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The 21st and 24th of December saw Qesser Zuhrah, 20, and Amu Gib, 30, end their hunger strike after being rushed to hospital. Qesser was 48 days deep into her hunger strike. Amu was on day 51. They have pledged to resume their hunger strikes in 2026. Qesser and Amu were 2 of 8 hunger strikers in total, of which 5 are currently in hospital.
In November 2024, counter-terrorism police stormed into the home of 19 year-old University College of London student Qesser Zuhrah. The second-year social sciences student was arrested due to allegations that she was involved in the violent disorder, aggravated burglary, and criminal damage at the Elbit Systems UK’s Filton research hub, Israel's largest weapons manufacturer.
The disorder was part of a raid performed by the Palestine Action group. The activists were alleged to have vandalised and damaged drones, technical and service equipment, and other materials that were being used to facilitate the destruction of Gaza. The group also performed a raid at RAF Brize Norton, which triggered the then Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, to prescribe Palestine Action as a terrorist group, the first time a direct activist group has been prescribed as such.
Qesser was part of the Elbit 24, a group of 24 activists that were arrested following the break-in at Elbit Systems. This group, and the Brize Norton 5, will be reprimanded for up to 2 years until they are given trial. This exceeds the standard time limit, which in the UK is usually 6 months.
On Monday, the 20th of October, Qesser and others that had been reprimanded, sent a letter to the home office demanding immediate bail and an end to the proscription of Palestine Action. Failure to do so would trigger a hunger strike on the 2nd of November, the anniversary of the Balfour declaration which saw the formation of a Zionist Israeli state.
In 1976, Prime-Minister James Callaghan removed the Special Category Status (SCS) for Irish paramilitary prisoners. This changed the status of Irish republican prisoners from essentially Prisoners of War to criminals, which removed the rights of them under the Geneva Convention. The Irish activists began their hunger strikes after the culmination of protests against the British Government.
A 1980 hunger strike saw over 30 prisoners refuse food, which ended after 53 days. The British government came to an agreement with Ireland, promising to ‘look at’ some of the demands the strikers set. These demands were never met.
March of the next year saw Bobby Sands, the IRA’s former officer commanding in the Maze prison, begin his hunger strike. Over the next few months, 22 others joined the strike, with 10 dying. Sands died after 66 days while being an MP in the House of Commons. One hunger striker died after only 48 days.
The outcome of these strikes paved the way for the IRA to gain more support in Ireland and helped prompt Sinn Fein to stand for elections. The hunger strikers have gone down in history as a monumental step towards ending The Troubles.
Two cases of unprecedented legal ground, human rights concerns, and political tensions have forced these activists to attempt the most dangerous and destructive form of activism, with little signs of optimistic outcome.
Qesser and her counterparts are daring to risk their lives in protest of the British Government's prescription of Palestinian action, a decision that has been widely criticised as being a ‘grave abuse of state power.’ Similar concerns were raised about the decision to remove the SCS categorization of Irish prisoners, which removed basic rights for thousands of prisoners opposing the British government.
The handling from the respective governments has also proved to be vitally similar. Keir Starmer and Margret Thatcher both implemented a brazen-hardline approach to dealing with the hunger strikes, refusing to give up any ground to continue their thuggish attitude to home office affairs.
But there is one glaring divergence between the events that unfolded in the 80s to the ones that are taking place now.
A London School of Economics report found that the term ‘hunger strike’ was only mentioned 15 times in all main-stream media outlets between the announcement of the hunger strikes in October and the 10thof December. This included not a single mention of it in the likes of The Times and The Sun. The hunger strikes of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe were mentioned more over the 51 day period, despite the mending over 4 years ago.
In a PHD thesis looking at the representation of the troubles in British media, author Rosianna Doughty stated that despite the media attention having “limited compassion”, they garnered “copious media attention” contrary to what we see today.
With hampered media attention, empathy lacks for those who are starving themselves for their liberty. Mainstream media denying appropriate attention to the hunger strikers contradicts their role as government watchdogs, essentially undermining their efforts.
Keir Starmer, David Lammey, and those that the strikers call to are able to wave away any objection brought to their wilful ignorance. Jeremey Corbyn's pleas for Starmer to meet with representatives of those that are striking were tossed to the side as there are “rules and procedures in place.”
But with no immediate action, the government risks the lives of the activists. As more are rushed to hospital, and more are on the verge of death, the efforts to stand up for the liberty of protestors and the genocide in Palestine look futile.
A media following and constant attention let the death of those in 1981 not be in vain. The actions on behalf of their mistreatment paved the way for future change. Bobby Sands is now seen as a heroin parts of republican Ireland.
But Qesser Zuhrah, the 20 year old student, or any of the other protestors must battle with the knowledge that their efforts may be meaningless.
The damning reality is that without any change, the lives of these strikers will be lost to little national outrage. The efforts of those on the left to bring light to the grave conditions of them are ultimately powerless to the titans of mainstream media.
One must raise the question, when will they care? When someone dies? Or will they never, and the lives of these people will be conceded to fulfill their political agendas?
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Innes is a politics and economics student at the University of Aberdeen. He has a keen interest in critical theory, and how that relates to the trends that we see in current politics.
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