[Blog] Dying for the Palestinian cause

By Rama Valayden, Senior Counsel

Remember Bobby Sands!? Bobby Sands, member of the IRA, the Provisional Irish Republican Army, the most famous elected member of the Northern Ireland to the House of Commons who passed away in 1981 following a hunger strike in that year to protest against the British Rule. Bobby Sands was known also for his prolific knowledge of leftist political authors such as George Jackson, Frantz Fanon, Che Guevara and several great Irish Socialist patriots such as James Conolly. On Tuesday 5th May 1981, after 66 days on hunger strike, Bobby Sands sadly died. Newspapers around the world condemned the callousness of Lady Thatcher who allowed a member of the House of Commons to die.

History is repeating itself!

Again England who did not give a damn when Mahatma Gandhi was undergoing his hunger strike to protest against the British colonial rule is being obdurate to the calls of human right activists around the world and is deliberately refusing to listen to the demands of Heba Muraisi and Kamran Ahmed, Palestinian action linked British activists who are on the brink of death and are determined to keep up their prison hunger strikes until their demands are met.

As an unflinching Palestinian supporter, I am sad to live to see their deaths in the coming days. Oh God! Please, Please, prepare a place in Paradise for such brave martyrs…

Why are they kept in British prison? They are held in prison over alleged involvement in break-ins at the UK subsidiary of Israeli defense firm elite systems in Bristol and a Royal Airforce (RAF) base in Oxfordshire.

Their protest demands include bail, the right to a fair trial and a deproscription of Palestine Action which Heba and Kamran have refused food for more than 60 days. Another prisoner, E. Chicrabello who turned 23 on Thursday 8th November is the third prisoner who is also refusing food.

Muraisi, the longest fasting member of the group is looking “very pale and thin” as per the statement of her girlfriend Amareen. And Muraisi, a florist from London is on her part facing muscle spasm, severe chest pain, breathlessness and a low white blood cell count. Her memory is also declining and has been admitted to hospital three times over the past nine weeks.

The UK in July 2024 designated Palestinian group, unfairly, as a “terrorist organization” putting it on par with ISIS and Al Qaeda. What are their additional demands? They are demanding an end to what they call censorship in prison, accusing authorities of withholding mail, calls and books.

All prisoners mentioned above are undergoing hunger strike have spent more than a year in prison without any justification, well beyond the UK’s usual six month pre-trial detention limit.

Oh Britain! Oh England! Is there a limit to your deception?