Health of Palestine Action hunger strikers deteriorating, supporters say | UK news
Supporters said there was an alarming deterioration in the health of one of the prisoners affiliated with the Palestine Movement, who participated in the hunger strike, as he entered the third month of refusing food.
It was stated that 31-year-old Heba Muraisi, who was on the 65th day of her hunger strike, was experiencing muscle spasms and breathing problems, while Kamran Ahmed was reported to be experiencing intermittent hearing loss on the 58th day.
The third prisoner who participated in the protest is 22-year-old Lewie Chiaramello, who has type 1 diabetes and has been fasting every other day for 44 days.
Dr., an emergency physician and lecturer at University College London. James Smith said the three had already entered a “critical phase” of more than three weeks and warned that “things could decline very quickly and irreversibly”.
Ahmed, 28, who is being held in Pentonville prison in north London and was hospitalized for the fifth time last week, said in an interview with the Guardian through an intermediary: “I’m worried, but being scared doesn’t mean I’m not for a moment okay with government ministers playing ping pong with our health.
“I intend to continue my hunger strike, maybe they expect me to come out in a body bag or [be] He was hospitalized for the sixth time. My chest pain while talking and racing doesn’t seem too far in the near future.
“I know the consequences, but I think the responsibility to answer that question should be on the government, not me.”
The ongoing hunger strike began on 2 November, demanding immediate bail, an end to the Palestine Action ban, the closure of Israeli arms company Elbit Systems’ facilities in the UK, and an end to censorship of detainees’ communications.
Muraisi, Ahmed and Chiaramello will spend more than 18 months in prison before being tried for alleged activities of the Palestine Movement; This is well above the standard pre-trial detention limit of six months.
Five prisoners who were previously on hunger strike stopped their actions; The last one was Teuta Hodja, who stopped refusing food on Saturday after 60 days.
The hunger strike is believed to be the largest coordinated action in the UK since one by IRA prisoners in 1981, in which 10 people died. The earliest death occurred after 46 days, and four died between 59 and 61 days.
Ahmed said: “I don’t think any of the hunger strikers would want to die but it’s funny, if I potentially die, does it matter? [UK] passport? Are Palestinians disposable numbers?”
She said watching “random cooking shows,” her Islamic faith and “hearing the protests echoing across the Pentonville grounds” kept her going.
Smith rejected the “nonsense” of his critics who questioned whether the hunger strikers were still alive. “Their bodies are falling apart as we speak,” he said. “And I think the reason we haven’t seen anything truly catastrophic happen yet is because over the decades we’ve seen some progress in what we know medically, in the type of supplements they take.”
Heart problems and infections are major risks, he said, while hearing and vision problems are particularly concerning because they may be related to neurological functions.
Prisons minister James Timpson has previously said the force is “very experienced” in dealing with hunger strikes and has “robust and working” systems.
The Ministry of Justice said granting inmates’ requests to meet with them or their representatives would create “perverse incentives” for others to put themselves at risk.
