Four pro-Palestinian activists from the group Palestine Action (currently proscribed in the UK) have been on hunger strike since 2 November 2025. Four others had to pause their hunger strike a few days ago after being hospitalised. They began the strike as a last resort after demanding that their rights be respected in prison and being ignored, following months of imprisonment without trial, interference with their communications with family members and lawyers, and medical neglect. They are being held in prison awaiting trial, accused of causing material damage to an arms factory owned by Elbit Systems in Filton, near Bristol, and also at an air force base in Oxfordshire. These non-violent actions were intended to stop the war machinery with which the United Kingdom supports the genocide in Gaza.
The health of the young activists, aged between 20 and 31, is very serious: Lewie Chiaramello is diabetic and has been denied medical supervision, Kamran Ahmed has been hospitalised five times, Teuta Hoxha is experiencing heart palpitations, insomnia, and her memory is beginning to deteriorate, and Herba Muraisi, now on her 63rd day without food, is losing her ability to speak. Their loved ones are still unable to communicate with them fluently. UN experts, including Francesca Albanese, have expressed concern about the real possibility of the activists’ imminent death. The situation in the United Kingdom is beginning to resemble the British government’s actions towards Irish political prisoners in 1981, who were left to die after 60 days on hunger strike. Yesterday afternoon, thousands of people marched and protested in different parts of England to demand their release from the government. In the evening, hundreds of people were harshly repressed by the English police at the gates of HMP New Hall prison, where Herba Muraisi is being held, in a protest in solidarity with the pro-Palestinian activist.
The activists are also demanding that the British government de-procribe Palestine Action, a global non-violent direct action movement whose mission is to ‘stop international participation in Israel’s apartheid regime.’ In the United Kingdom, they focused their efforts on dismantling the arms company Elbit System, a supplier to Israel, succeeding in halting production at numerous factories and causing the company to lose millions of pounds in contracts. Palestine Action was banned in the United Kingdom on 2 July 2025, being classified as a ‘terrorist organisation’ in the same category as armed groups such as al-Qaeda and ISIS. Following the ban, thousands of people have shown their support for the group, and more than 1,600 people have been arrested simply for displaying posters in support of Palestine Action on charges of supporting terrorism.
We stand in solidarity with the activists and Palestine Action. We demand that the British government respect the rights and freedoms of its own citizens, immediately release the activists, end the brutal political repression it has been committing in recent years (especially against the pro-Palestinian movement) and stop funding and supporting the genocide in Palestine. The British government must act now! As Audrey Corno, a pro-Palestinian activist in the United Kingdom, stated: ‘We promise the government that the resistance of the prisoners and the people against genocide [in Gaza] and against occupation and apartheid [by Israel] will not end until this is over.’
#Filton24 #FreeFilton24 #HungerStrike
