Palestine Action Activists in Second Month of Hunger Strike

Eight Palestine Action activists imprisoned at HMP Bronzefield in Surrey have entered their second month of a coordinated hunger strike, protesting their treatment and the government's designation of their group as a terrorist organization. The action, which began on November 2, 2024, has drawn widespread concern after several participants required hospitalization, with one young striker's deteriorating condition prompting an overnight protest led by a member of Parliament.

The hunger strike involves individuals awaiting trial for their alleged roles in direct actions against Elbit Systems, a British subsidiary of an Israeli defense firm that supplies weapons to Israel, as well as a separate incident at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire. Arrests occurred in multiple waves, including a counterterrorism operation on November 19, 2024, targeting participants in an August raid on an Elbit factory in Filton, Bristol. Those on strike include Qesser Zuhrah, 20; Amy Gardiner-Gibson; Heba Muraisi; Amu Gib; Jon Cink; Teuta Hoxha; and Kamran Ahmed. Campaigners describe it as the largest such prison action in the UK in nearly four decades.

Tensions escalated on December 16, 2024, when Zuhrah,...