Author: Ken Afeh

Solidarity to all prisoners held in UK dungeons! This weekend we call on you all to join us in this cross city solidarity action taking place across multiple UK prisons.

Let our voices break through the walls and send our solidarity and rage to those who have sacrificed their livelihoods for justice!

Check the details for your closest demo!

Saturday 15th November

• HMP Pentonville, London N7 8TT — 4pm
• HMP Newhall, Wakefield WF4 4AX — 4.30pm
• HMP Styal, Wilmslow SK9 4HR — 5pm
• HMP Low Newton, Durham DH1 5YA — 5pm
• HMP Bronzefield, Ashford TW15 3JZ — 5.30pm

Sunday 16th November

• HMP Peterborough PE3 7PD — 4pm
• HMP Eastwood Park, South Gloucestershire GL12 8DB — 4.30pm

Yesterday, November 4th, I received news of the start of a hunger strike called by tens of political prisoners imprisoned in the United Kingdom for their struggles in solidarity with and for the liberation of Palestine.

In recent months, I read about comrade Teuta “T” Hoxha’s hunger strike, and was able to follow her story and that of comrades Casey Goonan and Malik Muhammad. I had time to ponder in case, as I expected, another chance presented itself to join a struggle which I feel an affinity for, which I feel deeply is my own.

The struggle against prison and the military techno-industrial system is essential for a struggle of broader scope, of revolutionary and internationalist resistance.
I am joining in the hunger strike, starting on November 8th, and will carry it out with an eye to the tactics and approach proposed by the comrades who initiated it. If it continues indefinitely, I will go on while paying attention to my body’s limits, deciding for myself whether and when to stop and continue the protest by other means.

I will take the time I need to share further thoughts as the protest continues. The reasons for this struggle, the actions for which these comrades are now imprisoned, speak for themselves.

I stand by their side with serenity and resolve.

Currently, I do not know whether the Palestinian comrade Anan Yaeesh, imprisoned in Melfi, is still on hunger strike. Regardless, my solidarity with him, Ali, and Mansour is vivid and strong.

With humility and respect, I close these lines by quoting the Kurdish comrade Sakîne Cansiz:

“On the other hand, facing the enemy on your own is also a special thing. Revolutionary will gathers in you. You can feel within yourself conviction, determination, the pure desire to fight. It is the most beautiful part of revolutionary struggle. Nothing distracts you, and you demolish the enemy with the strength of your personality. It is something to do with you, but also with the enemy’s image reflected in you. In your defense, it recognizes its impotence.”

Luca Dolce, known as Stecco, anarchist comrade
Sanremo prison

MANAR DAUGHTER OF PALESTINE:
A message of love from the ground

I am Manar. I am a 27 years old mother of two beautiful daughters, as well as a wife, daughter, sister, friend, and neighbour. Since my birth here, I have never left Gaza.

I send my heartfelt words to the free prisoners who were imprisoned for defending justice and standing with our Palestinian people. Praise be to God who has placed in this world hearts that still beat with justice and mercy, and who has placed in the darkness of these times people who resemble light…you.

Peace, mercy, and blessings of God be upon you from wounded Gaza, from a land that continues to bleed but refuses to die, from my broken heart that loves and appreciates you more than you can imagine. I write to you from a heart heavy with sorrow, yet overflowing with gratitude for you and your existence.

You who have chosen hunger willingly, in solidarity with a people forcibly starved for two years under siege, bombardment, and genocide. Your hunger strike is not just a protest; it is a cry for freedom that extends from your prison cells to every home in Gaza, telling the world: there is still conscience.

And thank God for granting me the opportunity to write to the greatest and most loving and humane people of our time. You are free in your hearts and in all your actions. Follow goodness no matter the cost. I carry you in my heart, and I ask God Almighty to grant you freedom, happiness, contentment, love, success, progress, and the fulfillment of your goals in this world, and to grant you victory in this life and the hereafter. My heart is with you. I pray that God will always guide you to the right path….

I am Manar Suleiman Amra from Gaza, a mother of two daughters, a wife, a son, a sister, and a friend. Before the war, I worked as a medical laboratory technician, but the war took my job, my family home, everything I loved, my peace of mind, and my brother, who disappeared two months after the war. He went out to look for work and never returned. We don’t know where his grave is to bury him.

He was suddenly snatched from us without a goodbye. For two years, I have lived with the bitterness of loss and longing. I experienced hunger and homelessness, and we lost all our dignity, which is the right of every human being.

When a mother sees her children or husband killed before her eyes, or a child sees his parents tortured and killed before him, when we go hungry for days and months and find nothing to eat but animal food, when we leave our comfortable and warm homes and go out into nothingness, into the unknown, we go out to build a tent in a place we don’t know, in a place with no water, no electricity, and no market, when young men are taken to prison and tortured, some of them dying under torture, and some of them returning disabled or disfigured and with altered features, where are human rights? What remains of our human rights? We have been completely and utterly stripped of our humanity…

The injustice we endured happened in full view of the world, and this is what breaks my heart and saddens me most.

Although our suffering began with the Nakba in 1948, meaning for 77 years every Palestinian has been enduring it, I lived as a refugee in Gaza. My entire life was spent in a large, besieged prison in Gaza, never leaving. I never rode a train, a plane, or a ship. I never saw the beauty of the world or God’s creation. I lived through five wars before this genocide, but these last two years were the most horrific in all of history. Sadly, most world leaders ignored us.

I am a Muslim, and I believe in God deeply, even more than myself. Islam is what saved me from this terrible nightmare. I pray to God with trust and certainty, knowing that He will not forsake me and that everything I am experiencing is part of God’s plan for me and the entire world. We may perceive it as evil and bad with our limited minds, but how many things in our lives have we thought were good, only to discover later that what we desired was bad for us? And the opposite is also true; we see some things as bad and grieve. It happened, but with time, I realize it was for the best. Faith in God has brought peace to my heart, mind, and soul. I prayed fervently that God would send me someone to stand by me and support me because I was so tired. You were a gift from God, and you eased my burden so much. God blessed me with wonderful friends whom I love dearly. They have pure, kind hearts and wish good for all humanity.

Among them are my sister Ayla and my closest friend. She speaks with me daily and cares about every detail concerning me and my family. She is like a mother, a sister, and a close friend to me. She gives me hope and comforts me, provides me with goals and ideas to invest my time and abilities, and helps me succeed in achieving my goals. She encouraged me to draw and write, and I began to breathe and find comfort and inner peace in my faith, reading the Quran, praying to God, and adding drawing and writing to my life. Everything has changed in the last two years: our lives, our goals, our thinking, and even the way we see the world. But despite the pain, the experience taught me that pain can be transformed into great strength. I found myself breathing again through drawing, design, and writing.

When I picked up the pen and colors, I felt I was reclaiming a part of myself that had been stolen. I began to paint Palestine in its colors and design clothes bearing its flag, as if I were stitching the memory of a homeland into every piece of fabric.

I found in writing a refuge that protected me from collapse. Words became a path through which I could breathe, and I wrote to say: “We are still here, we still dream, and we still deserve to live. It’s as if it’s my window to life, my way to tell the world our story so that it won’t be forgotten.

Through these arts, I mend my heart and regain my faith in God and in the goodness within people like yourselves, my beloved ones.

What gives me the most strength now is knowing that you have chosen imprisonment and hunger to tell the world, “Enough silence!” Because with your hunger, you are breaking down the walls of silence, and with your pain, you are writing the highest meaning of dignity. Knowing that you exist, in the far west, willingly suffering in solidarity with us, makes me feel that I am not alone, and that humanity is not yet dead.

Every step you take, every word, every day of your strike resonates in Gaza, in our weary hearts that cling to hope. You give my heart strength; you teach me that freedom is not given, but seized with determination and faith.

You are not prisoners in our eyes; you are symbols of dignity and the living conscience of this world. And though you are in prison cells today, you are free in our hearts. Indeed, you are the ones who liberate our souls from despair. I know that your bodies are weakening from hunger, but your spirits are stronger than the prison walls. I dream of continuing my journey in art and writing, of holding exhibitions showcasing my work born from the rubble, of publishing my book that compiles our testimonies as survivors of the genocide, so that it may serve as a humanitarian document carrying our voices to the world.

I dream of one day leaving Gaza to complete my studies, so that I may be able to defend my people with awareness, knowledge, and a truthful voice.

I dream of being an echo of your voices and the voices of all of us who believe that freedom has no homeland, but begins in the heart. And here is my sister Elena, with her wonderful team of amazing friends, who are like family to me, giving their time, effort, and money to help me achieve my goals…

How much I love and appreciate them! All my words fail to express my gratitude and love for them.

On the day your hunger strike began, we were reminded of the Balfour Declaration, the promise that sowed injustice in our land more than a century ago. But on that same day, you sowed another promise: the promise of freedom, the promise of conscience, the promise that justice cannot be suppressed or endure, no matter how long the darkness lasts.

From Gaza, from a heart worn down by the siege but still believing in goodness, I say to you: You are with us, and we are with you.

Your hunger is voluntary, but it has filled our souls with hope.

And your silence in the prison cells speaks louder than the speeches of the world’s leaders.

I ask God to protect you, strengthen your hearts, and restore your freedom to you soon.

Know that in Gaza, there are those who pray for you every day, with tears, gratitude, and pride. I carry you in the depths of my heart until the day we meet again, free on a free and just land, where no one who speaks the truth is imprisoned.

From your sister in humanity and struggle,

Manar Suleiman Amra
Gaza – Palestine

A message of solidarity from political prisoner/defendant Jakhi McCray who’s on house arrest and will be doing a solidarity fast: https://www.instagram.com/p/DQkx6a4Eu8H

“Today, November 2nd, Prisoners for Palestine will begin an open-ended hunger strike to protest months of abuse and repression endured by the UK government. These comrades have been physically isolated even within their prisons, banned from communicating with family and friends, assaulted, denied a fair trial, and harassed over their religion. Prison guards have forcibly removed hijabs from Muslim women prisoners, similar to the NYPD’s targeting of and physical violence against Muslim women during protests.

I wish these prisoners the warmest of luck and strength as they fight for their demands. To hopefully bring attention and show solidarity to their action, in a few days i will begin a fast in which I won’t eat anything until the UK prisoners end their strike. I have the great benefit of being on home detention and this will not be as intense as starving yourself within the State’s dungeons, but I see this solidarity fast as a great way to put more eyes on Prisoners for Palestine and more pressure on the UK government.

I also ask that all fundraisers organized for me during this period have proceeds sent to Shine White, a prisoner and citizen of New Afrika, who himself has been on hunger strike for weeks now to protest targeted repression and violence that he is facing in the true belly of the beast. I send my love to Shine and the UK prisoners. We will all be free one day.”

At breakfast time today, in Pentonville prison, London, 27-year old Kamran Ahmed became the 6th prisoner to join the national Prisoners for Palestine hunger-strike.

The hunger-protest began on the 2nd of November, with prisoners Qesser Zuhrah and Amu Gibb refusing food at Bronzefield prison in Kent. They were soon joined by Heba Muraisi, in New Hall prison, Jon Cink in Bronzefield, T Hoxha, at Peterborough prison, and now by Kamran Ahmed.

The rolling hunger-strike has been called by the prisoners to protest their continued incarceration without trial, and in support of a list of demands, which include the right to a fair trial, release on bail, and the deproscription of Palestine Action.

Kamran was arrested on the 19th of November 2024, in a dramatic dawn raid by counter-terrorism police. His elderly parents were mistreated, and he was detained under the special powers of the Terrorism Act. Despite not being charged with any terrorist offences, he was refused bail, and has been in prison ever since, with a trial date of June 2026. Like the other members of the Filton 24, who have been similarly treated, Kamran is accused of being involved in a Palestine Action raid on the Filton, Bristol site of Elbit Systems, Israel’s biggest weapons maker, and the largest supplier of the killer drones used in the Genocide in Gaza. Along with the other demands, the hunger-strikers are calling for the permanent closure of Elbit’s British factories.

Prior to joining the hunger-strike, Kamran Ahmed said: “On the 10th of November, I plan to commence my hunger-strike, insh’Allah, in line with the stated demands, but also in solidarity with those who are having a harder time on remand than me. I hope the government review their decision to commence our unfair trial, and allow us to explain, before the jury, our reasons, because I honestly believe no reasonable person will convict us.”

Two weeks before the hunger-strike began, Prisoners for Palestine wrote to the British Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, with a full list of the prisoners’ demands. Despite the growing number of prisoners joining the protest, there has still been no official response from the British government. The responses at some of the prisons holding the hunger-strikers have been petty and vindictive, with movements restricted, threats made to other prisoners, and a callous disregard for the health of the hunger-strikers. Prisoners For Palestine are planning protests outside several prisons this coming weekend.

A spokesperson for the group, Francesca Nadin, said: “There are more and more prisoners now joining the collective hunger-strike, demanding justice, and to shut Elbit down. Elbit, the very same death mongers that have them locked-up through their nefarious relationship with the British state. The prisoners sacrifice is noble, and is met with the full support of the people. In just a few days, we have seen mobilisations and solidarity actions around the world, and pressure on the British state will only increase until they are forced to concede to our entirely reasonable demands.”

For media and press enquiries, contact us on prisoners4palestine@proton.me

At breakfast time today, 29-year old Teuta Hoxha, known to her friends as ‘T’, became the fifth prisoner to join the Prisoners for Palestine rolling hunger-strike. 

The protest began on the 2nd of November, when prisoners Qesser Zuhrah and Amu Gibb refused food at Bronzefield prison, to protest their continued imprisonment without trial, and in support of a short list of demands, including the right to a fair trial, an end to interference with their mail, and the deproscription of Palestine Action. The rolling hunger-strike was soon joined by Heba Muraisi, in New Hall prison, and Jon Cink in Bronzefield. T Hoxha, at Peterborough prison, is the fifth prisoner to join the open-ended hunger-strike. 

T was arrested in a dramatic dawn raid, by counter-terrorism police, on November 19th 2024, accused of being involved in the Palestine Action raid on Israeli arms maker Elbit Systems‘ site, at Filton, Bristol. Like the other members of the Filton 24, she was held and interrogated under the Terrorism Act, but not charged with any terrorist offence. She has been in prison, for nearly a year now, and is not expected to go to trial until April of next year.

Originally held at Bronzefield prison, T was subject to a sudden transfer to HMP Peterborough on the day that MPs voted to proscribe Palestine Action as a supposed ‘terrorist’ group, putting the group in the same bracket as ISIS and Al-Quaeda.

Following proscription, like the other pro-Palestine prisoners, T saw a dramatic escalation in her mistreatment, which eventually forced her to go on a hunger protest in August, being joined by 2 political prisoners in America, before winning her demands after more than 3 weeks without food.

The first of the hunger-striking Prisoners for Palestine have now gone a week without food, but despite the government being informed of the impending protest 2 weeks before it began, there has still been no response whatsoever.

Commenting on Teuta Hoxha joining the hunger-strike, Prisoners for Palestine spokesperson Audrey Corno, who was imprisoned without trial, alongside her, before being granted bail, said: “I am astounded by T’s resilience in joining her comrades in this hunger-strike, having just completed one 2 months ago. In our last visit, she told me, “Don’t worry about me. I’ve read about Guantanamo, and I am embarrassed – I will do this hunger-strike in comparative comfort. Whatever happens to me cannot compare to the scenes in Palestine. Therefore I will persevere.” This is the strength the British State is up against.”

For media and press enquiries, contact us on prisoners4palestine@proton.me

Since the Prisoners for Palestine rolling hunger-strike began on Sunday the 2nd of November, the anniversary of the Balfour Declaration, 4 prisoners are now on hunger-strike, including 3 at Bronzefield prison.

Today, Thursday 6th November, Jon Cink became the fourth pro-Palestine prisoner this week to refuse food, and join the open-ended hunger-strike. The prisoners have issued a list of demands, which include bail, the right to a fair trial, an end to mail censorship, and the deproscription of Palestine Action.

Jon was remanded to Bronzefield prison on the 3rd July 2025, after being arrested and interrogated by counter-terrorism police, in relation to the Palestine Action raid on RAF Brize Norton in June, where 2 leased transport aircraft were sprayed with red paint. While it has since been shown that government plans were already afoot to proscribe Palestine Action as a ‘terrorist’ group, at the time, then Home Secretary Yvette Cooper claimed that the Brize Norton action was the catalyst for the ban.

Since Palestine Action were banned in July, more than 2000 people have been arrested in protests organised by Defend Our Juries, with further mass protests being organised around the country between the 18th and 29th November. A judicial review against proscription will be heard between the 25th and 27th November.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Proscription has also led to a further deterioration in the treatment of the pro-Palestine prisoners being held without trial. Jon has been subject to isolation, censorship, and arbitrary restrictions on visits and phone calls. He has even been forced to have some visits through a Perspex screen. Prison staff have also become increasingly hostile and aggressive towards him. In a message from Bronzefield, Jon said: “We know first hand that repression DOESmake the ground in which Resistance grows more fertile. But we also know that to resist is to act. And action is always a choice, not a consequence that we can merely anticipate…Everyday [is] a new opportunity for defiance!”

On joining the Prisoners for Palestine hunger-strike Jon stated: “We have a duty to resist wherever we are, weaponising everything at our disposal. The sacrifices I pay, for allegedly disrupting the genocidal system, are incomparable to the sacrifices paid by Palestinians and all people directly exposed to Imperial violence.” 

Despite the growing number of prisoners joining the open-ended hunger-strike, there has still been no response from the government. Two weeks before the hunger-strike started, Prisoners for Palestine delivered a letter to the Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, which she appears to have ignored. 

A spokesperson for Prisoners for Palestine, Francesca Nadin, said, “As the days pass, and more prisoners are forced to go on hunger strike, how much longer can we tolerate this? This supposed democracy rejects the notion of justice at every turn. We call on the public to support the prisoners in their hour of need.”

For media and press enquiries, contact us on prisoners4palestine@proton.me

On Sunday 2^nd November, Balfour Day, 20-year old Qesser Zuhrah and 30-year old Amu Gibb launched the Prisoners for Palestine rolling hunger strike by refusing food at Bronzefield prison. They have now been joined by Heba Muraisi, who is being held on remand at New Hall prison.

Heba, originally from Yemen, with family in Gaza, refused food, at breakfast time today, Monday 3^rd November, becoming the third prisoner to join the national Prisoners for Palestine open-ended hunger-strike, alongside Qesser Zuhrah and Amu Gibb. 

Heba Muraisi has been imprisoned without trial since being remanded into custody on 19^th November 2024. She became one of the Filton 24, after being violently arrested in a dramatic dawn raid, by counter-terrorism police, in what was the third wave of arrests in relation to a Palestine Action raid on Israeli arms maker, Elbit Systems‘ Research  and Development Hub at Filton, Bristol, in August 2024. 

Like all the pro-Palestine prisoners, Heba has been targeted by the prison authorities. Her privacy has been violated, her access to books and visits restricted,  she has been subjected to segregation, and her kuffiyeh, which she wears as hijab during prayers, was forcibly removed by Yasmin Cooper, the Head of Security at Bronzefield prison, where Heba was first detained. In October 2025, in a flagrant punishment move known as ‘ghosting’, Heba was forcibly transferred from HMP Bronzefield to HMP New Hall, hundreds of miles away from her family and support system. 

The prisoners are striking in support of a list of demands, including release on bail, an end to prison censorship, and the right to a fair trial.

On the afternoon before their hunger-strike began, while being locked-up for the night, around 5.15pm, both Qesser and Amu informed the prison guards that they would be refusing food in the morning. On Qesser’s landing, the other prisoners gathered, as she made the announcement. The reaction from the guards was to press the alarm-bell, which brought other warders running to the scene, and Qesser was forced into her cell, to the cries and protests of other prisoners, expressing support for her. The guards then said she’d be placed on ‘report‘ for a breach of prison ‘discipline’.

Despite a letter, sent to the Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, on 20th October, there has still been no response to the hunger-strike from the government.

Francesca Nadin, spokesperson for Prisoners for Palestine said: “We would like to ask Kier Starmer, how do you justify labelling Amu Gib a terrorist for allegedly taking the same action that you defended your own clients for in the past? And to Shabana Mahmood, how does it feel to be a traitor to the cause that you professed your love for? Your spineless hypocrisy is no match for the determination of our prisoners. They will stand strong until their demands are met, and the people will stand alongside them all the way.”

Prisoners for Palestine are calling for a ‘Phone Blockade’ of Bronzefield prison tomorrow, in support of the hunger-strikers.

For media and press enquiries, contact us at prisoners4palestine@proton.me