On November 20th, 2025, Jeremy Corbyn MP wrote to Justice Minister David Lammy requesting an urgent meeting to discuss the demands of one of his constituents, Amu Gib, who is on an open-ended hunger strike in prison. Gib, held on remand in connection with an action at RAF Brize Norton on June 20th 2024, faces imprisonment for 18 months before their trial – far exceeding the pre-trial six-month custody time limit.
Corbyn’s intervention comes as six pro-Palestine activists imprisoned in British jails approach their fourth week of a rolling hunger strike, their health steadily declining. The prisoners launched their action on November 2nd – the anniversary of the 1917 Balfour Declaration – in what represents the largest coordinated prisoner hunger strike in the UK in decades.
Prisoners for Palestine, the campaign group supporting the strikers, welcomed Corbyn’s intervention and called for his request for an urgent meeting to be immediately granted. In a statement, the group said: “By systematically denying the prisoners their rights in prison, and politicising their treatment, the state have left them with no other choice but to use their bodies to resist injustice.”
The Hunger Strikers
The six prisoners refusing food are Qesser Zuhrah, Amu Gibb, Jon Cink, Kamran Ahmed, Teuta ‘T’ Hoxha, and Heba Muraisi. All are being held on remand without conviction, awaiting trial on charges including criminal damage and aggravated burglary, related to activities targeting Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest weapons manufacturer.
Zuhrah, 20, and Gibb, 30, were the first to begin the strike at HMP Bronzefield. Muraisi joined from HMP New Hall on November 4th, followed by Cink at Bronzefield on November 7th, Hoxha at HMP Peterborough on November 9th, and Ahmed at HMP Pentonville. Some have been imprisoned without trial for over a year, with Zuhrah remanded since November 2024 and not expected to face trial until April 2026.
The hunger strikers have issued five core demands to the British government including:
- Immediate bail – the activists argue that holding them on remand for extended periods undermines their right to a fair trial and amounts to pre-conviction punishment.
- The right to a fair trial – they demand access to all documents related to cooperation between British and Israeli officials, citing evidence of interference in the judicial process by the Israeli government and Elbit Systems.
- The closure of all Elbit weapons factories in Britain – Elbit Systems produces 85% of the deadly quadcopter drones used to target civilians in Gaza.
Government Silence and Deteriorating Health
Despite Prisoners for Palestine notifying Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood of the impending strike on October 20th, the British government has issued no public response to date. According to the campaign group, this silence has left the prisoners with no choice but to take drastic action.
The health of the strikers is already deteriorating. At a press conference held this week, Shahmina Alam, sister of hunger striker Kamran Ahmed and a pharmacist who fully understands the medical implications, expressed her anguish: “I dread the call I’m going to get today, I also dread the call I’m going to get telling me that he’s passed out, I dread the day I don’t receive a phone call at all.” Her brother is reportedly experiencing breathing difficulties.
The strikers have been repeatedly denied medical attention and refused requests for electrolytes, according to Prisoners for Palestine.
The Filton 24 Trial
The hunger strike coincides with the first of three trials of the Filton 24, activists accused of breaking into an Elbit Systems research and development facility in Filton, Bristol, in August 2024 and damaging weapons destined for the Israeli military. The first trial, of six defendants at Woolwich Crown Court, is expected to last up to 10 weeks. Zoe Rogers, Fatema Zainab (Ray) Rajwani, Jordan Devlin, Samuel Corner, Charlotte ‘Lottie’ Head and Leona Kamio maintain that they upheld international law by attempting to prevent genocide, while it is Elbit and the British government who are complicit in war crimes.
The trial conditions themselves have become a point of protest. Prisoners are woken between 5 and 5.30am daily and transported in vehicles known as ‘sweat boxes’, by private contractor Serco. Some travel two hours each way from HMP Bronzefield. They receive little food, have difficulty showering or consulting with lawyers, and their court clothes and evidence bundles have been repeatedly lost or misplaced.
Barrister Franck Magennis addressed this treatment at the press conference: “The British State is wielding the blunt weapon of remand in custody, denying people bail to attack the anti-Zionist movement, and its most principled activists. Many of these comrades have spent years remanded on bail, and many people accused of offences related to Palestine solidarity are likely to be acquitted by juries, formed of ordinary people, increasingly outraged at the ongoing Zionist Genocide.”
Evidence of State-Corporate Collusion
The hunger strikers’ demand for a fair trial is bolstered by documented evidence of collusion between the British government, Israeli officials, and Elbit Systems. Freedom of Information disclosures revealed that the UK shared contact details of counterterrorism police and the Crown Prosecution Service with the Israeli embassy.
— © 2025 Sul Nowroz – Real Media staff writer – Insta: @TheAfghanWriter
