SA organisations demand immediate action for UK pro-Palestine hunger-striking prisoners

South African organisations have expressed their “unwavering solidarity” with pro-Palestine political prisoners currently on hunger strike in British jails, calling on the government to grant them immediate bail and to uphold their right to fair, transparent and timely trials.

In a joint statement, the groups said some of the hunger strikers have now gone without food for more than 50 days and may die if urgent action is not taken.

They warned that the prisoners’ continued detention without trial, reports of inadequate healthcare, and the government’s refusal to meaningfully engage with their demands place responsibility for any loss of life squarely with the British state.

The groups described the hunger strike as a “profound act of non-violent resistance”, noting that it forms part of a long history in which political prisoners have used their bodies to counter repression when no other options remain.

They cited South African anti-apartheid activists, Palestinian political prisoners and Guantánamo Bay detainees as among those who have resorted to hunger strikes to assert their dignity.

The organisations urged Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government to reflect on the historical consequences of the Thatcher-era response to hunger strikes that led to the deaths of Bobby Sands and nine other Irish Republican prisoners in 1981.

They said the current situation appears to be following a similar trajectory under Labour, noting that “just like Sands and his comrades, the five current hunger strikers are all under the age of 31, the youngest being just 20-years-old”.

The prisoners were named as Qesser Zuhrah, Teuta Hoxha, Heba Muraisi, Kamran Ahmed and Amu Gib.

The statement warned that their health is critical, with Gib and Ahmed hospitalised, Zuhrah beginning to lose her vision, Muraisi experiencing memory loss, and Hoxha suffering from dangerously low blood sugar levels, with her skin turning grey.

Other prisoners, including Lewie Chiaramello, Jon Cink and Umer Khalid, have also been affected. The group said Chiaramello is on a partial hunger strike due to diabetes, while Cink and Khalid, who has muscular dystrophy, recently ended their hunger strike after being hospitalised.

According to the statement, the prisoners are alleged to have broken into an Elbit Systems factory and a Royal Air Force base in an attempt to stop the supply of fighter jet components to Israel.

They are being held in pre-trial detention without bail, with some imprisoned for more than a year, well beyond the standard six-month custody limit.

They face charges allegedly carried out on behalf of Palestine Action before the group was proscribed in the UK and designated a terrorist organisation.

The organisations said that in recent months thousands of people have openly defied the ban on Palestine Action, carrying placards in support of the group and risking arrest under terrorism legislation.

The hunger strikers’ demands include an end to prison censorship, immediate bail for all Palestine Action prisoners, the right to fair and timely trials, the de-proscription of Palestine Action, and the shutdown of all Elbit Systems sites operating in the UK.

The statement said solidarity with the UK hunger strikers is inseparable from a broader commitment to freedom, dignity and justice for the Palestinian people, who have endured 78 years of occupation and more than two years of what the organisations described as genocide.

It noted that close to 10,000 Palestinian political prisoners are currently held in Israeli jails.

A “Free the Political Prisoners” solidarity protest will be held on Tuesday, 23 December 2025, at 11am outside the offices of the British Council in Dunkeld West, Johannesburg.

The statement was signed by more than 38 South African organisations, including the South African Federation of Trade Unions (SAFTU), the Anti-Apartheid Movement South African chapter, the Palestine Solidarity Alliance, The Evangelical Alliance of South Africa (TEASA), the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation, and others.

hope.ntanzi@iol.co.za

IOL News