A Palestinian solidarity activist on hunger strike for 57 days is now in critical danger and losing her ability to hold a conversation, according to her support group.
Physical Toll and Deteriorating Health
Heba Muraisi, one of eight prisoners on remand for alleged involvement with Palestine Action protests, began refusing food in November. In a recorded phone call from Day 53, released by Prisoners for Palestine, she described a severe physical decline.
She reported constant body aches, bruising from medical tests, dizziness, headaches, and nausea. "I can feel myself get weaker as each day passes," Muraisi said. "When I lay down at night now I can’t lay on my side because it hurts my face."
Her cognitive functions are also affected. "Sometimes I struggle to construct sentences, sometimes I struggle to maintain conversation," she explained in the recording, which was punctuated by long pauses.
Demands and Legal Context
Muraisi was arrested in November 2024 over her alleged role in a raid on the Bristol site of Elbit Systems, an Israeli weapons manufacturer, which allegedly caused over £1 million in damage. Her trial is not scheduled until June next year, meaning she could spend nearly two years in jail before being convicted.
This is a key grievance for the hunger strikers, whose demands include:
- Immediate bail
- The right to a fair and speedy trial
- An end to censorship of prisoner communications
- The de-proscribing of Palestine Action and the shutdown of Elbit Systems
Of the original eight strikers, four have now paused their action due to health concerns. Three others are continuing: Teuta Hoxha (Day 51), Kamran Ahmed (Day 50), and Lewie Chiaramello, who is fasting on alternate days due to Type 1 Diabetes.
Medical Warnings and Government Response
Dr. James Smith, an A&E doctor and epidemiologist at UCL supporting the strikers, warned they are now in a critical and unpredictable phase. He stated that acute malnutrition can cause sudden, fatal complications and irreversible damage to vital organs like the kidneys, liver, and heart.
The government has refused to meet the group's demands. Lord Timpson, the minister for prisons, stated that hunger strikes are not uncommon in prisons and that NHS healthcare teams continuously monitor those involved. He emphasised that remand decisions are for independent judges and that it would be "unconstitutional and inappropriate" for ministers to intervene.
Muraisi was recently transferred from HMP Bronzefield to HMP New Hall, a move campaigners criticise as it places her too far from her family in Brent to visit.
In a previous statement, Muraisi clarified her motivation: "I want to make it abundantly clear that this is not about dying, because unlike the enemy I love life, and my love for life, for people, is the reason why I have been incarcerated." The protest is considered the largest collective hunger strike in UK prisons since the 1981 IRA action in which ten people died.
