Over 35 human rights and pro-Palestine advocacy groups from South Africa have released a statement in solidarity with the jailed hunger striking pro-Palestine activists, known as the Prisoners for Palestine.
A wide variety of pro-Palestine and anti-apartheid organisations released a statement on December 22 stressing just how critical it is for the UK government to respond to growing criticism surrounding the Prisoners for Palestine.
Six prisoners, some of whom have been detained without trial for over a year after allegedly attacking an Israeli weapons factory in solidarity with Palestine, remain in an open-ended hunger strike which began on November 2.
The statement
“We, the undersigned organisations, express our unwavering solidarity with pro-Palestine political prisoners on hunger strike in British jails.” the statement said.
Continuing, the statement said: “We call on people of conscience in South Africa and across the world to demand that they are granted immediate bail and that their fundamental right to fair, transparent and timely trials are upheld.”
The joint statement also drew attention to the fact that some of the hunger strikers have now passed the 50-day mark without food and may die if urgent action is not taken.
Subscribe to our newsletter and stay updated on the latest news and updates from around the Muslim world!
They warned that the continued imprisonment without trial, reports of reluctance to provide them with adequate healthcare, and the government’s refusal to meaningfully engage with their demands places the responsibility for loss of life with the British state.
The groups described the hunger strike as “a profound act of non-violent resistance,” noting that it is part of a long history of political prisoners using their own bodies as a last resort to counter repression.
Examples of previous hunger strikes
They also cited South African anti-apartheid activists, Palestinian political prisoners and Guantánamo Bay detainees as examples of those who have resorted to hunger strikes to assert their dignity when all else fails.
They argued that the previous hunger striking tragedy in 1981 is a moral stain on British history and that Labour’s response to the current hunger strikers is following a similar trajectory to the 1981 cases.
“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 statement said.
The prisoners were named as Qesser Zuhrah, Teuta Hoxha, Heba Muraisi, Kamran Ahmed and Amu Gib.
Hospitalisation and demands
Ahmed and Givb have been hospitalised numerous times, Zuhrah is starting to lose her vision, Muraisi is losing memory, and Hoxha has dangerously low blood sugar levels with her skin turning grey due to the malnutrition.
Other prisoners like Lewie Chiaramello, Jon Clink, and Umer Khalid are on partial hunger strikes, due to medical cases such as diabetes or muscular dystrophy.
The hunger strikers are alleged to have broken into an Elbit System’s factory and a Royal Air Force (RAF) base to stop the supply of fighter jet components to Israel and end British complicity in the Gaza genocide.
They have been held on remand for over a year without bail and are awaiting a trial scheduled to take place in April 2026.
This period is much longer than the standard custody limit of six months, the statement said.
The Prisoners for Palestine face offences allegedly carried out on behalf of Palestine Action, before the group was proscribed in the UK and designated a “terrorist” organisation.
The hunger strikers’ demands are, as quoted in the statement:
- An end to all prison censorship, including the withholding of letters, phone calls and books
- Immediate bail for all Palestine Action prisoners currently held in UK prisons
- The right to a fair and timely trial for all Palestine Action prisoners
- The de-proscription of Palestine Action and the removal of its “terror” classification
- The shut down of all Elbit Systems sites and subsidiaries operating in the UK.
The organisations who signed the statements were listed as: South African Federation of Trade Unions (SAFTU), Anti-Apartheid Movement (AAM), South African Chapter Palestine Solidarity Alliance, Abahlali Base Freedom Park, Ahmed Kathrada Foundation, Potch 4 Palestine, Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC CT), Healthcare Workers 4 Palestine (HCW4P), Palestine Solidarity Campaign (University of Pretoria) South African Christians 4, Palestine (SAC4P) Gauteng Housing Crisis Committee, Palestine Solidarity Alliance Tshwane (PSA Tshwane), Social Intifada, South African Jews for a Free Palestine (SAJFP), Kopanang Africa Against Xenophobia, Palestine Information Network (PIN), Kensington Palestine Solidarity Group, Visual Intifada, Vus’ikasi Lam, Education 4 Humanities (E4H), WITS PSC, Community with a Conscience, SA BDS Coalition, SA Christians for Palestine, Serapeng Sa Dithare, Environment NPC, Makause Community Development Forum (MACODEFO), Keep Left, Sisonke Revolutionary Movement, XR Gauteng, South African Palestine Movement (SAPM), KZN PSF, Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC Gauteng), South African Food Sovereignty Campaign (SAFC), MACUA Bekkersdal Branch, Workers and Socialist Party, and Save our Sacred Lands.
