{"id":327316,"date":"2025-12-21T00:43:13","date_gmt":"2025-12-21T00:43:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/327316\/"},"modified":"2025-12-21T00:43:13","modified_gmt":"2025-12-21T00:43:13","slug":"dying-is-worth-it-palestine-action-hunger-striker-says-on-jail-phone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/327316\/","title":{"rendered":"Dying is worth it, Palestine Action hunger striker says on jail phone"},"content":{"rendered":"

It has been 42 days and counting since Kamran Ahmed began his hunger strike at HMP Pentonville.<\/p>\n

On remand for the past 13 months, he is due to appear in court next June in connection with a break-in at an Israeli-linked weapons factory in Gloucestershire in August 2024.<\/p>\n

But as his health deteriorates at the north London prison \u2014 he has already been admitted to hospital twice \u2014 there is no guarantee that Ahmed, 28, will make it to trial.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery day I\u2019m scared that potentially I might die,\u201d he said in a telephone interview on Friday night from his cell, where he spends 21 hours a day. \u201cI\u2019ve been getting chest pains regularly \u2026 There have been times where I felt like I\u2019m getting tasered \u2014 my body\u2019s vibrating or shaking. I\u2019ll basically lose control of my feelings.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been scared since the seventh day when my blood sugars dropped. The nurse said, \u2018I\u2019m scared you\u2019re not going to wake up [when you go to sleep]. Please eat something.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I\u2019m looking at the bigger picture of perhaps we can relieve oppression abroad and relieve the situations for my co-defendants,\u201d added Ahmed, a mechanic from east London. \u201cYes, I\u2019m scared of passing away. Yes, this may have life-long implications. But I look at the risk versus reward. I see it as worthwhile.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ahmed spoke via HMP Pentonville\u2019s prisoner telephony service, a system whereby inmates use a fixed landline phone in their cells to call approved numbers. He is able to speak with his friends and family through the service, which inmates are required to buy credits for. Calls may be monitored or recorded in line with prison rules and security. In-cell phones were introduced in 2016 in an attempt to cut reoffending rates.<\/p>\n

Ahmed is one of six Palestine Action<\/a> activists on hunger strike as they await trial on charges of criminal damage, aggravated burglary and violent disorder at a factory for Elbit Systems, an Israeli arms manufacturer, and in relation to an alleged break-in at RAF Brize Norton, in June. They deny the allegations. <\/p>\n

\"Aerial<\/p>\n

Pro-Palestinian activists are alleged to have damaged an aircraft at RAF Brize Norton in June<\/p>\n

BBC<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

Two of the group \u2014 Qesser Zuhrah and Amy Gardiner-Gibson \u2014 have not eaten for 50 days. Both have been admitted to hospital. Zuhrah is said to have a resting heart rate of 127 beats per minute (for adults a normal resting heart rate ranges from 60 to 100 beats per minute). <\/p>\n

\"Collage<\/p>\n

Clockwise from top left: Qesser Zuhrah, Amy Gardiner-Gibson, Teuta Hoxha, Heba Muraisi, Ahmed and Lewie Chiaramello<\/p>\n

Ahmed, meanwhile, has dropped from 75kg to 60kg in weight. His last meal was on November 8. Any time food is brought to his cell he rejects it, telling prison staff to log his refusal. He only drinks water with salt, which is needed to maintain essential electrolytes, prevent dehydration and stabilise blood pressure.<\/p>\n

Ahmed said he was now \u201cliterally a shell of myself\u201d and had started to experience hot flushes in his head. \u201cMy head just feels suddenly hot and it feels like I\u2019m going to drop,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

His speech had also started to become slurred, \u201cit sounds like I\u2019m a little bit punch drunk,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Medics and lawyers speaking on behalf of the activists said last week that they were now \u201cat a critical stage\u201d and would probably die if David Lammy, the justice secretary, did not intervene. In the 1981 hunger strike co-ordinated by republican prisoners in Northern Ireland, in which 10 people died, one of the inmates, Martin Hurson, passed away after 46 days.<\/p>\n

\"Kamran<\/p>\n

Kamran Ahmed, left, with his older brother, Redwan<\/p>\n

COURTESY OF THE FAMILY<\/p>\n

The government has refused to negotiate with the strikers\u2019 legal team but denies allegations that the six were being mistreated and has restricted access to basic healthcare, as claimed by supporters.<\/p>\n

Ahmed said: \u201cI am concerned [about my health] but it shouldn\u2019t be on me to be concerned. It should be on the government to be concerned with how they are letting this go on for this long without addressing it, without at least coming to the table and negotiating.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lord Timpson, the prison minister, said the government \u201cwill not meet with them\u201d because it would be \u201centirely unconstitutional and inappropriate\u201d as the \u201cjustice system \u2026 is based on the separation of powers\u201d.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cWhile very concerning, hunger strikes are not a new issue for our prisons. Over the last five years, we\u2019ve averaged over 200 a year and we have longstanding procedures in place to ensure prisoner safety.<\/p>\n

\u201cPrison healthcare teams provide NHS care and continuously monitor the situation. HMPPS are clear that claims that hospital care is being refused are entirely misleading \u2014 they will always be taken when needed and a number of these prisoners have already been treated in hospital.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese prisoners are charged with serious offences, including aggravated burglary and criminal damage. Remand decisions are for independent judges, and lawyers can make representations to the court on behalf of their clients.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Kamran<\/p>\n

Ahmed with a Palestinian flag and megaphone in London<\/p>\n

COURTESY OF THE FAMILY<\/p>\n

One of the strikers\u2019 primary demands is immediate bail. By the time the prisoners go to court in June, they will have spent at least a year behind bars without trial. The pre-trial custody time limit is six months, but judges have the power to extend remand on a case-by-case basis.<\/p>\n

They are also demanding that the government reverse its ban on Palestine Action<\/a> as a proscribed terrorist organisation, shut down all weapons factories in the UK linked to Elbit Systems, and improve communications with the protesters\u2019 legal team so they can better prepare for trial. <\/p>\n

Francesca Nadin, a representative for the hunger strikers, said the prisoners were \u201cvery firm\u201d in their conviction to continue until their demands are met. But she suggested that the group would compromise if given the chance to meet the justice secretary. <\/p>\n

Ahmed began refusing food after learning that some of the other activists on remand had started a hunger strike. The protesters are not in communication with one another and are being held in various prisons across England. <\/p>\n

\"Shahmina<\/p>\n

Shahmina Alam, Ahmed\u2019s sister, has pleaded for the hunger strikers to receive appropriate medical attention<\/p>\n

TOBY SHEPHEARD FOR THE SUNDAY TIMES<\/p>\n

Ahmed\u2019s older brother, Redwan, 30, said he believed his sibling was prepared to die for his cause.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know my brother well enough,\u201d he said. \u201cWithout achieving what he needs to achieve, I don\u2019t think he would do something half-hearted and that is the reality \u2014 and it\u2019s sad to think about. I speak to my wife every day about how my brother might pass away.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe means so much to me. He\u2019s my best friend.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ahmed has access to television and books, but cannot use the internet. He spends roughly three hours a day outside his cell, two of which are spent working in the prison\u2019s textiles workshop. \u201cThey\u2019re still letting me go to this activity,\u201d he said. But during one recent session \u201cthere was a point where my heart was raising, I honestly thought I would pass away within the next 10 minutes, 20 minutes\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"Kamran<\/p>\n

Redwan Ahmed says his younger brother is his best friend<\/p>\n

COURTESY OF THE FAMILY<\/p>\n

To further pass the time, Ahmed said he had also read The Life of Birds by David Attenborough, Billy Connolly\u2019s biography and Four Kings, a boxing non-fiction book about a series of famous fights in the 1980s that revived the sport. <\/p>\n

As a practising Muslim, he is reading the Quran and praying. \u201cThat\u2019s really getting me through it,\u201d he said. \u201cHonestly, I don\u2019t think I\u2019d have the mental fortitude without Islam in my life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ahmed said his faith had put him on the radar of a number of inmates at HMP Thameside \u2014 where he was held before being moved to Pentonville \u2014 who were awaiting trial in relation to far-right crimes.<\/p>\n

One prisoner he met was a 19-year-old on remand for allegedly creating explosives and obtaining gun schematics with the aim of killing Muslims, he said. Ahmed said the two did not initially speak, but eventually revealed to one another why they were inside.<\/p>\n

\"Demonstrators<\/p>\n

Supporters of the hunger strikers protest outside Pentonville prison<\/p>\n

GUY SMALLMAN\/GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n

\u201cHe had this ideology that he hates Muslim people in general,\u201d he said. \u201cI was just speaking with him, we were clearing the differences and stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cI remember there was a point where his clothes got robbed or something when he put them in the washing machine. I gave him a spare set of trousers \u2026 After that I remember him saying, \u2018You\u2019re not like other Muslims\u2019. And I was telling him, \u2018I think you\u2019ve got a misconception of Muslims.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite his isolation, Ahmed has been able to follow developments in the outside world \u2014 including last week\u2019s massacre on Bondi beach<\/a>, Sydney, in which two gunmen killed 15 people attending a Chanukkah celebration. The men are alleged to have been inspired by Isis.<\/p>\n

Ahmed described the attack as a \u201ctragedy\u201d, adding: \u201cMy heart goes out to the people that passed away.\u201d But he rejected the allegation that the pro-Palestinian cause and efforts to raise awareness of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza were linked to the mass shooting<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The prisoners say the hunger strikes have raised awareness<\/p>\n

GUY SMALLMAN\/GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n

\"Demonstrators<\/p>\n

GUY SMALLMAN\/GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think anyone in their right mind agrees with what Isis<\/a> is doing and what they have done. So to even link it [the attack] to a humanitarian issue is ridiculous when these people probably had their own interest to serve,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fact that the government is restricting our protest, even criminalising phrases that are linked to the Palestinian protest, I find it absolutely absurd.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked about the emotional toll his strike was having on his family and friends, Ahmed acknowledged the pain he was causing but said he remained committed, insisting that the hunger strikes had raised awareness of the prisoners\u2019 cause and injected a \u201cbreath of fresh air\u201d into the pro-Palestine<\/a> movement.<\/p>\n

\u201cI understand it\u2019s going to be difficult for everyone to watch me go through the situation. When I think about my friends and family \u2026 it\u2019s difficult to push those thoughts aside,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I think it\u2019s necessary to achieve what the world should really look like.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It has been 42 days and counting since Kamran Ahmed began his hunger strike at HMP Pentonville. On…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":327317,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-327316","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-news","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327316","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=327316"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327316\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/327317"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=327316"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=327316"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=327316"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}