Decades’ largest UK prison hunger strike has unfolded with surprisingly little public attention
This winter in British prisons, pro-Palestinian activists tied to Palestine Action have pushed their bodies to the edge of death. By early January, most of the initial seven participants had ended their hunger strikes, though three continue.
The protest linked to Palestine Action is the UK’s largest coordinated prison hunger strike in more than four decades. However, for most of its runtime, it has barely made an impact as a national news story.
Wave of Arrests Following Terrorist Label
The hunger strike emerged from a crackdown on Palestine Action after the UK government officially labeled the group a terrorist organization in July 2025. Under the UK’s Terrorism Act 2000, this classification turned even showing support for the group into a criminal act, carrying a sentence of years in prison.
This action sparked a wave of unusual arrests at protests and public events, with police detaining individuals for holding signs, chanting slogans, or displaying messages considered supportive of the group. Elderly demonstrators were among those taken into custody, drawing condemnation from civil liberties groups and human rights organizations. Throughout the UK, artists’ performances or exhibitions were canceled or faced legal threats for expressing solidarity with the Palestinian people—even as the UN referenced “genocide” in Gaza.
Amnesty International and UN human rights experts denounced the crackdown as disproportionate, cautioning that terrorism laws were being used to regulate political speech and protest. Critics argued the classification muddied the line between militant extremism and domestic activism, significantly extending the scope of the UK’s security legislation.
Who Are the Hunger Strikers?
Against this backdrop of arrests, restrictions, and lengthy pre-trial detention, a group of Palestine Action-linked detainees—who had been arrested over direct-action protests but left in limbo for months—resorted to their final option: a coordinated hunger strike.
Thirty-one-year-old Heba Muraisi has been on a full hunger strike for more than 70 days at New Hall Prison. She was arrested over alleged participation in a protest at Israeli military contractor Elbit Systems’ UK facility, which prosecutors claim caused nearly $2 million in damage. Held since June 2025, she is said to be suffering from severe breathing issues and muscle spasms, per reports.
Twenty-eight-year-old Kamran Ahmed has been on a full hunger strike for over 63 days at Pentonville Prison. He has been admitted to hospital multiple times due to heart complications and is said to have lost 16 kilograms.
Lewie Chiaramello has been on an intermittent hunger strike (fasting every other day) because of Type 1 diabetes. Twenty-two-year-old Umar Khalid is said to be resuming his hunger strike in early 2026.
A Protest Born in Detention
The hunger strike started on November 2, 2025, marking the anniversary of the Balfour Declaration. All three current hunger strikers have been held for extended periods in pre-trial limbo, and supporters contend that the detention has turned into punishment. A major report noted that the remaining strikers have spent over 18 months in jail without a trial—well beyond the typical custody time limit for pre-trial detention.
The strike centered on specific demands: bail and timely trials, reversal of the terrorist organization label, easing of prison communication restrictions, and shutdown of Elbit’s UK facilities.
The Slow Violence of Starvation
Doctors and monitors have stated that the strike entered a “critical phase” in December 2025, pointing to severe health decline after long-term food refusal. Reports have noted hospital admissions and worsening symptoms among the ongoing strikers—including breathing issues and signs of neurological stress—with a risk of sudden collapse.
A National Protest and Delayed Recognition
What sets this strike apart is not just its severity but the low-key attention it has gotten as it unfolded.
UN experts have called on the UK to safeguard the detainees’ lives and rights. Prominent individuals and campaigners have ramped up public warnings, while legal and medical professionals have sounded alarms about the ethical implications of state accountability once a prisoner’s health reaches critical levels.
Even so, the main narrative in wider British media has often focused on medical danger rather than the root issues: prolonged detention, the conditions within, and the political fallout of the terrorist classification. The protest has been framed mostly as a humanitarian crisis, not as a question of state legitimacy.
A Protest That Challenges the Information Order
Hunger strikes are intended to force a public reckoning. Their power lies in visibility: the state controls the body, and the public is supposed to pass judgment.
An LSE analysis indicated that coverage was scarce because Palestine, counter-terrorism laws, and state security are viewed as high-risk subjects in British journalism—where editors often toe the government’s line.
Silence and narrow framing lower that risk but also diminish the strikers’ only real source of leverage.
What Happens Next?
If serious harm or death occurs, it will not only prompt questions about UK prison policies and practices but also pose an uncomfortable media question: did Britain’s mainstream press “discover” the story only when bodies could no longer be ignored?