #Proscription #Acquittal #Charges #Terrorism

Victory for Palestine Action as “Filton 6” Acquitted

Six Palestine Action activists who broke into an Israeli arms factory in the UK have been acquitted or not convicted of all charges against them.

Campaigners told The Electronic Intifada on Wednesday that the result was a “monumental” and “total” victory.

After eight days of deliberation in January and February, the jury either acquitted or refused to convict Charlotte Head, Samuel Corner, Leona Kamio, Fatema Zainab Rajwani, Zoe Rogers and Jordan Devlin of all charges.

Five out of the six were released on bail Wednesday evening.

All six were found not guilty of aggravated burglary, the most serious charge which could have led to life sentences.

The six activists were arrested on site in August 2024 and held on remand for 17 months.

They were the first of a total of 24 defendants to face trials relating to the invasion and smashing of a factory in Filton, near Bristol in the west of England, owned by a subsidiary of Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest weapons manufacturer.

The group of 24 includes some of the prisoners who recently went on a hunger strike.

Once inside, the group destroyed Israeli quadcopter drones, which have been used frequently to massacre Palestinians in Gaza.

During the trial, acquitted defendant Fatema Zainab Rajwani (a third-year film student at the time of the action) was open that, “I damaged drones which is what I went in to do.” She commented on video footage shown to the court, saying, “That is me dismantling a quadcopter drone with a crowbar,” and explaining that the group wanted to “document the presence of quadcopters and [Elbit’s] crimes.”

Fourteen other defendants were rounded up by Britain’s feared Counter Terrorism Police, in a series of violent pre-dawn raids in November 2024 and July last year.

A Palestine Action source told The Electronic Intifada on Wednesday that the remaining Filton 24 prisoners will now appeal to be released on bail.

Such prisoners can usually be held on remand before trial for up to six months. But the politicization and fallacious government “terrorism” campaign against the group – in connivance with Israel – meant that the campaigners have been held on remand for as long as 17 months.

Not guilty

In addition to beating the most serious charge, the jury acquitted Fatema Zainab Rajwani, Zoe Rogers and Jordan Devlin of violent disorder. It refused to convict Charlotte Head, Samuel Corner and Leona Kamio of the same charge.

Samuel Corner was also not convicted of “grievous bodily harm with intent” for allegedly striking a police officer.

Crucially, the jury refused to convict any of the defendants of criminal damage.

Yet five of the group had admitted in court to destroying Israeli weapons and equipment belonging to Elbit at the factory.

That the jury could not reach a majority verdict on some of the lesser charges means in theory that there could be retrails in some cases – though that is not expected to have a realistic chance of success.

That is why the sixth defendant, Samuel Corner, was not immediately released on bailed on Wednesday. Government prosecutors asked the court for more time to decide if they wanted to pursue a retrial in relation to the grievous bodily harm charge.

The Palestine Action source also said that certain issues relating to matters under reporting restrictions imposed by the judge in this trial meant that the verdict was the best possible outcome for the group.

The source said that the verdict represented a “total victory” for the six Palestine Action campaigners.

Most of the remaining “Filton 24” group have been held on draconian remand for months – for more than a year in some cases.

But one, Sean Middlebrough, escaped during a short-term release in November last year. In an exclusive statement, he told The Electronic Intifada that he was not on the run, and was instead “refusing to be held as a prisoner of war of Israel in a British prison.”

Government ministers such as former Home Secretary Yvette Cooper attempted to portray the Filton activists as violent criminals who assaulted a police officer. The British press for the most part obediently parroted such claims and insinuations.

But during this “Filton 6” trial, body-cam footage released to the jury – some of which can be viewed in the video above – showed the exact opposite: Elbit security guards apparently assaulting the activists with sledgehammers.

In a statement released on Wednesday the Filton 24 Defence Committee said the result was a “monumental victory.”

The committee detailed how the trial unfolded.

According to the committee, the verdicts demonstrated that “the jury did not accept the prosecution case that the defendants entered the Elbit weapons factory with the intention of using the items they carried as weapons.”

They said that instead the “jury agreed with the defense argument, that the defendants’ sole intention was to use the items, including sledgehammers, as tools to disarm Israeli weapons … The jury understood that it is not those who destroy Israeli weapons which are guilty, rather the guilty party is the one that deploys such weapons to commit genocide in Gaza.”

The trial also revealed that footage went missing from a number of Elbit’s internal CCTV cameras covering key angles, the committee said. The security guards’ body-worn videos had also been repeatedly turned off and on, as well as edited by Elbit.

Twenty-first century suffragettes

Defense lawyer Rajiv Menon compared the six to the suffragettes – women who demanded the right to vote. In the early 20th century, the suffragettes were routinely denounced as “terrorists and extremists,” although “the reality of course is very different,” Menon said.

The lawyer also said that Judge Jeremy Johnson tried to exclude evidence on Elbit Systems, and interrupted when counsel for the defense asked questions about the Israeli weapons manufacturer.

Menon said that the judge “has restricted what the defendants have been allowed to tell you … what they knew about Elbit’s role in the Israeli attack on Gaza. The consequence of that is that you do not know everything that the defendants knew about Elbit before” they took action against the factory.

The lawyer told the jury that Elbit is a “massive weapons company that has played a critical role in the killing of tens of thousands of Palestinians.”

At the end of the evidence, the judge told the jury that the “situation in the Middle East” and Elbit’s operations are “not relevant” to the case and directed the jury to “follow the legal directions I’ve given you and not anything else.”

The judge also issued a series of reporting restrictions on the case. As a result, I am still prevented from reporting certain details here.

Nonetheless, because the case was heard in open court, I am able to report the following.

During the trial, a juror asked whether they were allowed to acquit because the defendants genuinely believed that they were destroying weapons to prevent their use in genocide.

The judge’s response was “no.”

Trials of the remaining Filton 24 prisoners are still due to happen at some point in the future.

Blow to UK and Israel

Clare Rogers, the mother of defendant Zoe Rogers and a relentless campaigner in her own right said in the committee’s statement that “these are six young people of conscience … They had tried everything else – marches, petitions, writing to MPs, encampments … They felt they had no option but to take action themselves, to try to save as many lives as they could.”

The verdicts are a severe blow to the UK government’s attempt to smear Palestine campaigners as violent criminals and “terrorists.”

In a controversial move last July the home secretary banned Palestine Action as a “terrorist” group, marking the first time ever a non-violent protest group had been outlawed under Britain’s draconian Terrorism Act of 2000.

Activist lisa minerva luxx, from the Filton 24 Defence Committee, criticized the government for prejudicing the trial: “This was a trial by media. Yvette Cooper and [Prime Minister] Keir Starmer took evidence in this case out of context and broadcast it on televisions and tabloids across the country in order to justify proscribing Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation.”

With the result of a legal challenge to that ban expected any week now, the verdict also represents a serious blow to the credibility of that proscription.

This is despite the government – and even the legal system – going to the greatest lengths to try and stitch up this case.

There are also serious implications for the continuing right to trial by jury in the UK.

The fact that a jury of their peers acquitted or refused to convict the first six of the Filton 24 shows the importance and the democratic potential of jury trials.

It is exactly for those reasons that the UK government is seeking to abolish, or seriously erode, the right to trial by jury in the UK. In large part, these so-called “reforms” seem to be targeted precisely at supporting Israel and preventing juries from acquitting according to their conscience.

source: Electronic Intifada

“Palestine Action Judicial Review”

by Craig Murray in Craig’s Substack on Substack

@uk_politics

“I attach the full text of Lord Young’s decision granting the Scottish judicial review of the proscription of Palestine Action. [..] we have a realistic chance of success on our three grounds - failure to consult, disproportionate limitation of freedom of assembly, disproportionate limitation of freedom of speech”

https://open.substack.com/pub/craigmurrayorg/p/palestine-action-judicial-review

#Press #UK #PalAction #Scotland #JudicialReview #Murray

“Palestine Action Judicial Review”

by Craig Murray in Craig’s Substack on Substack

@uk_politics

“I attach the full text of Lord Young’s decision granting the Scottish judicial review of the proscription of Palestine Action. [..] we have a realistic chance of success on our three grounds - failure to consult, disproportionate limitation of freedom of assembly, disproportionate limitation of freedom of speech”

https://open.substack.com/pub/craigmurrayorg/p/palestine-action-judicial-review

#Press #UK #PalAction #Scotland #JudicialReview #Murray

Pal Action Prisoner Umer Khalid Refuses Water in Escalating Hunger Strike

Umer Khalid, a Palestine Action activist on hunger strike plans to start refusing fluids as well as food, tstating that he hopes his “drastic action” pressures the government into engaging with his protest demands.

Khalid stopped eating 13 days ago. He is currently receiving fluids with electrolytes, sugars and salts but said he will stop drinking altogether from Saturday.

While the body can survive for weeks without food, dehydration is certain to have fatal consequences in a far shorter time.

The escalation comes days after three other hunger-striking remand prisoners affiliated with Palestine Action ended their protests, claiming victory.

“The only thing that seems to have any impact, whether that is positive or negative, is drastic action,” Khalid, 22, told bourgeios media from prison via an intermediary. “The strike reflects the severity of this imprisonment. Being in this prison is not living life. Our lives have been paused. The world spins, and we sit in a concrete room. This strike reflects the severity of my demands.”

Khalid is calling for immediate bail; an end to alleged censorship in prison – authorities have been accused of withholding mail, calls and books and denying visitation rights; an inquiry into British involvement in Zionist military operations in Gaza; and the release of surveillance footage from Royal Air Force (RAF) spy flights that flew over Gaza on April 1, 2024, when British aid workers were killed in a Zionist fascist attack.

Khalid is among five activists accused of breaking into the United Kingdom’s largest airbase, RAF Brize Norton, in Oxfordshire in June and spray-painting two Voyager refuelling and transport planes. The incident, which was claimed by Palestine Action, caused millions of pounds worth of damage, according to the British government, which later absurdly proscribed the protest group as a “terrorist” organisation.

Critics have condemned the ban as illiberal overreach, given that Palestine Action’s stated objective is to use nonviolent means to counter the Zionist genocidal war against Palestinians and what it says is British complicity in it.

Khalid denies the charges against him of conspiracy to commit criminal damage and conspiracy to enter a prohibited place for purposes prejudicial to the safety or interests of the UK.

He is part of a collective of eight remand prisoners linked to Palestine Action that began a rolling hunger strike in November. Last week, three of them – two of whom were on the brink of death – ended their protests. Khalid is the only one still refusing food.

Those now refeeding said improved prison rights signalled a concession. The UK’s reported denial of a defence contract to Elbit, Israel’s largest weapons manufacturer, is also being interpreted by them as a win.

Throughout the hunger strike, the British government said it has no power over the issue of bail because it is a matter for the judiciary to decide. The government also insisted that prison welfare procedures are being followed.

As for Khalid’s other demands, last year, the opposition Labour Party blocked a bill tabled by the left-wing lawmaker Jeremy Corbyn backing an official inquiry into Britain’s involvement in the war on Gaza.

And in April, the Ministry of Defence told The Times newspaper that it had video footage from an RAF surveillance plane that had flown over Gaza on the day of the Zionist strike that killed the aid workers but could not disclose any further details, citing national security.

Britain has said it flew spy planes over Gaza during the occupation’s onslaught to locate missing captives, but critics have raised questions about possible intelligence sharing with the Zionist entity.

Asim Qureshi, research director at the campaign group Cage, told Al Jazeera that the government’s refusal to meet with Khalid to negotiate on his demands “indicates their lack of concern for the life of this man, who is acting based on his principles within the context of a genocide”.

Three Hunger Strikers End Their Strike After Elbit Denied British Contract; Umer Khalid Continues Strike for 6th Day

On 14 January 2026, three of the Prisoners for Palestine — Heba Muraisi, Kamran Ahmad and Lewie C. — announced that they were ending their hunger strike (as they approached imminent death), following the announcement by the British government that Elbit Systems had been denied a £2 billion army training contract with the Ministry of Defence, after widespread reporting that Elbit would receive the contract. Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network salutes the Prisoners for Palestine and all of the hunger strikers on this important achievement and upon their sacrifice in the struggle for Palestinian liberation.

At the same time, Umer Khalid, another Prisoner for Palestine and one of the Brize Norton 5, has resumed his hunger strike. He has been repeatedly held in solitary confinement and denied his religious rights, while being held on remand for a trial that is not scheduled until January 2027. Umer says, “We must now continue to crush the protective skull of Zionism, which is the UK’s political and military support, under the weight of our collective mobilisation and action. Are you on the outside afraid of consequences when this life is so short? So let them keep us here as long as they want, because you can’t imprison resistance and you can’t kill a revolution. Liberation is a promise and victory is coming insha’Allah.” Umer previously conducted a hunger strike from 4-16 December 2025. It is urgent that we continue to support Umer Khalid and all of the prisoners for Palestine in British and other imperialist jails, imprisoned as part and parcel of imperialist complicity with Zionist genocide in Palestine.

STATEMENT – PRISONERS 4 PALESTINE – 14 JANUARY 2026

After 73 days of hunger strikes which began on Balfour Day, 2 November 2025, as some prisoners are facing imminent death, Heba Muraisi, Kamran Ahmed, and Lewie have ended their hunger strikes.

The decision to end their hunger strikes came as it was revealed that Elbit Systems UK was denied a vital £2 billion army training contract with the Ministry of Defence, a key demand of the hunger strikers.

The contract, which would have seen Elbit Systems provide training to the British Army over ten years, was lost despite the best efforts of officials in both the Ministry of Defence and the British Army, who it was revealed had been colluding with both Elbit Systems UK and its parent company Elbit Systems in backroom meetings and ‘tours’ to the capital of Palestine, Jerusalem, in a desperate attempt to further entrench their genocidal alliance and help them win the contract.

The abrupt cancellation of this deal is a resounding victory for the hunger strikers, who resisted with their incarcerated bodies in order to shed light on the role of Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest weapons manufacturer, in the colonization and occupation of Palestine. Since 2012, Elbit has won 25 public contracts in the UK totaling more than £333 million; the loss of this £2 billion contract marks a significant shift in this sordid “strategic alliance.” With this victory, it has never been clearer that Elbit’s days in Britain are numbered.

In addition to this key demand being met, we want to take this opportunity to celebrate the various victories achieved throughout the duration of the hunger strike:

In the past few weeks alone, hundreds of people have signed up to take action against the genocidal military-industrial complex, more than the number of people who took action with Palestine Action over its five-year campaign. During that five-year campaign, Israeli weapons factories were shut down. Elbit Systems is living on stolen time—we will see it shut down for good, not because of the government, but because of the people.

Heba Muraisi’s transfer to HMP Bronzefield has been accepted by HMP New Hall, where she is currently being held in intentional isolation from her family and friends.

T. Hoxha has been offered a meeting with the head of JEXU (Joint Extremism Unit) at her prison, the very same organization that orchestrates the prisoners’ treatment as ‘terrorists’.

Despite the cruel and constant medical neglect of the hunger strikers, including not logging food refusals, refusal of ambulances in life-threatening emergencies, and degrading treatment in hospitals, the national heads of prison healthcare have met with us at the behest of the Ministry of Justice.

During the hunger strike, some of the prisoners started receiving bulk packages of withelped mail, and in one case received an apology from prison staff for a letter that was delayed by six months. Books on topics of Gaza and feminism have also been given after months of waiting.

In pursuit of a fair trial, the hunger strikers demanded disclosure of export licenses for the last 5 years from Elbit Systems. After repeated requests, this information was disclosed to an independent researcher by the Department of Trade during the hunger strike.

The continued printing of the blood will remain on the stain on Britain’s facade of being a “democratic” country, with no sliver of law and order.

This pathetic and cowardly British government cannot resist authoritarianism; it uses fear to deter rightful protest and dissent, echoing the use of administrative detention against the Palestinian people.

The hunger strike has cemented this fact to the country, and across the world: Britain has political prisoners in service of a foreign genocidal regime. In a time of worsening political repression and widespread propaganda about a non-existent ‘ceasefire’ in Gaza, the hunger strike stands as a testament to continued defiance.

The hunger strikers have allowed those of us who were fearful of state repression to be brave—to go out once again onto the streets and fight for justice. The government should know they cannot ban a concept. Cowardly banning one group cannot stop a belief, a movement, a people. This is only the start of our collective fight to free us all, and the road to freedom runs through Palestine.

At the end of his hunger strike, on Elbit losing the £2 billion contract, Lewie said:

It is definitely a time for celebration. A time to rejoice and to embrace our joy as revolution and as liberation… We do this because of Palestine, because we’ve been inspired, because we’ve been tempted to take action and to try to realize our dreams for a free Palestine, for an emancipated world.

As these victories are declared, we turn our efforts and attention to Umer Khalid, the last remaining hunger striker, who continues to use his body as a weapon against the state in pursuit of justice.

source: Samidoun

Irreversible Damage: Palestine Action Hunger Strike Nears 70 Days

Twelve days into the new year, two of the imprisoned members of Palestine Action, Heba Muraisi and Kamran Ahmed, have entered what doctors describe as the most dangerous and medically irreversible phase of the hunger strike. Their protest has become a matter of survival, placing unprecedented pressure on the British prison system, now facing one of its most serious political hunger strikes in decades.

Medical professionals, including Dr. James Smith, warn that after two months without sustenance, the human body begins cannibalizing itself to sustain basic organ function. Fat reserves are exhausted, muscle tissue is broken down, and the risk of organ failure escalates rapidly. According to doctors who have either examined the prisoners or reviewed their conditions, the hunger strikers’ bodies are now “breaking down”, with some experiencing severe neurological impairment.

Several activists have already been forced to suspend or end their strikes in recent weeks after reaching the brink of death. Teuta Hoxha was among those who halted her protest following acute medical deterioration.

Reports from inside the prison system and from visiting physicians describe conditions that are increasingly dire. Activists have suffered partial loss of vision and hearing, tremors, and loss of motor control. Heba Muraisi, the longest fasting member of the group, is reportedly struggling to breathe. This suggests that the muscles responsible for respiration are beginning to fail. Last week, Kamran Ahmed was transferred to hospital after his condition became life-threatening.

Observers have increasingly drawn parallels between the current hunger strike and the 1981 Irish Republican hunger strike, the largest and most politically charged prison protest in modern British history. That strike, which led to the deaths of ten prisoners, including Bobby Sands, reshaped British and Irish politics and forced international attention onto the conditions inside UK-controlled prisons.

The current strike is now widely regarded as the most prominent in UK prisons since 1981, both in terms of duration and the scale of political implications it carries. As in 1981, prisoners have turned to their own bodies as a final means of protest after legal and institutional avenues failed to produce relief.

On New Year’s Eve, Belfast saw hundreds of Irish people gathering in solidarity with the starving activists whose struggle serves as a reminder of what happened 44 years ago. Standing beneath a mural of Bobby Sands, Pat Sheehan, a survivor of the 1981 Irish Republican hunger strike, warned in comments to Al Jazeera that history is once again approaching a deadly threshold. Sheehan, who spent 55 days on hunger strike before it was called off, said he was “in theory… the next person to die” when the protest ended. By that point, he recalled, his liver was failing, his eyesight had deteriorated, and he was vomiting bile. “Once you pass 40 days, you’re entering the danger zone,” he said, adding that those currently fasting for more than 50 days “must be very weak now.” Yet Sheehan noted that hunger strikes often harden resolve as they continue, explaining that if participants are psychologically prepared, “their psychological strength will increase the longer the hunger strike goes on.”

Appeals from lawyers, doctors, and MPs to British ministers to intervene have been met with outright refusal. Government officials argue that engaging with the hunger strikers would “create perverse incentives that would encourage more people to put themselves at risk through hunger strikes.” The government has attempted to normalize the situation by suggesting that hunger strikes are routine within the prison system. According to The Guardian, officials have claimed that “over the last five years we have averaged over 200 hunger strike incidents every year,” implying that no extraordinary response is warranted. However, the figures cited refer primarily to short-term food refusals by individual prisoners, a fundamentally different phenomenon from a prolonged, collective hunger strike that now presents an imminent risk of death by starvation.

Frome police raids of pro-Palestine marches, to the alienation of activists and the cowardly official response, a non-surprising pattern takes shape as the United Kingdom continues to uphold a legacy of imperialism and genocide affiliation. Yet the hunger strikers remain intent on carrying on until their demands are met.

source: Al Akhbar

“36 Minute Trial And No Jury - Starmer’s Fascist Mass Court”

by Craig Murray in Craig’s Substack on Substack

@uk_politics
@UKLabour

“Those charged with terrorism for supporting #PalestineAction will have no jury in trials limited to 36 minutes each, with prison sentences up to six months. These are the plans for Starmer Courts for mass trials of anti-Genocide protestors”

https://open.substack.com/pub/craigmurrayorg/p/36-minutes-trial-and-no-jury-starmers

#Press #UK #Starmer #Terrorism #Trials #PalAction #Labour #Dictatorship #Fascism #Protest

“36 Minute Trial And No Jury - Starmer’s Fascist Mass Court”

by Craig Murray in Craig’s Substack on Substack

@uk_politics
@UKLabour

“Those charged with terrorism for supporting #PalestineAction will have no jury in trials limited to 36 minutes each, with prison sentences up to six months. These are the plans for Starmer Courts for mass trials of anti-Genocide protestors”

https://open.substack.com/pub/craigmurrayorg/p/36-minutes-trial-and-no-jury-starmers

#Press #UK #Starmer #Terrorism #Trials #PalAction #Labour #Dictatorship #Fascism #Protest

PFLP Expresses its Full Solidarity With the Heroes of “Palestine Action” on Hunger Strike, Holds the British Regime Responsible for Their Lives

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine expresses its complete and unlimited solidarity with the heroes of the “Palestine Action” movement who are on hunger strike in British prisons, and whose health condition has entered the stage of extreme danger. As a result of their insistence on confronting the colonial system of oppression with empty hearts, in defense of Palestinian rights and in rejection of the British government’s complicity in the war of extermination.

The Front holds the British Labor Party government fully responsible for the lives of the strikers, considering that the policy of deliberate medical negligence practiced by the British authorities against these activists, leaving them to face slow death, is a carbon copy of what the criminal Zionist occupation practices against our heroic prisoners, which reaffirms that the killer and the colonizer are one, and the repressive policy towards supporters of freedom is indivisible.

The arbitrary arrest without trial that the “Palestine Action” activists are subjected to, and the classification of their movement as a “terrorist” organization, is a moral and legal decline that reflects the Starmer government’s complete dependence on the dictates of the influential Zionist lobby.

The Front denounces the blatant contradiction of the British government; While it feigns calls to stop the war, it is actually complicit in the annihilation of Gaza and obstructing the international prosecution of the war criminal Netanyahu by the International Criminal Court, and at the same time it is waging a repressive campaign against its honorable citizens who are rising up to close the Elbit Systems factories that are killing our children.

The struggle of the peoples to stop this attack against freedom activists is one struggle, whether in London, New York, Berlin or Gaza, and we call on the living and free forces in Britain and the world to escalate popular and trade union pressure to save the lives of the strikers, and to stand in the face of these repressive measures that have crossed all the red lines and international laws that Britain praises.

Time is running out, and the lives of the activists are in danger. We demand their immediate release, and the repeal of the unjust decisions banning their peaceful activity against genocide.

Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
Central Information Department
December 21, 2025

“Video: Police ‘strangle’ doctor unconscious as she tries to help hunger striker”

by Skwawkbox with The Canary

@thecanaryuk
@uk_politics
@[email protected]
@[email protected]
@[email protected]

“NHS medic, Olivia Brandon, has accused #SurreyPolice of strangling her until she lost consciousness. This incident occurred during a protest to secure help for a dying anti-genocide hunger strikers”

https://www.thecanary.co/skwawkbox/2025/12/22/police-strangle-doctor/

#Press #UK #Strangulation #HungerStrikers #PalAction #Filton24 #AbuseOfPower #PoliticalPolicing

“Video: Police ‘strangle’ doctor unconscious as she tries to help hunger striker”

by Skwawkbox with The Canary

@thecanaryuk
@uk_politics
@[email protected]
@[email protected]
@[email protected]

“NHS medic, Olivia Brandon, has accused #SurreyPolice of strangling her until she lost consciousness. This incident occurred during a protest to secure help for a dying anti-genocide hunger strikers”

https://www.thecanary.co/skwawkbox/2025/12/22/police-strangle-doctor/

#Press #UK #Strangulation #HungerStrikers #PalAction #Filton24 #AbuseOfPower #PoliticalPolicing

“BREAKING: hunger strikers launch legal action against Lammy”

by Skwawkbox with The Canary

@thecanaryuk
@uk_politics
@[email protected]
@[email protected]
@[email protected]

“The six [#Filton24] hunger strikers [..] have launched legal action against ‘justice’ secretary David #Lammy, with a ‘letter before action’ (LBA) for a #formal #judicial #review of [their] treatment [by the UK govt]”

https://www.thecanary.co/skwawkbox/2025/12/22/hunger-strikers-launch-legal-action/

#Press #HungerStrike #PalAction #Starvation #Repression #Starmer #Labour #AbuseOfPower #LegalAction

“BREAKING: hunger strikers launch legal action against Lammy”

by Skwawkbox with The Canary

@thecanaryuk
@uk_politics
@[email protected]
@[email protected]
@[email protected]

“The six [#Filton24] hunger strikers [..] have launched legal action against ‘justice’ secretary David #Lammy, with a ‘letter before action’ (LBA) for a #formal #judicial #review of [their] treatment [by the UK govt]”

https://www.thecanary.co/skwawkbox/2025/12/22/hunger-strikers-launch-legal-action/

#Press #HungerStrike #PalAction #Starvation #Repression #Starmer #Labour #AbuseOfPower #LegalAction

“Councillor goes on hunger strike over Filton 24 political prisoners”

by Skwawkbox with The Canary

@thecanaryuk
@[email protected]
@[email protected]
@[email protected]
@UKLabour

“Islington councillor Ilkay Cinko-Oner is holding an individual vigil and 24-hour fast [..] outside her #Labour MP’s office in solidarity with hunger-striking anti-genocide activists held as political prisoners without trial by the Starmer government”

https://www.thecanary.co/skwawkbox/2025/12/16/councillor-hunger-strike-islington/

#Press #UK #PalAction #HungerStrike #Filton24 #Starmer

“Councillor goes on hunger strike over Filton 24 political prisoners”

by Skwawkbox with The Canary

@thecanaryuk
@[email protected]
@[email protected]
@[email protected]
@UKLabour

“Islington councillor Ilkay Cinko-Oner is holding an individual vigil and 24-hour fast [..] outside her #Labour MP’s office in solidarity with hunger-striking anti-genocide activists held as political prisoners without trial by the Starmer government”

https://www.thecanary.co/skwawkbox/2025/12/16/councillor-hunger-strike-islington/

#Press #UK #PalAction #HungerStrike #Filton24 #Starmer

“How a Palestine Action hunger striker was left on her cell floor”

by Katherine Hearst in Middle East Eye

@[email protected]
@[email protected]
@[email protected]
@BBC5Live
@BBCRadio4
@BBCNews
@AlJazeera

“The friends of a #PalestineAction-affiliated prisoner currently on hunger strike say she [Qesser Zuhrah] was left to lie on her cell floor with worsening chest pains while the prison refused repeated requests to call an ambulance”

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/can-you-get-ambulance-im-scared-how-palestine-action-hunger-striker-was-left-her-cell-floor

#Press #PalAction #HungerStrike #Zuhrah #Prison #Brutality

Eight Prisoners for Palestine in Critical Phase of Hunger Strike, UK Government Accused of Lying

Eight prisoners alleged to have taken part in actions in support of Palestine are now in a critical phase of their hunger strike in British prisons, with some entering their 38th day without food. Medical professionals have warned that the activists face life-threatening health complications, yet the UK government has been accused of deliberately ignoring their plight.

Critical health deterioration

The hunger strikers, held across multiple facilities including HMP Bronzefield, HMP Pentonville, HMP New Hall, HMP Peterborough, HMP Bristol, and HMP Wormwood Scrubs, are experiencing severe health decline:

Qesser Zuhrah (HMP Bronzefield) – On her 38th day of hunger strike, Zuhrah has lost significant weight and is “unable to sleep,” according to friends. Despite her deteriorating condition, she remains committed to the strike.

Amu Gib (HMP Bronzefield) – Also 38 days into the strike, Gib has lost over 10 kilograms and is suffering from deep exhaustion. Green Party deputy leader Mothin Ali, who visited Gib on December 3, described them as being on their “last legs.”

Kamran Ahmed (HMP Pentonville) – Has been hospitalised twice, most recently on December 9, for the second time. Ahmed collapsed with dangerously low blood sugar levels, indicating hypoglycaemia, and has reported progressive dizziness, chest tightness, and an inability to stand steady. According to Prisoners for Palestine, his ketone levels reached dangerous heights before his second hospitalisation. Ahmed has lost substantial weight and continues his hunger strike despite medical intervention.

Jon Cink (HMP Bronzefield) – Has lost 12 kilograms since beginning his strike on November 6, now weighing just 47 kilograms. Doctors have expressed serious concern about his kidney function and strain. Close friend Joseph Knight reported that medical checks have been “inconsistent” and alleged that on one occasion the medical team failed to test Cink’s ketone levels because they lacked the necessary equipment, and a nurse “didn’t take his temperature because she didn’t feel like it.”

Teuta Hoxha (HMP Peterborough) – Was hospitalised on November 27 after 20 days on hunger strike. She is experiencing dangerously low blood pressure and breathlessness, and supporters fear she will require immediate re-hospitalisation. According to Prisoners for Palestine, the prison refused her multiple requests for masks and winter clothing, resulting in her developing a cold.

Heba Muraisi (HMP New Hall) – Joined the strike on November 5 and fears “hospitalisation is imminent.” She has lost over 10 kilograms and is experiencing severe deterioration.

Lewie Chiaramello (HMP Bristol) – The eighth and newest hunger striker, Chiaramello has been without food for 15 days. Due to his diabetes, his blood sugar levels are fluctuating dangerously between very high and very low. Prison doctors have expressed concerns about long-term implications for his health.

Muhammad Umer Khalid (HMP Wormwood Scrubs) – The 22-year-old joined the open-ended hunger strike on December 4. Despite being just five days into his strike, Prisoners for Palestine reports he is “struggling to sit up,” experiencing “a lot of pain,” and “deteriorating much faster than expected.” He has not yet received his medical checks.

Dr. James Smith, an NHS emergency doctor who has been in regular contact with the prisoners’ families, issued a stark warning: “For someone who was previously well, with no other underlying medical issues, [at] around six to eight weeks [on hunger strike], there’s a very, very high risk of death.”

Alleged medical neglect and inhumane treatment

The prisoners and their supporters have documented what they describe as systematic medical neglect and inhumane treatment:

– Medical teams were initially slow to respond when the strike began, refusing requests for electrolytes and medical attention for nine days, despite Ministry of Justice guidelines requiring “full initial medical assessment” for prisoners refusing food.

– When Ahmed was first hospitalised in late November, paramedics initially refused to take him from the prison, stating “there was nothing they could do if he wouldn’t eat.”

– During his hospitalisation, Ahmed was refused all communication with family and solicitors. When he requested to contact his next of kin before accepting treatment, an officer told him: “You either get treated or go back to prison, you can’t make a phone call.”

– Ahmed reported being forced to walk through gravel in his socks while handcuffed to an officer, after his shoes were taken away, leaving him to use shared hospital bathrooms barefoot.

– The entire hospital ward was locked down due to Ahmed’s presence, and doctors were allegedly “directed not to give any updates about anyone on the ward at all.”

– Both Zuhrah and Cink had their next of kin contacts changed to HMP Bronzefield when transferred to hospital on December 3, preventing their families from being notified of their whereabouts.

– Supporters report that medical checks have been “inconsistent and change day by day,” with some checks simply not being performed.

Lammy confrontation and accusations of lying

On December 9, Justice Secretary David Lammy was confronted by protesters and family members of the hunger strikers outside his constituency office. In video footage that has circulated widely, Lammy claimed he “didn’t know anything” about the prisoners’ cases.

Shahmina Alam, sister of hunger striker Kamran Ahmed, told Lammy directly: “We’ve been waiting for you to respond and the Ministry of Justice to respond.”

When presented with the letter that had been sent to him at the beginning of November, alerting him to the planned strike and outlining the participants’ demands, Lammy replied: “I didn’t know anything about this.”

MP Zarah Sultana, who visited Qesser Zuhrah at HMP Bronzefield on December 9, was unequivocal in her response: “I’ve written to David Lammy, so the fact he’s saying he doesn’t know about this is a lie.”

The Ministry of Justice later responded to the controversy, stating: “The reporting is wrong. The letter in question was delegated to an appropriate minister as is usual with departmental correspondence.” However, this response has done little to quell concerns that the government is deliberately avoiding engagement with the crisis.

In the video, as Lammy attempted to leave, protesters shouted after him: “There’s been four weeks of hunger strikes, why have you said nothing?”

Extended pre-trial detention and terror legislation

All eight prisoners are being held on remand without trial, with many facing nearly two years in detention before their cases are heard. Most are part of the “Filton 24” case, accused of involvement in an August 2024 action against an Elbit Systems factory in Filton, Bristol, where over £1 million in damage was allegedly caused. Three others face charges related to a June 2025 protest at RAF Brize Norton, where military supply planes were allegedly daubed with red paint.

Kamran Ahmed’s case exemplifies the judicial irregularities the prisoners face. Arrested on November 19, 2024, he has now been held for nearly 13 months. Judge Bobbie Cheema-Grubb ordered him to be bailed in February 2025 at Crown Court, but government prosecutors immediately appealed, and Ahmed was not released. Not only was his bail overturned at the High Court, but according to his sister, Judge Cheema-Grubb was immediately removed from judging similar cases.

Political visits and growing support

The hunger strike has drawn political attention, with Sultana becoming the second politician to visit the strikers, following Green Party Deputy Leader Mothin Ali’s visit on December 3. Jeremy Corbyn is scheduled to visit the prison on December 10.

Ali described the conditions as “inhumane” and “an affront to human decency,” telling Middle East Eye that both Gib and Cink were on their “last legs.” He emphasised that the activists are “only holding on because of their youth.”

MPs Jeremy Corbyn, Zarah Sultana, and John McDonnell met with families and friends of the hunger strikers on December 4, with supporters warning that “time is running out.”

Democratic Socialists of Your Party (DSYP) issued a solidarity statement on December 9, expressing “love, admiration and solidarity for the hunger strikers” and calling the action “the biggest collective hunger strike in the prisons of the British state since the Irish Republican hunger strike of 1981.”

Media blackout concerns

Supporters have raised concerns about what they describe as a deliberate UK media blackout on the hunger strike. Francesca Nadin, spokesperson for Prisoners for Palestine, told The Electronic Intifada that there has been “almost a complete blackout in the mainstream media about this story,” despite its historical significance.

Sultana echoed these concerns, stating: “I think there are editors who refuse to cover this, and they’ll use all sorts of reasons as to why, just because they don’t want to profile the hunger strike because of it being about genocide.”

The lack of coverage stands in stark contrast to the scale of the crisis and its historical significance as the largest hunger strike in Britain since 1981.

Historical significance and stakes

The Prisoners for Palestine hunger strike represents the most significant collective hunger strike in British prisons since 1981, when 10 Irish Republican prisoners died after refusing food in the H-Blocks of the Maze Prison in the north of Ireland.

Teuta Hoxha wrote in a statement: “Our demands are simple, and I want it stated for the record that our collective strike should only be interpreted as a will to live, using nothing but our hunger to resist the imperial war machine. We are prepared to push to the very end for these rights. Any harm we sustain lies at the door of the government.”

As the hunger strike enters its most dangerous phase, with prisoners reaching the point where medical experts warn of imminent risk of death, the British government faces mounting pressure to engage with the prisoners’ demands. The accusations of deliberate ignorance and the documented medical neglect have intensified calls for immediate action.

Prisoners for Palestine emphasises: “Our prisoners are reaching a critical point.”

The coming days will prove crucial as the health of all eight hunger strikers continues to deteriorate. Without government intervention, Britain may face its first hunger strike deaths since the 1981 tragedy that left ten Irish Republicans dead and scarred the nation’s conscience for decades.

Sul Nowroz
Source: Al Mayadeen

https://abolitionmedia.noblogs.org/?p=25543

#europe #hungerStrike #palAction #palestine #repression #resistance #Solidarity #uk

“8 Palestine Action Prisoners Are On Hunger Strike Demanding Unconditional Bail and an End to Being Treated as Terrorists”

via Tony Greenstein

@[email protected]
@[email protected]
@[email protected]
@UKLabour

“Today we will be holding a webinar including speakers from the Filton 24 and Prisoners for Palestine”

Please Register for the Webinar on 11 December @ 6 pm

https://tinyurl.com/2s3py925

#Press #UK #Filton24 #HungerStrike #PalAction #Proscription #Terrorism #Starmer #Labour #AbuseOfPower #Israel #Genocide

Alarming Situation for Pal Action Political Prisoners on Hunger Strike: UK

“Renowned Irish republicans back Palestine Action hunger strikers”

by Robert Freeman in The Canary

@thecanaryuk
@[email protected]
@[email protected]
@[email protected]
@BBC5Live
@BBCRadio4
@BBCNews
@AlJazeera

It was significant that Tommy McKearney, a participant in the 1981[hunger strike by republican prisoners in Northern Ireland] was present at a London meeting on Friday, 5 December, to show solidarity with the anti-genocide campaigners”

https://www.thecanary.co/uk/analysis/2025/12/09/irish-back-palestine-action/

#Press #UK #Filton24 #HungerStrike #PalAction

“Has the British public been tricked about what the Filton trial videos really show?”

by Jonathan Cook on Substack

@[email protected]
@[email protected]
@[email protected]
@BBC5Live
@BBCRadio4
@BBCNews
@AlJazeera
@UKLabour

“#Starmer desperately needs the #trial of six peace activists who targeted Israeli arms firm #Elbit to go his way, and bolster his govt's claim that #PalestineAction is a terrorist organisation”

https://open.substack.com/pub/jonathancook/p/has-the-british-public-been-tricked

#Press #UK #Israel #Genocide #PalAction #Terrorism #Proscription #Filton24

Video: “Since our governments have refused to halt this genocide, we must!”

by Chris Hedges in the Chris Hedges Channel on YT

“We must demand that the courageous hunger strikers with #PalestineAction be released from jail on bail, and that we repeal the acts and laws that criminalize dissidence”

https://youtu.be/K1A5beQ8J8Y?si=VWXAHojIkvfqOzWJ

#UK #PalAction #Proscription #HungerStrike #Repeal #TerrorismAct2000 #Repression #Authoritarianism #Labour #Starmer #FuckStarmer

“British hunger strikers learn prison lessons from Palestine”

by Asa Winstanley in Palestine Is Still The Issue on Substack

@[email protected]
@[email protected]
@[email protected]

“The experience of these hunger strikers mirrors some of what the Palestinians are going through: ‘It’s like they’re living the experience of a Palestinian’.”

https://open.substack.com/pub/asawinstanley/p/british-hunger-strikers-learn-prison

#Press #UK #PalAction #Proscription #PoliticalPrisoners #HungerStrike #AbuseOfPower #Dictatorship #Labour #StitchUp #ZionistLobby #DegradingConditions

“Shocking new report reveals what really drove the government’s crackdown on Palestine Action”

by The Canary

@thecanaryuk
@uk_politics
@[email protected]
@[email protected]
@[email protected]

“This blistering report from CAGE is an important reference source for the facts surrounding the government’s approach to proscription. Ultimately, it exposes the state’s cosy relationship w/ the machine fuelling Israeli war crimes”

https://www.thecanary.co/uk/analysis/2025/11/28/palestine-action-crackdown/

#Press #UK #PalAction #Proscription #CAGE #Report #Elbit #Genocide

@PabloMartini

Anything’s possible! Two sources of pressure Herr #Stürmer finds it impossible to say “No!” to: Trump and the #Zionist #Lobby!

@uk_politics @UKLabour

#UK #PalAction #Proscription #Labour

“DID TRUMP PRESSURE STARMER TO BAN PALESTINE ACTION?”

by John McEvoy and Dania Akkad in Declassified UK

@Declassified_UK
@UKLabour
@[email protected]
@[email protected] @[email protected]
@BBC5Live
@BBCRadio4
@BBCNews @AlJazeera

“Lawyers for Huda Ammori, co-founder of Palestine Action, have questioned if the US president influenced the crackdown on the group”

https://www.declassifieduk.org/did-trump-pressure-starmer-to-ban-palestine-action/

#Press #UK #PalAction #Proscription #Ban #Terrorism #Starmer #Labour #Trump #AbuseOfPower #Israel #Gaza #Genocide #Zionism

“a good old British stitch-up: the judge, the #ZionistLobby, and the war on protest”

by Deaglan O’Mulrooney in the spectacle on Substack

@[email protected]
@[email protected] @[email protected]
@BBC5Live
@BBCRadio4
@BBCNews

“The government’s own spies say the group [#PalAction] isn’t #terrorist, but the #ban stands. And the entire edifice of #British #justice is being remade, not to serve the working class majority, but to more efficiently cage and silence them”

https://open.substack.com/pub/thespectaclemag/p/a-good-old-british-stitch-up-the

#Press #UK #StitchUp

“Review judge pulled from Palestine Action hearing at last hour, in patent stitch-up”

by Jonathan Cook on Substack

@[email protected]
@[email protected] @[email protected]
@BBC5Live
@BBCRadio4
@BBCNews @AlJazeera

“Having a ruling from a panel of three judges is a desperate attempt to create a veneer of judicial authority in support of the actions of Keir Starmer's outlaw government”

https://open.substack.com/pub/jonathancook/p/review-judge-pulled-from-palestine

#Press #UK #Labour #Starmer #PalAction #Proscription #JudicialReview #StitchUp

“Palestine Action: Exclusive photos from High Court protest”

by Skwawkbox

@[email protected]
@[email protected] @[email protected]

“The case is now being heard by a panel of 3 judges — all reportedly Israel supporters. At least two of them have family links to the arms trade, & one has already ruled that the #UK govt can continue to supply spares for Israeli strike aircraft [..] slaughtering thousands of Palestinians”

https://www.thecanary.co/skwawkbox/2025/11/26/palestine-action-exclusive-photos/

#Press #PalAction #Protest #JudicialReview #StitchUp #Israel #Genocide

@OneInterestingFact

Reality is: “Keir Starmer is without moral rectitude. He is a deceiver, utterly duplicitous, a political confidence trickster, and he surrounds himself with equally iniquitous and unvirtuous carpetbaggers, warmongers, and anti-socialist Machiavellian pantomime characters, such as the weasel Streeting.”

quoting Rachel Swindon in her blogpost of Feb 20, 2022

https://rachaelswindon.blogspot.com/2022/02/starmers-labour-this-is-not-what.html?spref=tw&m=1

#UK #Labour #Starmer #FuckStarmer #FuckLabour #Protest #Genocide #PalAction #Filton24

“Palestine Action judge pulled as fears of bias grow”

by Skwawkbox with The Canary @thecanaryuk

@[email protected]
@[email protected] @[email protected]
@BBC5Live
@BBCRadio4
@BBCNews @AlJazeera

“The removal of judge Michael Chamberlain has led to accusations of a ‘stitch-up’. The government is artfully sidestepping a judicial review which could overturn the Israel-driven proscription of a non-violent anti-genocide protest group”

https://www.thecanary.co/skwawkbox/2025/11/26/palestine-action-legal-challenge-2/

#Press #PalAction #JudicialReview #StitchUp #Starmer #Labour

LIVE ARTICLE: “UPDATED: protesters attacked, separately one man dies at Filton 24 solidarity demo”

by Skwawkbox with The Canary @thecanaryuk @[email protected]
@[email protected] @[email protected]
@BBC5Live
@BBCRadio4
@BBCNews

“A protest at #Pentonville prison in support of a Palestine Action hunger-striker has seen the death of what was first thought to be a passer-by – but which since appears to have been an independent journalist”

https://www.thecanary.co/skwawkbox/2025/11/15/palestine-action-pentonville/

#Press #UK #PalAction #Filton24 #Protest #Attack #Death

“#Sultana demands release of hunger-striking anti-genocide activists held without trial”

by Skwawkbox with The Canary @thecanaryuk @uk_politics @[email protected]
@[email protected] @[email protected]

“The group have already been held in prison for more than a year without trial. And, they face a wait of up to another two years before they even actually come to trial”

https://www.thecanary.co/skwawkbox/2025/11/12/sultana-demands-release/

#Press #Labour #Starmer #Lammy #Filton24 #PalAction #HungerStrike #Trial #AbuseOfPower #IsraelLobby #Israel #Gaza #Genocide

When Your Comrade Goes On Hunger Strike: Interview With A Former Pal Action Political Prisoner

In light of Teuta Hoxha’s 28-day hunger strike in HMP Peterborough ending victoriously, I interviewed one of her comrades about their major takeaways for the political prisoners’ movement and their concrete lessons from the strike for people both on the inside and outside.

For more background, you can read my previous articles on US-based captives Casey Goonan and Malik Muhammad joining the strike, and follow Prisoners for Palestine, Workshops4Gaza, the Filton 24’s Substack, and Hoxha’s Substack.

This interview was conducted on 9 September 2025 and the transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.

Calla Walsh: To start off, could you please introduce yourself and explain how you are connected to comrade T Hoxha, and anything you want to add about the actions that you allegedly participated in against Elbit Systems?

Audrey Corno: Hi! I’m Audrey, I’m 23, I live in London, I’m a dancer and a drama facilitator. I have a theater company with my friends that I adore. I took action for the first time last year against the UK Ministry of Defense. We sprayed it red to symbolize the Palestinian blood that is on their hands. Then earlier this year, I did a rooftop occupation of GRID Defense Systems, a military hardware supplier for Elbit Systems, which is Israel’s largest weapons manufacturer who produce 85 percent of their killer drone fleet. GRID is an important target because they specialize in targeting systems and are obviously directly complicit — or not even complicit, I don’t like to use that word anymore, they play a very active role in committing a genocide.

As a result of the second arrest, I was remanded to prison in the UK. Remanded means that you are imprisoned before trial. In my case, I had zero convictions and hadn’t been to trial, but was remanded to prison on the basis that the judge was afraid that I would “re-offend.” In those two months at HMP Bronzefield — HMP stands for His Majesty’s Prison — I got to meet eight of the now Filton 24 who have been arrested for allegedly being connected to this Filton action. That action was against the Filton site of Elbit Systems, their brand new research and development facility where they research and develop drones and ammunition to genocide Palestinians. So they allegedly broke in and caused — the figures depending on who reports — up to two million pounds worth of damage. This has been a very iconic case in the UK. Some of them have been remanded for over a year now.

Hoxha was on my house block and we became really, really close friends. I became very close with all the Filton actionists that I met, just naturally having the camaraderie, you know, being in there for very similar reasons. That connection of our values was so special and kept me so strong. Hoxha took such good care of me; she gave me my first batch of books in prison, always made sure I had the TV program for the evening, would check in on us every morning. I hate that it’s under these circumstances, but I’m grateful that I was able to somewhat take care of her and be there for her on the outside because that’s what she did for me.

Calla: It’s a really weird and awful feeling to be on the outside when your comrades are still inside. You get so close to people in jail — nothing else forges that kind of bond like being locked in close quarters against your will with someone. But of course you can be more useful in a lot of ways fighting for them from the outside. Do you want to speak more to what your experience in prison was like? Especially in terms of how you all related to “regular” prisoners in there for reasons that were not necessarily overtly political. I’m aware that’s one of the reasons that the Filton 24 have been targeted and isolated from other prisoners, because of the prison administration’s fears of their politics radicalizing and organizing the general prison population and whatnot.

Audrey: 100 percent, that is exactly the reason they’re so scared of the prisoners for Palestine. There’s a lot of contention about that term [political prisoners] amongst the people I met, because I think once you’re in prison, you come to the understanding that all prisoners are political prisoners. The women I met on like, domestic violence charges, maybe it shouldn’t have been surprising, but it was surprising to me how many of those women are in there for defending themselves against abusive partners, or because they stabbed their partner who was abusing their kid for years — women I met who were in for consistent shoplifting, that’s political, right? So yeah, just a note on that term, “political prisoner,” but I think it is still a useful term. With the “non-political prisoners,” or just maybe “non-actionists” is the term I’ll use, I think I definitely had this fear, growing up middle class, I was really scared of going to prison because of TV and the propaganda that we all grow up around. You know, it’s the worst and you only go to prison if you’ve done something really, really wrong. But all of that fell away very quickly when you meet and talk to these people.

Being in prison was real political education for me. And I very quickly realized that the situation that I was in in prison is very different to everyone else, and that that was my own choice. I mean, I didn’t choose to go to prison, no one would ever choose to go to prison, but it was my choice to take action in a way that breaks the law, and I went into that understanding that there was a risk I could go to prison, and that’s just not the case for everyone else. I had a very different prison experience, all actionists in prison will have a very different experience to most other people in prison, because innately, from being part of a movement, we all have incredible support systems, people who understand why we’re there. We are in visits almost every day, because we have that support system outside. So I think it reflected how privileged I am back to me.

I’m careful to not romanticize prison. At least in the UK, there’s some movements who almost view going to prison as a sort of badge of honor. And I think it’s really important to reject that because the aim is never to go to prison. That’s unfortunately a potential consequence, but we don’t do this to go to prison and I don’t want to romanticize it. It wasn’t good, but I’m glad that I went because it taught me a lot. It was a real time of education. And I met some comrades for life. It’s made me much more resilient. So I wouldn’t take it back.

Calla: Thank you. I relate to so much of what you said, which is wild because it is hard to find people, especially people my age, who relate to this kind of experience at all. You put it perfectly. Whenever I talk about my jail time, I don’t want to make it seem like it was all like fun and laughter, because of course it wasn’t, but I also don’t want to like, portray it as something that is unsurvivable, because more people in our movement are going to need to prepare to survive it and realize they have the strength to.

Audrey: Also just bringing it back to Palestine, in the hard times, I just had to remind myself the worst that could happen to me in the UK in a women’s prison. That’s a massive privilege, right? Which, you know, isn’t usually the case. But for prisons, it is so good to be AFAB [assigned female at birth] because the “men’s” prisons — of course there are trans and non-binary people there — just have such a harder time. The worst that could have happened to me, and, I’m assuming to you in a prison in the West, pales in comparison to what people in Gaza and people held in Israeli detention are living through every day. I think our job as Prisoners for Palestine is to amplify the Palestinian prisoners movement, which I think is exactly what Hoxha has done.

Calla: Exactly. So to bring it back to the hunger strike, now that it’s ended, why do you think it was a win? What did it achieve and expose? And what was your experience throughout it? I imagine it was super intense for you and your comrades.

Audrey: This strike was bigger than we could have ever imagined. Its victories came from not only the material improvements in Hoxha’s conditions, like getting her mail, which was just such a welcome surprise, and being reinstated into all of her recreational activities — which, without them, you’re just locked behind the door all day. It was such a material improvement in her conditions, which is on its own a massive victory.

But beyond that, so much information was uncovered in the strike that we can use to take forward into legal action and to exposing just the wider corruption and systematic failures of the prison system. A lot of information about JEXU, the Joint Extremism Unit, and the Pathfinders we’ve managed to look into. It was presented to [Hoxha] like Pathfinders is just a vetting thing, like they just help you decide what’s the best job for you, but with the strike and the information we’ve got, we’ve been able to find out that actually Pathfinders is an organization to that serves the government only to identify prisoners that have a “terrorist” link. They work clearly work very closely with the Joint Extremism Unit. Both of those things, she was never supposed to find out. These were just staff that panicked. As someone who’s been in prison as well, you know that guards will lie, or they’ll tell you things to confuse you or say things in a really vague way, all in an attempt to get you to shut up and tell you what you need to hear so that they can get on with their job, right. In this panic of the guards just trying to do anything they could to get her to eat, they revealed a lot of information that they shouldn’t have.

We’ve also got a lot of material to take action against them with what the phone operators at HMP Peterborough were saying, you know, making allegations about actions that have nothing to do with [Hoxha]. Actually, the law says that the prison phone operators aren’t even meant to confirm whether a prisoner is there or not. So a lot of the pushback when people were calling in for her was, “Oh, we can’t give out any information.” The thing is, we weren’t asking for any information; we were telling them what we already knew and we were making demands. Because of data privacy regulations (GDPR), they’re not even meant to confirm that a prisoner is there. And yet they were making crazy allegations, calling her a terrorist over the phone. So the fact that we have this recorded and published on social media is really vital to not only exposing them, but then being able to take action and make sure that this can never happen again. And it’s leverage for future demands.

So yeah, this was such a victory for her materially. It set a really important precedent for other prisoners, and I think it really empowered other prisoners on her wing as well. The fact that there are some people on her wing who maybe started off a bit skeptical, like, “Why are you doing this?” were then, just by witnessing her, able to see how effective it was, and able to see what it means to defend yourself and to protest and what that looks like in a prison context. It was a real moment of education for other prisoners as well. I think the wins just cannot be overstated, really.

Calla: I’m ashamed to say I was not really following the strike too closely or well aware of it at all before Casey Goonan joined. And I like to think I follow Pal Action and political prisoners pretty closely, so that speaks to how much of a media blackout there is on prisoners’ issues, not just from the mainstream media, but also left independent media and movement organizations. But I wanted to ask you, how did you and Hoxha react when you found out political prisoners in the US were joining the strike? What future potential is there to keep building these kind of international bonds and solidarity in action?

Now that she’s been recovering and her mind’s a bit clearer, she has been talking about it so much, and I hope it’s clear also from the open letter that she wrote how grateful she was, not only for Casey’s solidarity, but also the attention that it brought. Casey is so right in saying that their aim was to bring international attention to this, and boy, did they succeed. It’s just such an honor for her. I think I can say that quite comfortably. Frankly, we were all in such panic mode around her that I guess we hadn’t even considered that as a possibility, that someone would want to do that.

I guess the learning is, it sounds so cheesy, but dream big, nothing is impossible. What you said about future links and building future infrastructures may look like is to organize more preemptively and to have those links of communication. Maybe different actionists in prison could write to each other and stay in contact before being in crisis like this, right? So that these bonds can be formed, people can be aware of each other, be in contact, and support each other before it gets to such a critical point.

For Casey to have done that was so gracious. Just person to person I cannot thank them enough. I think it showed Hoxha the potential that this has. It’s really exciting to organize for the future. The importance, not just symbolically, was the fact that Casey mobilized so many people in the US to call in as well. It brought more visibility to HMP Peterborough, which they obviously didn’t want. To have people calling in and emailing in from the US was really crazy and scary for HMP Peterborough. But this also linked their struggles, right?

After Casey and their cellmate joined, Malik Muhammad joined in a solidarity strike the day or the night before Hoxha declared victory. Malik Muhammad, actually, this blew my mind, is this Palestinian political prisoner, who has pled guilty to 14 charges related to militant action against the police during the George Floyd Uprising. The connection between George Floyd, the police/prison abolition movement, and Casey, the US student intifada, and then obviously the UK arms factories direct action movement — the story writes itself, right? It shows so clearly how linked these struggles are, how we’ve all got each other’s backs, because, of course, what we’re doing is so interlinked, and we need each other, not just in our movements, but so literally, we need each other to support each other when we’re in prison. It’s undeniable that Casey joining in when they did was a pivotal part of why this hunger strike was so successful. So I think this is a really massive lesson to learn for, globally, for anyone doing work supporting prisoners.

Calla: Yeah, I did a follow-up piece about Malik, his case, and him joining the strike, because he and all the prisoners of the George Floyd Uprising have been so erased. It worked both ways, Hoxha’s strike and its ripple effect also helped raise awareness for these captives in the US. And it’s notable how Casey and Malik are both being targeted with terrorism lawfare and politically-targeted discrimination parallel to what’s happening in the UK. Malik has been in solitary for almost two years straight, and Casey is being sentenced with “terrorism enhancement.” And obviously, the intelligence agencies of the imperialist countries are constantly collaborating and sharing information and co-developing new tactics, so we should too, since we have this common enemy.

Also worth saying, if someone hadn’t passed the information on to Casey and Malik about the strike happening, they would never have heard about it or joined, it would not have developed in this way. That speaks to the importance of staying in constant communication with our prisoners, passing on updates about what’s happening on the outside in the movement, not treating people as if they’re dead just because they’re locked up. This strike was a needed reminder that people locked up are still political subjects and active participants in struggle.

Audrey: And arguably more active, right? When I was inside and I felt like I was useless to the movement, and I felt immobilized, something that brought me a lot of comfort was what some of the Filton 24 told me — “No, this is part of the action. You serving your sentence, you being in prison, familiarizing yourself with the mechanics of power, this is part of the action.” And I’d argue that, actually, [our prisoners] are even more at the center of the movement because of their focus. We’re all distracted by having to work, to sustain ourselves, outside life distractions, noise. When you’re in prison, this is the most focused anyone will ever be. And I think that we need to learn from their laser focus on the struggle.

Calla: Absolutely. So it was really after the first two weeks that the strike started picking up attention in media coverage — of course as T’s condition got so much more dire, and pressure escalated. But throughout the entire strike, there was still notable silence from a lot of the main organizations and media platforms that kind of position themselves as leadership of the Palestine solidarity movement in the west. This is not new, obviously. There’s been many reports published on how the Palestine Solidarity Campaign in the UK, for example, has been undermining Palestine Action for years, pushing people not to work with them, or any organizations that are more militant, radical, resistant. The BDS National Committee is another key example. I was wondering if you want to speak to that at all, this phenomenon of the abandonment of political prisoners. Because as repression intensifies, this problem will only grow more acute. There’s only going to be more prisoners, and a need for more outside support structures.

Audrey: Yeah, I mean, frankly, as you say, you put it beautifully, that this didn’t come as a surprise at all. As you say, the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, that’s really the main one in the UK. If the PSC is not going to back the frontline direct action campaign in the UK for Palestine, while Palestine Action wasn’t proscribed, while they were achieving significant wins — like, Palestine Action is responsible for shutting down 4 out of 10 Elbit sites in the UK — then it’s completely unsurprising that they’re not going to support a Palestine Action prisoner going on a hunger strike. Frankly, we didn’t waste our time even trying to get their support because we knew what the answer would be.

It is deeply disappointing, this overall trend. And it’s dangerous, because I think that these organizations dilute the movement and people’s energies in the West, right in the belly of the beast, in the US and the UK, the countries literally the most responsible for fueling and enabling Israel. Sorry, this just makes me angry. For us to be content with holding some banners and marching on a police approved route, you know, which tidily finishes and everyone packs up their tents at four o’clock is insane. It’s insane.

Can we please wake up? So, frankly, I find it very dangerous to accept these organizations. Unfortunately, they are the mainstream and they are what people are going towards because it feels safe, right? And it keeps our privilege intact. Anything that risks arrest, anything that risks any kind of personal sacrifice is just unthinkable. And so I think that’s why it’s even harder to imagine a political prisoner going on hunger strike. Like, it’s just so obscured and so on the fringe. It is really infuriating and I think it does harm because they detract attention from what is the center of the struggle. I don’t really think I have any more to say. It’s just infuriating.

Calla: I think that says it all. And moments like these really expose how deep those contradictions are, or that we’re not all in it for the same reasons or vision for revolution. Are there any tangible, practical lessons you learned from this experience that you want to share with people doing prisoner support work or people who are locked up themselves, for how resist those conditions? Because certainly this won’t be the last of this sort of action.

Audrey: Yeah, a hundred percent. For the person in prison, for a hunger strike, practically, if you could give a little notice — one, so that you can prepare yourself and two, so that your support network can also build a little infrastructure, start contacting press before, so that it can all go smoothly and maximize the impact of your hunger strike from the jump. Because as you pointed out, the media coverage and everything going up significantly after two weeks — that’s two weeks on a hunger strike that we didn’t make the biggest potential of, and that did a lot of damage to her health. So I would really advise, just subtly, discreetly, before going to prison or in a visit, establishing a code word that you can say over the phone. Give both yourself and the people supporting you a little bit of time to prepare to maximize the impact of the hunger strike.

Also for the prisoner, research. If there’s books in the library — I mean, you’d be surprised, in HMP Bronzefield, there’s some really political stuff. Read up, get your people supporting you to send you resources. If you have any preexisting health conditions, figure out what adjustments maybe you would need to make, decide in advance what exactly you consider a win, at what point. What are the cues from your body that you’re going to take that mean maybe you need to pause, or maybe you need to stop altogether?

This is also part of the prep because obviously the further down into a hunger strike, the ability to make decisions becomes so much harder and takes so much effort. I can witness just through the phone and through visits how exhausted she was, especially by the end. When your brain cannot hold a conversation for a few minutes, how are you going to make such massive decisions around your campaign, around your body? And so that’s why as much as possible, these things need to be decided in advance so that when you’re in the thick of a hunger strike, you can just focus on getting to the next day and your immediate needs rather than thinking about the bigger picture all the time.

While on hunger strike, there’s some real emotional low points and there may be a temptation to withdraw or start to self-isolate. This is the biggest one to reject and to fight. The whole weapon and the whole strength of a hunger strike is the media, the attention and the only way that you will survive is by letting people have your back. Unfortunately, I don’t know exactly how it works in the US, but in the UK, there’s no way for us to call in, you need to wait for the prisoner to call you, right? Because of the infrastructure, there’s no way for us to reach out to you on the inside.

Calla: It’s the same in US prisons and jails.

Audrey: You owe it to yourself and to the strike and therefore to the movement to stay in contact for your wellbeing. Not that [Hoxha] ever like completely broke contact, but she would find it harder and harder to call. The advice is basically just push yourself to stay in contact with people and to let people know how you’re feeling, even though it’s shit all the time, you need to let people know that.

Anyway. People supporting really, really, really need to read up on hunger strikes, on the history, on your specific country and context, how hunger strikes were won in the past. Read the fuck up, because that will also be the reason that your comrade will be victorious. Knowledge is power. That’s not new, but yeah, you need to really, really inform yourself so that you can keep your comrade informed too. It is very emotionally intense.

Oh my gosh. I’m getting a call from prison right now.

We pause, Audrey takes the call and tells the comrade on the other line to call back in twenty minutes. Then we resume the conversation.

Audrey: It’s about the person striking and it’s obviously going to be much harder on them, but it shouldn’t be ignored that there will be a real mental toll on you as well [as someone in the outside support system]. I really advise ensuring a good support system around you as well, because to witness your comrade getting weaker every day, to witness and hear about the pain that they’re in and how they’re being treated, it’s awful. It’s obviously worse for them, but just be emotionally prepared for that and take care of yourself as well in this time.

Because the decision-making for them gets way harder and mood swings are very normal on a hunger strike, especially if you know this person well and you’re good friends, then trust yourself in this time, especially past the two week mark, to start being assertive with them. Obviously, person to person, that’s going to look different, you need to do it sensitively, but just because it will be so hard for them to make decisions, you need to be assertive and like, just make strong recommendations. I think this is the right thing to do, just based off of what you know about them, how they would be thinking if they were thinking a little bit clearer. And that’s of course while respecting their autonomy, but also just honoring the fact that they will have extreme mood swings and be confused sometimes and have a lot of brain fog and sometimes a reassuring voice telling telling them what they need to hear or what they need to do is exactly what they’ll need.

Calla: Thank you. My last question is just — how is T doing? How is her recovery going? Are there any updates you can share with people and any ongoing calls to action in the meantime to support the Filton 24?

Audrey: Umer Khalil, who’s being held in relation to the Royal Air Force Brize Norton action, his visits are being heavily restricted right now. And he’s asking for call-ins. There’s almost always bad shit going on for our prisoners for Palestine, unfortunately. So there will almost always be updated calls of action on the Prisoners for Palestine Instagram.

As for T, she is just recovering. No call to action. Just keep up to date with her on Prisoners for Palestine again. She also has just started a Substack, where she’s going to be releasing poetry and bits and pieces of writing from her. As you will have heard from her letter to Casey, she’s an incredible writer. Physically it’s still difficult because she has been feeling quite dizzy and gets quite breathless even from talking, but that’s to be expected after four straight weeks of hunger strike.

She definitely already feels much better. She’s on day two of re-feeding today [9 September]. She’s had a little bit of protein and boiled veg, and is just so excited to recover mentally. She’s not anywhere near where she was, but she’s already seen such an improvement and looks forward to getting back to where she was. I think a lot of the symptoms from before are still true and ongoing, but just easier, and she is in less pain and just so excited to eat again.

source: Calla’s Newsletter

https://abolitionmedia.noblogs.org/?p=21425

#palAction #palestine #politicalPrisoner #repression #resistance #uk

Pro-Palestine Political Prisoners on Hunger Strike from the US to the UK

Political prisoner T. Hoxha is dying.

She is on her 18th day of hunger strike in HMP Peterborough in protest of the prison’s politically-targeted abuses. One of the Filton 24 detained indefinitely under the UK’s “Terrorism Act” while awaiting trial next spring, Hoxha is alleged to have participated in the heroic dismantling of an Elbit Systems weapons factory, causing €1 million in damages.

Over two weeks into her strike, Hoxha’s loved ones report that her physical and mental health is deteriorating fast, her hair is falling out, her jaw is in pain, and her brain fog is worsening, while the prison neglects her medical care. Supporters on the outside are organizing a call-in campaign to demand the prison administration give her electrolyte sachets and meet her demands: the reinstatement of her job in the prison library and the delivery of her mail that the prison administration is withholding from her. On 27 August, she developed a fever, experienced a persistent headache, vomited after taking vitamins, and noticed skin discoloration, and a nurse practitioner announced Hoxha is in the “danger zone.” As of 28 August, supporters are calling for her to urgently be admitted to a hospital.

Now more lives are on the line. When Casey Goonan, the only political prisoner in the US from the 2024 student intifada, heard about Hoxha’s hunger strike on 26 August, they and their cellmate at Santa Rita jail immediately declared a hunger strike in solidarity with Hoxha until her demands are met, internationalizing the strike. Refusing to intake food is especially risky for Casey as a diabetic, but they have organized successful collective hunger strikes in the past.

Similarly to the Pal Action UK prisoners, Casey has been repeatedly targeted for the political nature of their alleged crime, and deliberately isolated from other inmates, a classic tactic used by the state against political prisoners to prevent prisoner organizing. Just this summer, they were retaliated against for filing a grievance against a threatening deputy, and had their phone calls, visitations, and commissary revoked for over a month. Several times, the state has pushed back Casey’s sentencing hearing, supposed to be in April but now set for 23 September 2025. They are facing up to 20 years in federal prison with “terrorism enhancement” for allegedly burning police vehicles at the University of California, Berkeley. Also similar to the weaponization of counter-terrorism lawfare in the UK cases, this “terrorism enhancement” addition to Casey’s charges gives the federal government far more room for abuse and draconian overreach in their sentencing and treatment of Casey.

To announce the strike’s expansion, Casey published the following statement:

Today I learned about T Hoxha, a Pal Action prisoner in the UK who is on Day 16 of her hunger strike at HMP Peterborough. As of 4pm EST on August 26, 2025, 2 out of 3 of her demands have been met, and she is still on strike to demand that the prison release the mail they have been withholding from her.

As captives imprisoned for our participation in the Palestinian liberation movement in the west, we have a responsibly to each other across borders to pursue our lives in prison with the same steadfastness as the Palestinian prisoner movement held captive in Israeli prisons.

The states that we have been captured by are the enablers of the Zionist entity’s accelerated genocide and the extermination of Palestinians in Gaza, as well as the ongoing genocides of Black and Indigenous people whose lands they continue to occupy.

As the western left continues to move from crisis to crisis and avoid their responsibilities to Palestine, we are all that we have. By we I am referring to people facing repression for their support of Palestine, who are sacrificing, truly sacrificing. People such as T Hoxha, who has suffered through 16 days of starvation just to get her mail.

The Palestine solidarity movement in the west cannot abandon people like her who have risked their lives and continue to do so in resistance to this intolerable condition of genocide.

Solidarity is actions, not words. As of today, my cellmate and I are on hunger strike at Santa Rita jail until her demands are met. Solidarity with T. Hoxha and all prisoners of the Palestine solidarity movement!

RAZE THE WALLS! LIBERATE ALL PRISONERS OF SETTLER EMPIRE!

As Hoxha and Casey’s bodies shrink and weaken and start eating themselves alive, it begs the question, why do we not hear their names chanted in the streets at pro-Palestine protests, their faces raised on signs and murals, their demands echoed in conferences and pamphlets? Where are the cash-rich NGOs that could be using their huge platforms to speak out for Casey and the Filton 24, if not donating to their legal funds, at least acknowledging their existence? What about Elias Rodriguez, Jakhi McCray, Tarek Bazrouk, the countless other political prisoners in the so-called United States? There are too many to name. How dare anyone here express defeatism from their warm homes or complain about how none of us will sacrifice, while doing nothing to escalate, and ignoring the people who have made sacrifices and are now stuck in cold cells? How many people will get to the end of this article but fail to make a call for the hunger strikers?

Hoxha, the Filton 24, Casey, Elias, Jakhi, and longterm political prisoners like Mumia and Imam Jamil al-Amin do not get the kind of support they deserve from the movement, especially not from NGOs who identify themselves as the movement’s leadership, because they are not “perfect victims.” They are not accused of being peaceful, they are accused of resisting, and for that, they are unapologetic.

As one of Casey’s comrades wrote in the piece On Casey Goonan and the Abandonment of Political Prisoners in the Pro-Palestine Movement, “Despite vague assertions of the interconnectedness of repression and struggles between the American policing and prison apparatuses to that of Israel, there has been little material manifestation from that understanding within the US pro-Palestine movement. Meanwhile, coordinated struggle between prisoners and outside militants has been a key point of success for Palestinian liberation.” They point to the petit bourgeois class character and NGOization of the “movement” in the US, and its reformist attitude toward US imperialism and settler colonialism, as likely explanations for its isolation of militants and failure to escalate in general. As D. Musa Springer put it in Mondoweiss, this tendency is opportunistic and suicidal — “to not see ourselves reflected in the faces of our political prisoners and organize accordingly…We have allowed our political prisoners to become ghosts, within a movement claiming to want radical exorcism of oppressive systems.”

“Our prisoners are our compass” is not an empty slogan in Palestine, it is the material reality of struggle. When Lebanese revolutionary communist Georges Abdallah was released in July after decades in French prison, he explained this axiom in the clearest terms: “The one who resists is the one who has the final say and determines what should and should not be done. The ultimate decision-maker is the one who sacrifices himself to the resistance. All spectators have no right to discuss any topic.” Prisoners of the Palestinian revolution are not forgotten, or only paid lip service, they are bled for. We cannot forget, after all, that the Al-Aqsa Flood was itself a prison break and it birthed the Toufan al-Ahrar, the Flood of the Free. But until the honoring of political prisoners is actually put into practice here in the west, it will be just that, just a slogan, and an increasingly hollow one at that.

There is not much more to say here that is not already referenced above about this tendency to abandon militants facing repression, but the stakes feel imminently higher when it is not just life in prison on the line, but physical life itself. I remember when I was in jail last year for taking direct action with Pal Action US, for a relatively very short bid (40 days), and at the time, Casey was the only other political prisoner from this iteration of the Palestine movement, as well as the Pal Action UK prisoners. I felt like we were all breathing together, our spirits soaring across metal bars, concrete, mountains, and seas, never alone. We wrote happy birthday messages from our jail tablets to be passed on to prisoners in the UK. We asked our supporters to stop writing letters to us and instead to write to people inside for much longer, like Casey. It is like Casey said — “we are all that we have. By we I am referring to people facing repression for their support of Palestine, who are sacrificing, truly sacrificing.” Since I was released I fear sometimes that I have slipped back into my comforts or my numbness, that I have lost touch with the raw clarity and urgency (not despair) that I felt while inside, that we should all feel, all the time, everywhere. But Casey’s words jolt me right back into that clarity. They remind us that Casey and Hoxha are actually freer than us all, because they are resisting.

To save Hoxha and Casey’s lives, call and email HMP Petersborough to demand they meet all of Hoxha’s demands. For the latest updates, instructions, and set of demands, go to instagram.com/prisoners4palestine and x.com/Workshops4Gaza.

By Calla Mairead Walsh

https://abolitionmedia.noblogs.org/?p=21139

#CaseyGoonan #hungerStrike #palAction #palestine #PoliticalPrisoners #repression #Solidarity #tHoxha

We Are All Palestine Action: NY War Crimes

“If we defeat the government’s attempts to destroy our organization, victory in our fight against Elbit is near,” a spokesperson for Palestine Action told us this week. “If they do proscribe us, then let a thousand Palestine Actions bloom.”

On Friday, June 20, two members of Palestine Action rode into the UK’s largest military base on e-scooters, carrying a Palestinian flag and fire extinguishers filled with red paint. After spray-painting two military airplanes, effectively (if temporarily) grounding them both, the actionists escaped. This bold direct action forced the media to cover what it had long ignored: the participation of the Royal Air Force in the war on Gaza. On Wednesday, July 2, a humiliated and reactionary British parliament voted to proscribe Palestine Action as a “terrorist” organization, threatening members and supporters with up to 14 years of prison.

The same moribund empire that first authorized the Zionist project in 1917 continues to abet mass death and displacement in Palestine. The UK’s F-35 jet fighter program supplies 15% of the components making up Israel’s warplanes — including ejector seats, rear fuselage, active interceptor systems, targeting lasers, and weapon release cables. Its bases in Cyprus are likely waypoints for the transfer of arms to the genocidal state, and the R.A.F. itself flies planes over Gaza to provide the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) with intelligence.

In the five years since its founding, and particularly over the past 20 months, Palestine Action has put the death-dealers on notice like no other political organization in the U.K. or the U.S. By strategically and systematically targeting Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest arms company, they have already brought about the closure of several Elbit factories; forced dozens of companies and contractors to cut ties with Elbit; and helped bring about a “debanking crisis” for the entire so-called defense industry.

Proscription would endanger the whole of the Palestine solidarity movement, criminalizing word and deed alike. It would punish not only members but supporters of Palestine Action: To publicly praise their brave acts would be to risk a 14-year prison sentence. We call on our British readers to take this risk. The label of “terrorist” has long been wielded by Western powers to brand their sins onto all those who challenge their impunity. In this way, it is an honor.

But the epithet is also a threat. It is through this designation that the West has justified the imprisonment and slaughter of journalists, activists, poets, musicians and cultural workers throughout the history of our movements. We must remind ourselves and the world that terrorism is the true legacy of Western imperialism and colonization, and resistance is the real counter-terrorism.

Palestine Action has offered us a template for resistance in the imperial core, for an insurgency that strikes unflinchingly at the supply chain of death. Proscription may force the organization to formally disband, but it cannot stop the action happening everywhere, every day, in the name of Palestine.

The entire movement must defy the draconian criminalization of resistance, which haunts us with the specter of incarceration. We cannot allow fear to distance us from our conscience or our will. Thousands of political prisoners — many who are Palestinian, others who have been radicalized by Palestine — have already shown us that while the cost of resistance can be high, it can never outweigh the power of a united front. The effectiveness and popularity of anticolonial resistance is why organizations like Samidoun and Palestine Action have been targeted by fascist governments and other counterinsurgent forces attempting to divide the movement with fearmongering and hysterical finger-pointing. As Samidoun wrote in their July 2, 2025 statement of solidarity with Palestine Action, “The British colonial mandate was the first to introduce ‘administrative detention’ — imprisonment without charge or trial — to occupied Palestine, a policy enthusiastically adopted by their Zionist colonial successors.”

Almost two years into this genocide, the Zionist and Western powers have sent clear signals to the world that their final solution is the extermination of the Palestinian people in Gaza and beyond. Day after day, we see images too horrific to comprehend and hear the unforgettable screams of children. But as Israel’s attacks intensify, so does our conviction. Popular support for the Palestinian cause continues to build, both despite and because of escalating fascist repression. Hundreds of people have joined Palestine Action in the past 10 days. “If we defeat the government’s attempts to destroy our organization, victory in our fight against Elbit is near,” the group’s spokesperson, Max Geller, told us this week. “If they do proscribe us, then let a thousand Palestine Actions bloom.”

There have been significant attempts to isolate Palestine Action by liberal forces within the movement. We maintain that — as with resistance in occupied Palestine — there must be a visible, aboveground movement that serves as a popular cradle for underground militancy. WAWOG will always stand with militants in the imperial core. We call on all people of conscience to do the same.

Death, death to the IOF.

Free Palestine.

A version of this statement appears in the eighteenth issue of The New York War Crimes, out July 4, 2025.

https://abolitionmedia.noblogs.org/?p=20175

#europe #ny #nyWarCrimes #palAction #palestine #repression #Solidarity #uk

Palestine Action: Final Statement Before Proscription

DESPITE OUR COLLECTIVE EFFORTS TO STOP THE PROSCRIPTION OF PALESTINE ACTION, THE BAN WILL COME IN AT MIDNIGHT

In five years, we have managed to build a direct action movement which successfully disrupted and challenged the Israeli weapons industry. Through relentless actions and the willingness to sacrifice our liberty, we’ve forced shut three Israeli weapons factories, pressured over a dozen companies to cut ties with Elbit Systems and cost the Israeli weapons maker £billions in lost contracts. The most important victory is building an effective global movement in service of the Palestinian people.

It’s clear, we were too effective and the government had to impose the most draconian attack on civil liberties to please the pro-Israel lobby. They may be able to proscribe ‘Palestine Action’, but they can not stop direct action happening across the country in different forms. We are more than just a name, or a network, we are an idea that can never be stopped. To be clear, they can not proscribe the TACTIC of direct action for Palestine.

We are extremely grateful for all of the support we have received over the past few years, and the outpouring of solidarity since the intention to proscribe us was announced. This proscription CAN NOT go unchallenged, and we are pleased to see many who are adamant on resisting the ban through a campaign of civil disobedience.

Breaking unjust laws is a moral duty. Unaffiliated campaign groups, Defend Our Juries and ‘we do not comply’ (wedonotcomply.org), will lead on defiance of the ban and resist the extreme counter-terror laws imposed on all of us. It is a given that there will be resistance.

However, we are also aware that anyone, knowingly or mistakenly, could be committing a terrorist offence just by liking or sharing our social media posts, if they are a British national or are in the ‘United Kingdom’. This could lead to vulnerable communities being harassed and targeted by the state. Whilst we encourage and support a campaign of civil disobedience, all who take part must do so on an informed basis. That’s why our social media will be taken down. For clarity, Palestine Action is ONLY proscribed in Britain.

Many will be rightfully angry at the imposed proscription of Palestine Action. However, with repression always comes more resistance. This is a moment that the British state will likely come to regret. It’s a signal to all of us who are willing to resist, to make the ban unenforceable.

We must resist for our own rights and most importantly, for the Palestinian people facing a genocide. We are all Palestine Action isn’t just a slogan, it’s a state of resistance.

COLLECTIVELY, WE WILL RESIST AND ULTIMATELY, WE WILL WIN

https://abolitionmedia.noblogs.org/?p=20143

#palAction #palestine #proscription #resistance #Solidarity #uk