News / hunger strike
Support urged for hunger strikers
Signs and artwork have appeared across Bristol in support of prisoners currently on a hunger strike.
Seven people have so far refused food for up to four weeks and are demanding that Israeli weapons firm Elbit Systems shuts its UK sites, including in Bristol.
The hunger strikers are also asking for the government’s ban on Palestine Action to be lifted, and that they are granted bail and a fair trial.
Four of the hunger strikers – Qesser Zuhrah, Heba Muraisi, Teuta Hoxha and Kamran Ahmed – are part of the ‘Filton 24’, held in connection with an alleged attack on Elbit’s manufacturing hub in Filton in August 2024.
Theirs could become the largest hunger strike in the UK since IRA prisoners in 1981.
The International Association of Democratic Lawyers have said the Filton 24 case “is a litmus test for democracy” – photo: Martin Booth
Prisoners for Palestine spokesperson Francesca Nadin, told the Morning Star: “The fact is that for the charges that they have, which is property damage, people are never usually kept on remand.
“It’s clear to me that the process is the punishment…
“As you can imagine now, they’re all very weak.
“It’s getting to the point of serious deterioration. We are just prepared for something very serious to happen any moment now.”
Six alleged members of Palestine Action are currently on trial at Woolwich Crown Court accused of breaking into Elbit Systems on Bolingbroke Way in Filton on August 6 2024.
Charlotte Head, 29, Samuel Corner, 23, Leona Kamio, 30, Fatema Rajwani, 21, Zoe Rogers, 22, and Jordan Devlin, 31, are jointly accused of aggravated burglary, criminal damage and violent disorder.
They deny all charges and Corner denies an additional allegation of causing grievous bodily harm.
Main photo: Martin Booth
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