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Photos: Jamie Bellinger <\/strong><\/p>\n Bobby Sands died in May 1981 after more than two months on hunger strike in a Northern Ireland prison hospital. A member of the Provisional IRA, he starved himself in protest at the British state\u2019s refusal to recognise Irish republican prisoners as political detainees.<\/p>\n His words \u2014 \u201cOur revenge will be the laughter of our children\u201d \u2014 now appear on the separation barrier in the West Bank, half a world away. There are over 10,000 Palestinians in Israeli jails<\/a>, roughly a third held without charge. Palestinians have long used hunger strikes as one of the few tools to show defiance against their conditions.\u00a0<\/p>\n Reporting on the stories that matter to you. Only with your support.<\/p>\n Here in the UK, a new hunger strike is unfolding. Six prisoners aged 20 to 30 \u2014 all held in British prisons for direct action linked to the now-proscribed organisation Palestine Action\u2014 have been refusing food since November.\u00a0<\/p>\n Kamran Ahmed, Jon Cink, Amu Gib, Teuta Hoxha, Heba Muraisi and Qesser Zuhrah were joined more recently by Muhammed Umer Khalid. An eighth prisoner, Lewie Chiaramello, who is diabetic, is fasting every other day in solidarity.\u00a0<\/p>\n Some have already been hospitalised. Emergency NHS doctor, Dr. James Smith, in contact with their families, has warned<\/a>: \u201cThis is a trajectory that ends with death.\u201d<\/p>\n This is the most significant prison hunger strike for a generation. And yet, despite this, the British government has barely acknowledged it and media coverage has been scant.\u00a0<\/p>\n In Bristol, however, protesters refuse to stay silent. A series of solidarity actions, running from Thursday to Saturday, includes letter-writing, demonstrations outside the BBC, and emergency meetings, all organised by Prisoners for Palestine<\/a>.<\/p>\n A cold day in Filton\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n On Friday 5 December, around 30 protesters gathered outside Elbit Systems UK, tucked away on a nondescript industrial estate in Filton \u2014 the heart of north Bristol\u2019s cluster of aerospace and defence companies.\u00a0<\/p>\n Wrapped up in winter coats and keffiyehs against a bitterly cold wind, the protesters held Palestinian flags and photos of the hunger strikers. Chants ricocheted off surrounding warehouse walls.<\/p>\n Elbit Systems UK, a subsidiary of one Israel\u2019s largest arms companies, manufactures the majority of drones and UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) used by the Israeli military. Activists have repeatedly targeted the site for its role in producing weapons used in Gaza.<\/p>\n Passing drivers had mixed responses: some beeped in support, others yelled abuse. A lone man holding a St George\u2019s Cross arrived to heckle the protesters. He left after a short conversation with police.\u00a0<\/p>\n Many attendees, most of whom had their faces covered, were reluctant to speak to journalists, understandably wary. \u201cThere\u2019s so much arms production in Bristol. I\u2019ve been involved in a lot of Palestine activism, but I\u2019ve never been to this site before,\u201d said one woman, who asked to remain anonymous.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m infuriated by the fact that there\u2019s a factory in Bristol that\u2019s actively participating in genocide,\u201d said another. \u201cMore people need to be aware of the factory and the political prisoners currently on hunger strike. We have to make it as difficult as possible for [Elbit] to operate,\u201d she continued.\u00a0<\/p>\n Around ten police officers watched on. Several times, protesters tried to block vehicles entering or leaving the site. Police threatened at least one person with arrest, but the vehicles eventually passed.<\/p>\n Next to the entrance gate, a sign read: \u201cThis is a prohibited place defined by the National Security Act 2023.\u201d The act was introduced to protect against espionage or sabotage. However, campaigners argue<\/a> such legislation increases the likelihood of police intervention during protests.<\/p>\n A voice from behind bars<\/strong><\/p>\n As the morning progressed, protesters spoke through a megaphone. One speaker was Leigh Evans, who carried a cardboard coffin bearing the name of Hind Rajab, a six-year-old Palestinian girl shot dead<\/a> by Israeli soldiers as she hid in a car in Gaza.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are political prisoners in Britain who are being illegally detained by our government,\u201d Evans said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Evans, also known on social media as Leigh Cadno, is a humanitarian activist from Swansea and a vocal supporter of the Palestinian cause. He took part in the Thousand Madleens Flotilla, which set sail from Sicily in late September. It aimed to deliver aid to Gaza. The Israeli military detained him after intercepting the ship in international waters.<\/p>\n \u201cThree of them have just gone over four weeks on hunger strike,\u201d he continued. \u201cI\u2019m a retired emergency nurse and they are now at serious risk of cardiac arrest. The government and the jaded media of Britain are not allowing this into mainstream media.\u201d<\/p>\n Addressing the hunger strikers, Evans said: \u201cYou\u2019re a role model to us all\u2026 You have empathy in your hearts. Please carry on your strong stance. But allow yourselves to be fed gently. We need you alive.\u201d<\/p>\n Since the hunger strike began, several prisoners\u2019 health has deteriorated. Kamran Ahmed, 28, who began his strike on 10 November and is held at HMP Pentonville in north London, was hospitalised on 25 November. Teuta Hoxha, held at HMP Peterborough, was taken to hospital on 4 December.<\/p>\n A particularly moving moment came when a voice note from Amu Gib, on hunger strike since early November, was played through the megaphone by a close friend of Gib. Gib\u2019s friend later passed this recording on to the Cable. \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe will never be able to compute, let alone feel, the depths of devastation, the death, the dispossession, displacement, the attack on education, infrastructure, health care, farms and olive groves,\u201d came Gib\u2019s voice over the crackly recording as protesters huddled in to listen.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have enabled and profited from the conversion of Palestine into a battlefield. Its people, histories and infrastructures are a wet zone for increasingly impersonal tools of war.\u201d<\/p>\n The background to the hunger strike<\/strong><\/p>\n There are currently 33 people<\/a> in prisons across the country for their alleged involvement in actions including the targeting of Elbit Systems and breaching the fence to spray paint planes at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire.\u00a0<\/p>\n The prisoners include the \u2018Filton 24\u2019, most of whom are on remand while their trial begins. They are members of Palestine Action. The government proscribed the group as a terrorist organisation in July of this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n Huda Ammori, co-founder of Palestine Action, submitted a judicial review challenging the government\u2019s decision in early December. No public judgement has yet been released.\u00a0<\/p>\n None of the defendants have been convicted of any crime. Yet some of them have endured up to 16 months behind bars. This far exceeds the normal six-month period<\/a> of pre-trial detention for similar offences.\u00a0<\/p>\n The hunger strike began<\/a> on 2 November when Qesser Zuhrah, 20, and Amu Gib, 30, who are both being held at HMP Bronzefield in Surrey, began refusing food. Zuhrah has been on remand for over a year, while Gib has been on remand since July 2025. Four other defendants joined the strike the following week.\u00a0<\/p>\n The initial spark for the hunger strike was poor prison conditions \u2014 including mistreatment by guards, prisoners having keffiyehs forcibly removed, and prison authorities\u2019 withholding of letters, phone calls and books.\u00a0<\/p>\n The strike has since expanded to include five demands: an end to censorship, immediate bail, the right to a fair trial, the de-proscription of Palestine Action and the shutting down of all Elbit Systems\u2019 sites in the UK.\u00a0<\/p>\n So far, the response from British politicians has been muted. However, on 1 December, Labour MP John McDonnell tabled an early day motion<\/a> calling for Justice Secretary David Lammy to intervene. 14 other MPs have signed it. Green Party deputy leader Mothin Ali was the first political figure to visit two of the hunger strikers<\/a> last week.\u00a0<\/p>\n Elbit Systems and the British state<\/strong><\/p>\n As the hunger strike enters its second month, many of the protesters had questions about Elbit Systems and its relationship to the British state.<\/p>\n Elbit has long held ties with the British military. In 2021, it was awarded a \u00a373 million contract<\/a> to supply electronic warfare capabilities to the Royal Navy. It has also delivered training to the British army.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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A delivery truck turning in front of protesters at Elbit factory, Filton. <\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/IMG_1843-1-scaled.jpg\")
A lone heckler walks past the protest. <\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/DSC02273-scaled.jpg\")
Leigh Evans, holding a cardboard coffin. <\/p>\n![\"Police](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/DSC02317-scaled.jpg\")
Police liaison officers walk past protesters holding banners. <\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/DSC02149-scaled.jpg\")
A protesters holds a \u2018Shut down Elbit\u2019 sign. <\/p>\n