News- Middle East: A group of prisoners held on remand in the United Kingdom for alleged offenses linked to Palestine Action activities has launched a hunger strike in protest against the “systematic abuse” by prison authorities.

The campaign group Prisoners for Palestine (PFP) announced that Qesser Zurah and Amu Gibb began a rolling hunger strike at His Majesty's Prison Service (HMP) Bronzefield on Sunday by refusing food.

They were joined on Monday by Huba Muraisi, who is being held on remand at HMP New Hall. More prisoners are expected to join the strike in the coming days.

PFP said it could not disclose the total number of prisoners participating in the strike, citing fears that individuals could be further targeted by the British authorities.

According to PFP, Zurah was “forced into her cell” after declaring her hunger strike, and prison guards informed her she would be “placed on report” for breaching “prison discipline.”

Muraisi, originally from Yemen and with family in Gaza, was arrested on terrorism charges in connection with an August 2024 action targeting a UK hub of the Israeli arms company Elbit Systems in Filton, Bristol. She was detained during a dawn raid on her home on November 24, 2024, and has remained in custody since.

PFP reported that Muraisi had been “targeted by prison authorities,” saying her “privacy had been violated” and her “access to books and visits restricted.”

The group added that she had also been “subjected to segregation,” and that a keffiyeh she used as a hijab during prayers was “forcibly removed” by Bronze Field's head of security, Yasmine Cooper.

Muraisi was later transferred from HMP Bronze field to HMP New Hall, a facility PFP said is located “hundreds of miles away” from her family and support network.

The trio launched the hunger strike after British Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood failed to respond to a letter outlining the concerns of several defendants held on charges related to Palestine Action.

The prisoners’ demands include immediate release on bail and an end to prison interference with their personal communications.

All pro-Palestine activists connected to Palestine Action have reportedly been refused bail and are being held on remand beyond the UK’s standard pre-trial custody limit for the Crown Court, which is 182 days.

Media reports have previously highlighted that prisoners linked to Palestine Action have faced growing restrictions on their post, phone calls and visits since the group’s proscription in July, when the home secretary Yvette Cooper banned the organization and designated it as a "terrorist group".

The ban means expressing support or membership of the group is a criminal offense that could lead to a prison sentence of up to 14 years.

The developments come as thousands have already defied the UK ban on Palestine Action in "historic" mass civil disobedience.

There are currently about three dozen prisoners being held on remand in British prisons for Palestine-related activism. 

While the defendants now face non-terror-related charges, the Crown Prosecution Service has said it will argue in court that they have a "terrorism-connection," which could aggravate their sentences.

In July, the UN human rights chief sharply criticized Britain’s ban on the activist group Palestine Action, calling it a “disturbing” misuse of the UK’s counter terrorism laws and urging the government to reverse the decision. 

Meanwhile, dozens of pro-Palestinian prisoners in various prisons across Britain announced their intention to begin a collective hunger strike on November 2nd, the anniversary of the 1917 Balfour Declaration, in which the British government expressed its official support for the Zionist project to colonize Palestine.

The action could become the largest hunger strike organized in British prisons since 1981, when ten Irish republican prisoners were martyred after 66 days on hunger strike in prisons in occupied Northern Ireland.

Source: Press TV