UK hunger striker Heba Muraisi: ‘I think about how or when I could die’ | Israel-Palestine conflict News

London, United Kingdom – Heba Muraisi, a Palestine Action-affiliated activist who has refused food for 72 days in prison, has told Al Jazeera that she “no longer feels hunger”, is suffering with pain and knows that her death may be imminent.

The 31-year-old responded to questions via a friend who regularly visits her in New Hall prison in northern England.

“Physically, I am deteriorating as the days go by. I no longer feel hunger, I feel pain,” Muraisi said. “I don’t think about my life, I think about how or when I could die, but despite this, mentally I’ve never been stronger, more determined and sure, and most importantly, I feel calm and a great sense of ease.”

Muraisi was arrested on November 19, 2024, over her alleged involvement in a break-in months earlier at the UK subsidiary of the Israeli defence firm Elbit Systems in Bristol.

If she survives, she will have spent at least a year and a half in prison before her trial date, which is reportedly due no earlier than June this year – well beyond the UK’s usual six-month pre-trial detention limit.

She is the longest-fasting hunger striker of a group of eight activists who have joined the rolling protest since early November. Four are currently refusing food, including Muraisi and Kamran Ahmed, a 28-year-old who has not eaten for more than two months.

“Even though the risks may be lifelong consequences or a devastating end, I think it’s important to fight for justice and for freedom,” she told Al Jazeera.

‘I can no longer read like how I used to’

In recent weeks, the British media has intensified its coverage of the prison protest, said to be the largest coordinated hunger strike in British history since 1981, when Irish Republican inmates were led by Bobby Sands. Sands died on the 66th day of his protest, becoming a symbol of the Irish Republican cause. Nine others also died of starvation.

“I’m choosing to continue this because for the first time in 15 months, I’m finally being heard,” said Muraisi.

A Londoner of Yemeni origin who had worked as a florist and lifeguard, Muraisi is reportedly suffering from muscle spasms, breathlessness, severe pain and a low white blood cell count. She has been admitted to hospital three times over the past nine weeks.

At times, she has lost the ability to speak, and her memory is declining, friends who have recently visited her have said.

“Since concentrating has become gradually more difficult, I can no longer read like how I used to, so now I listen to the radio a lot,” she told Al Jazeera via the intermediary. “I love music, and it’s a shame I can’t get the CDs I want, but nonetheless I’m grateful to have songs playing.”

Last week, an emergency physician who is advising the hunger strikers told Al Jazeera that he believes Muraisi and Ahmed have reached a critical phase in which death and irreversible health damage are increasingly likely.

Ahmed’s weight has dropped to 56kg from the healthy 74kg he entered jail at; he is suffering from cardiac atrophy, or heart shrinkage, chest pain and twitching, according to his sister, Shahmina Alam. His speech is slurred, he is now partially deaf in his left ear, and his heart rate has intermittently fallen below 40bpm in recent days, she said.

The group of hunger striking activists are among 29 remand prisoners being held in various jails over their alleged involvement in the Bristol incident and a break-in at the Royal Air Force (RAF) base in Oxfordshire. They deny the charges against them.

Their protest demands include bail, the right to a fair trial and the de-proscription of Palestine Action, which the UK in July designated a “terrorist organisation”, putting it on par with ISIL (ISIS) and al-Qaeda. They are calling for all Elbit sites to be closed in the UK and seek an end to what they call censorship in prison, accusing authorities of withholding mail, calls and books.

Muraisi has also asked to be returned to HMP Bronzefield in Surrey as HMP New Hall, where she was moved in October, is about 200 miles away – much further from home.

The government has refused to meet with their demands or heed their lawyers’ request for a meeting to discuss the prisoners’ welfare.

Palestine Action, which says it supports direct action without violence and accuses the UK government of complicity in Israel’s atrocities, is fighting against the proscription in courts as six of those charged in the Bristol case are currently on trial.

Asked if she can access news about Palestine from jail, Muraisi, who has family members in Gaza, accused prison officials of “systematically” blocking articles and newspapers “sent in for me”.

“Anything Palestine-related, including the book We Are Not Numbers [an anthology of emerging writers from Gaza], has been deemed inappropriate. I rely on those I call for news,” she said.

At the time of publishing, neither the UK Ministry of Justice nor New Hall prison had responded to Al Jazeera’s request for comment.