The Palestine Action hunger strikers close to death

0:00This is The Guardian.

0:07Today, the Palestine action hunger strikers close to death.

0:18Cameron is my younger brother, so the youngest out of all of us. There's three siblings. And my mum describes him as like the kid that used to hide behind her clothes. He would hide behind her dress and he would be really shy about coming out in front of people. But he was the son that made her laugh. And so they always found him as the sort of fun one, but the one they had to protect. Kamran Ahmed is just 28 years old. Growing up, he often refused to listen to his parents when they said, don't get involved, just walk away when fights broke out in school. I remember my brother just being like, no, how can I watch someone get hurt and not say something?

1:00And he didn't care about what could potentially happen to him. He didn't care about his consequences. He was only concerned about making sure that the other person was OK. This is his sister, Shamina. Even though he's the youngest, he's been the most, I guess, like, spiritual person that I know. He's the person that I go to for advice. There's a level of maturity that he has that I aspire for in his calmness and his demeanour. Cameron was arrested in a dawn raid on the 19th of November, 2024. He is one of 24 prisoners awaiting trial for allegedly causing over£1 million worth of damage to a research centre in Gloucestershire owned by the Israeli weapons manufacturer, Elbit Systems.

1:51He's been on hunger strike at HMP Pentonville for 59 days He is one of three remaining Palestine Action activists refusing food in protest The Guardian's Haroun Sadiq has been in touch with him I put some questions to Cameron Ahmed via an intermediary asking him how he felt about his current health and the risks he's taking by continuing with the hunger strike and this is what he said in his reply. I'm worried but being scared does not mean for one second I am not willing. As the government ministers play ping pong with our health, I intend to continue my hunger strike. Perhaps they wait for me to leave in a body bag.

2:37The way my chest hurts when I speak, it doesn't feel too far in the near future.

2:46Cameron's family can only watch and wait. terrified at what this act of resistance could cost. From The Guardian, I'm Nashi Nekbal. Today in Focus, will the government intervene to save British hunger strikers from dying?

3:06Haroon Siddique, you're The Guardian's legal affairs correspondent and you've been covering the story of Palestine action for us for the last year and more. Now, just as a recap for listeners who haven't listened to our previous episodes, Palestine Action is a direct action group founded by Huda Amori and Richard Barnard five years ago. It has staged civil disobedience against Israeli-owned weapons factories in the UK. Free Palestine. Against a British military base. The Prime Minister has condemned pro-Palestinian activists who sparked a serious security alert when they broke into RAF Bryson Norton and vandalised military aircraft.

3:44And it's tried to disrupt what is called British complicity in the genocide of Palestinians.

3:54Now, last summer, Palestine Action was prescribed by the Home Office, deemed a terrorist organisation, and thousands of people have since been arrested for protesting against that shocking judgment. Have I missed anything in that roundup? I think it's fair to say it's been hugely controversial. and there's currently a high court challenge to the ban which took place in November, December and we're waiting the outcome and that's really critical because of course if the court rules that the ban was unlawful that puts the government in a real pickle and it also affects those thousands of people you referred to who have been arrested for allegedly supporting them.

4:35Aaron, some of the people in prison for their involvement with Palestine Action have gone on a hunger strike. Can you tell me about them and why they're there? Yes. So at one point, there were eight prisoners on hunger strike. There are currently three. They were a mix of people charged in relation to a Palestine action, action as they call them, at a factory owned by Elbit Systems UK, an Israeli subsidiary. That took place in 2024. so some of the people were allegedly involved in that they've been charged with aggravated burglary violent disorder and criminal damage and then the other action again claimed by Palestine Action was when they went into RAF Bryce Norton which was just before Palestine Action was banned so that was in June last year and they spray painted red paint on jets that they said were British jets that they said were going to aid what was happening in Gaza.

5:35And they're being held on remand without bail and some without even a date for a trial, is that right? So I think they all have dates now, but the three remaining ones on hunger strike, they all have served 18 months on remand, which means awaiting trial before they go to trial. And you bear in mind that in England and Wales, generally the limit is supposed to be six months that you spend unless you're particularly dangerous and they can't try you before then. One thing worth saying is that there is massive backlog in the prison system. So there are more and more people awaiting trial for more than that six month limit.

6:17But still, you know, 18 months is three times that. So why have they gone on strike and what are their key demands? They've gone on strike because they believe they're being treated unfairly in a number of ways. And they claim that in prison, they've been subject to all kinds of restrictions due to the status of Palestine Action, even though when they were involved in these activities, Palestine Action was not a prescribed group. And some of their demands include immediate bail. You know, we've already talked about the fact that they're being held for an exceptional length of time. They want an end to censorship of communication, so restricted calls, visits, letters.

7:00They also want deprescription of Palestine action. They're making their own kind of claim that it should be done regardless of what the judges find. They want to shut Elbit down, all their sites in the UK, this Israeli arms subsidiary. And they want assurances that they have a fair trial. And those are five key demands. And in terms of the hunger strikers themselves, I mean, as you said, there were eight originally, there are now three. Can you tell me a bit more about where they're from, how old they are? What do we know about them as people? Yeah, so Hiba Mureusi, she's 31, has said she's the one who's been on hunger strike the longest, so 66 days now.

7:41She wants to be transferred to HMP Bronzefield. She was there previously, but then she was moved to HMP Peterborough. and she says that now means she's hundreds of miles away from her support network, i.e. her family and friends. Cameron Ahmed is 28 and I think he's on day 59. He was a mechanic. Of course, you've just spoken to his sister. And then the last one is Louis Chiara Mello, who is 22 and he is on day 45. his situation is slightly different from the other two in that he's actually diabetic so he's kind of fasting every other day I'm sure it's dangerous anyway but the thought of going into an all-out hunger strike would be even more risky

8:39It is an understatement to say that going on hunger strike is an incredibly difficult thing to do And, you know, they're having perhaps some water. Some of them are believed to be having some homemade electrolytes, which means, you know, a little bit of sugar, a little bit of salt. But just mentally, physically, the strength and fortitude that it takes is just something else. I mean, what do we know about the toll that it does take on a person? A lot of health workers have written to David Lammy asking him to intervene. So there's Dr. James Smith, who is an emergency physician and he's a lecturer at University College London.

9:14And he said essentially after approximately three weeks, you use up your fat stores and then your body starts relying on your muscle tissue and organ tissue. You know, it's a quite grim prognosis. And he said, you know, they're effectively dying. And some of the ailments they've been reporting as sort of pain, difficulty standing, difficulty with their hearing as well as their sight, muscle spasms, breathing difficulties. I think it's sort of unimaginable for the average person how hard it is to do something like this. And so ultimately what we know is that they can die in excruciating circumstances, you know, or at best suffer long term health problems.

10:00Yeah, exactly. So, I mean, it's believed to be the biggest coordinated hunger strike in prison in the UK since the IRA hunger strikers in 1981. and in that case 10 of them died and it varied between 46 days and the latest was 73 days. A lot were around the sort of 60 to 65 days mark so they're really you know Hibber especially and Cameron are really entering that kind of critical phase. Dying is obviously the worst outcome, but there are serious risks to their health of organ failure, brain damage, and you know, they're well aware of that, I think.

10:51Shamina, when did you find out that Cameron was going to go on hunger strike? I found out quite early on, to be honest. He made his intentions clear to me that he was going to embark on the hunger strike. He's been in prison for now over a year. And at that point, it was coming up to his one year of being inside. And how did you feel about it when he told you?

11:21Scared. I knew the consequences that come with being on hunger strike. worried but also had a deep understanding of why he felt that this was the necessary step to take he talks about his commitment for the liberation of Palestine it was seeing the videos every single day of the Palestinians being massacred that is a strong enough motivation And then the sort of complicity of the UK in amongst that, in the ongoing genocide of the Palestinians, it was seeing the injustice that people that have spoken about Palestine or acted on behalf of Palestine are receiving by the British justice system. What's happening to them doesn't make sense.

12:13And when things don't make sense, people can't just sit there idly waiting for it to resolve. They are going to do something about it. Has it surprised you how much Kanban is willing to endure? Yeah, 100%. Like, I think about, there was a day that we marched from Pentonville to Ministry of Justice, and I hadn't eaten that day. And I got to the end of it, and I was thinking, that's one day of not eating. how is he surviving? He spoke about how painful it was. Actually, his stomach was feeling like it was being shredded, the feeling of nausea and sickness that follows. Early stages, he found like breathing was really difficult.

12:55His chest felt quite restricted, but he said it wasn't like asthma because he's had asthma forever. He said it was a different kind of restriction. It's like his body just can't expand. His lungs can't expand beyond what they were doing so if your breathing's being affected your heart's being affected the most recent thing that he talks about is the fact he's almost lost um hearing in his left ear so I went to go and see him on Sunday he was like oh you can only talk to my right ear because my left ear can't hear well and he was leaning in with his right ear and he's like please come close as I can hear you properly and so there are fundamental long-term damages that are becoming clear happening to him But it just shows this sheer determination and willpower and how he's drawing from the strength of the Palestinians, from the strength of the movement growing and how he has complete resolve in seeing this through until the demands are met.

13:58Shamina, how are your parents taking it? I think it's tough like I find talking about the hunger strike with my parents quite hard mainly because I don't want to see them cry I am we've kind of like I guess it's a coping mechanism for me and my parents we don't actually talk about with each other as much as we probably should and then we cry in silence in our own rooms. I've heard my dad crying in his room and they worry when they hear about his sugar levels and the rising ketones. My dad's diabetic so he's got a very good grasp of what that means. And have they tried to get him to stop or is that just not even in question?

14:42All of us have. All of us have asked him to stop because we're worried about his health. My parents I've asked but my mum says it really well she says how can we ask him to stop when what he's fighting for hasn't been met if this is his way of using his body and claiming back the only thing that they haven't taken away his voice you can't help but just support him because at this point is either we support him or we leave him to feel like no one is there for him. And I'm not willing to do that.

15:42Haroon, how often do hunger strikes occur in prison? And how often are they successful? So they go back a long way, hunger strikes. So I think the suffragettes did it in the UK. The IRA are the most famous, partly because they're still sort of in most people's living history. At the Mays prison in 1981, over 60 years after the death of McSweeney, 10 men convicted of terrorist offences starved themselves to death. An event still commemorated by... It wasn't just the 10 who died. There were people before that in the 70s who were force-fed. I think it's also important to point out that But a big difference with the IRA is that the IRA were all convicted, whereas these people are awaiting trial.

16:27In one of its responses, the government said that about 200 people every year go on hunger strike. But I think it's important to caveat that because whilst a lot of prisoners may go on hunger strike, I don't think any or very few go to the kind of time periods that we're talking about here, 40, 50, 60 days. In terms of success, it's very difficult to say. I mean, I spoke to Dr. Ian Miller, who's a senior lecturer at the University of Ulster, and he said somewhat bleakly that they tend to be successful when people die, which is quite grim. So, for example, Bobby Sands was sort of the leader of the IRA hunger strikers.

17:10At 17 minutes past one this morning, Mr. Bobby Sands, the IRA MP for Manor South Tyrone, died. His mother and sister were at his bedside with a priest during the final... And I think in the short term, especially the right wing press were very kind of unsympathetic and in some cases even gloating about their deaths. But I think there's an acknowledgement that it kind of paved the way for Sinn Féin to become a kind of proper political force, which then led to further negotiations. And what do we know about the treatment that the strikers have received? How have they been enduring this awful process?

17:45So probably the most controversial incident so far was when Kesa Zura, who has since paused at a strike, she was one of the ones who began on the first day, 2nd November. She was said to be suffering excruciating stomach pains on the floor of her cell. And they said that the prison refused to call an ambulance. And I think this went on for over 10 hours and it led to protest out aside the jail by some politicians, but also her friends and campaigners. And eventually the ambulance was called. The prison authorities and the MAJ kind of denied that there was any sort of denial of an ambulance to her.

18:30But clearly word had got out on, I think it was an afternoon at about 5pm and the ambulance didn't come until the next day. But it's difficult, you know, to know the ins and outs of what happened. I know Cameron Armand said every time he's been to hospital, he's been handcuffed to a guard. And I believe that's happened to the rest of them as well. When I spoke to a couple of old prison governors, they said that there would be a decision for the prison governor to make about kind of security considerations. And they said that was something that some prison and governors would deem acceptable to do, even though it can seem very inhumane.

19:12And how has the government responded? One of the things they tend to fall back on is, you know, not, I suppose, not discussing individual cases. They've refused to meet any of the representatives or the solicitors. So one thing they've really wanted is for the Justice Secretary, David Lammy, to meet with the hunger strikers, lawyers and representatives to discuss the issue. And they've just point blank refused to do that. When written to by the lawyers, the replies have been quite late and not directly addressing the request for a meeting. I think one of the strongest responses was when they said they wouldn't meet them because it would create perverse incentives.

19:51The suggestion was anyone would go on hunger strike. And again, I spoke to two prison governors about this and they sort of said, really, that was nonsense because going on a hunger strike for that amount of time is a very, very difficult and obviously risky thing to do. So the idea that people are just going to copycat it because... And be able to. Yes, exactly. They thought that was ridiculous. But there doesn't seem to be any prospect of the government talking to them. Wow. Can you tell me about other MPs? I mean, how have they responded to what is quite a desperate situation? Yeah, so John McDonnell said they'd kind of used up every possible parliamentary kind of process they could.

20:32So Jeremy Corbyn has also been very active. The minister will be aware that there are a number of prisoners at the present time who are undertaking a hunger strike. When Jeremy Corbyn asked Jake Richards, a junior justice minister, whether he would meet with the representatives of the hunger strikers... And try and move forward to help the safety of these particular prisoners. Jake Richards said no. Luckily, the Ministry of Justice... Immediately there could be heard laughter from other MPs in the chamber, which obviously was very distasteful to the family and friends of these hunger strikers whose lives are literally at risk.

21:20Arun, do you think the government has basically made a political calculation that they can get away with doing nothing here? I mean, I think to some extent it certainly looks that way. If you look at the press coverage, it's been largely ourselves and a few sort of smaller left-wing outlets. I mean, obviously the IRA was 10 people died, but it was, you know, in the newspapers every day, even if it was unsympathetic, whereas with these individuals, it just seemed there's not been that much. I don't think you have to support Palestine action. You don't have to support Palestine. You don't have to support their demands.

21:59You just have to support the fact that we don't want these people to die in our prisons, right? How realistic is it to expect that the hunger strikers might achieve their aims, or at least some of them? So when I spoke to two prison governors, and one of them used to work in counter-terror in the Home Office, they both said that it seemed that bailing them was the right thing to do. And that's one of their demands, right? I think in terms of ending the hunger strike, it's probably the one that the most possible and most likely to achieve it. And how do you reflect on it as a reporter who's been on this beat and has covered Palestine action?

22:34And, you know, we're now watching British people starve in prisons for a cause. I mean, it's certainly one of the grimmest stories I've had to cover. I mean, you know, you just kind of hope that there will be some resolution to it. I mean, I just really hope that something will give that enables them to feel that they can end the action. Coming up, Shamina confronts Justice Secretary David Lammy.

23:23Shamina, how does it feel watching him go through this? And did you expect things would go this far? No, I didn't actually. I didn't expect that we would be in January and he's still hunger striking. I didn't expect to be at this stage and the government hasn't responded. And he's nearly hitting the 60-day mark. And people keep bringing up the Irish hunger strike and comparing the days before deaths took place. And when you're seeing those comparisons, yeah, it's deeply scary to think about a thought. where your younger brother may not be here, you might outlive him, which is not a thought that I've ever had to entertain in the past.

24:13So it's, yeah, I just didn't think we'd be in January and still be going through this. I thought by now government would have reached out and we would have had a conversation. Shamina, you actually confronted David Lammy in December. What happened? I am a sister of one of the public structures. We haven't waited for you to respond. So we'd found out that he was going to be turning on Christmas lights in Seven Sisters because that's his constituents. So we'd thought that, well, you know, he hasn't responded to any of the letters, so maybe if we give a physical copy, he can actually respond. What was his response?

24:51His response was that he didn't know anything about it. My brother is on now day 25.

25:03which was massively shocking because obviously we'd had sent many letters to him previously and it's been covered in the press and it's brief and it's brief and also it's kind of like there's two like schools of thoughts on this right so people say either he in that moment didn't know what to say so that's what he said or the other part is he didn't know but then it's concerning because that's his department and if he doesn't know then you need to wonder why his team didn't tell him because surely you would know if there was a coordinated hunger strike happening across the prisons in the UK and it's not one hunger striker at that point there was six and then shortly after I think Umar and Louis had joined as well so you'd gone up to eight hunger strikers So you're telling me that you don't know that that's existing in the UK prison system.

25:55Doesn't make sense. And finally, Shamina, what do you think is going to happen next? What do you hope for and what do you worry about? I hope that the government sees sense and has this conversation with the negotiators about the prisoners' demands. because we need to make a strong reflection on why these demands are not being met when they should be things that we're upkeeping as a British democratic society that's what I hope for because I think if we don't then our justice system and our political system is breaking away right in front of our eyes and it's bit at the hands of this current Labour government.