One of the Palestine Action prisoners on hunger strike has been taken to hospital after protesters gathered outside HMP Bronzefield to demand she receive urgent medical care.
Qesser Zuhrah, who is being held at the women’s prison in Surrey while awaiting trial over an alleged break-in at an Israel-linked defence firm, was transferred to hospital after her health deteriorated significantly.
Zuhrah has been refusing food for 46 days, a length of time that friends say left her in imminent danger and unable to stand.
Despite repeated requests, HMP Bronzefield reportedly refused to call an ambulance as her condition worsened.
Protesters gathered outside the prison overnight on Tuesday, joined by MP Zarah Sultana, to demand that Zuhrah be immediately transferred to the hospital.
Videos shared on social media showed one of the protestors, NHS doctor Ayo Moiett, forcibly removed and arrested while taking part in the demonstration.
An ambulance eventually arrived on Wednesday afternoon and took Zuhrah to the hospital.
Six hunger strikers
Zuhrah is one of two prisoners at HMP Bronzefield who have been refusing food for 46 days. The other is fellow detainee Amy Gardiner-Gibson.
The length of their hunger strikes has prompted comparisons with the IRA hunger strikes of the 1980s — Martin Hurson, one of 10 IRA hunger strikers who died, went 46 days without food.
Commentators have highlighted the bizarre lack of media coverage of the current hunger strikes compared with past similar events.
Other prisoners taking part in hunger strikes include Heba Muraisi (day 44), Teuta Hoxha (day 38), Kamran Ahmed (day 37), and Lewie Chiaramello (day 12), who is diabetic.
All are being held over alleged involvement in Palestine Action protests and are expected to spend well over a year in custody before trial, despite the legal pre-trial custody limit of six months.
The hunger strikers’ demands include immediate bail, an end to the ban on Palestine Action, and the removal of restrictions on their communications while in custody.
Nearly 50 MPs have backed a parliamentary motion urging the Justice Secretary to engage directly with the hunger strikers.
During Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn told Sir Keir Starmer that ministers had refused to meet with representatives of the protesters.
“Many people are very concerned by the regular breaches of prison conditions and prison rules with respect to these hunger strikes,” he said.
In response, Starmer said that “rules and procedures” were being followed in relation to the hunger strike.
An HMP Bronzefield spokesperson said they could not provide information about specific individuals, but added: “Any prisoner refusing food receives regular medical assessment and support from clinicians, as well as being offered mental health support.”
