Pro-Palestine prisoner on hunger strike for 39 days ‘deteriorating past point of no return’

Amu Gib lies in their prison cell unable to stand, their ribs now ‘protruding through their skin’ after more than 39 days without food.

Friends told Metro that the pro-Palestinian activist – who was arrested last year for allegedly breaking into RAF Brize Norton – has lost 12 kilograms and is showing signs of severe deterioration – struggling to see, unable to stay upright and at imminent risk of permanent brain and organ damage.

Yet they fear that the UK government will not intervene before it is too late.

Jessie Dolliver said: ‘After the first week, Amu’s eyes became bloodshot. They could not see very well. That was quite shocking to me, because it happened just after the first week.

‘Now, of course, is much worse. They are losing crucial levels of nutrients important for maintaining the brain’s activity.

‘They are incurring permanent brain damage and permanent damage to other organs in their bodies. It is almost past the point of no return. Amu is never going to be the same after this.’

Amu is one of eight activists who are on hunger strike while awaiting trial across British prisons.

They have been denied bail after their alleged involvement in Palestine Action raids on an arms factory owned by Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest manufacturer for weapons, and RAF Brize Norton.

Alongside Amu, Qesser Zurah, Heba Muraisi, Jon Cink, Teuta Hoxha and Kamran Ahmed have all not had food for more than a month.

After 30 days on a hunger strike with only water intake, the body is in a state of severe malnutrition and is experiencing potentially irreversible physiological and psychological decline.

The body will have exhausted most of its fat reserves and is now breaking down muscle tissue, including vital organs.

Amu made the difficult decision to go on strike as it is ‘the only thing they have left in their control to express themselves, that they do not agree with what is happening in the UK right now in terms of freedom of speech and ability to protest,’ Jessie explained.

She added: ‘It is hard to support your friend when they are deteriorating so rapidly, and it is so scary. At the same time, it is the only thing that Amu has left.

‘When you are in prison, everything is taken away from you, and they have not even been on trial yet and had a chance to defend themselves through a legal process.

‘Amu won’t have a trial until January 2027. So, from their perspective, they have been locked for more than a year before even getting to have a trial.’

Jessie knows all to well about the determination of those on hunger strike.

Growing up in Northern Ireland, the 28-year-old was told stories about the 1981 Irish hunger strike – a showdown between Irish republican prisoners and the then prime minister, Margaret Thatcher.

The strike was called off after 10 people starved themselves to death.

This is what Jessie believes will happen to Amu and the other activists if the government does not intervene.

Despite the fear, she stressed that this is ‘a watershed moment for anyone who is trying to express any kind of dissent against the British government and against their complicity in genocide.’

She added: ‘This is such an indictment of how authoritarian the country has become that people cannot protest against genocide without being arrested.

‘And that the government can proscribe groups that they do not want to hear from.

‘If you can’t protest against your government profiting from the genocide, without being put in prison, without trial for more than a year, what kind of democracy do we have left? What kind of rule of law is there left in the UK?’

Their prosecution, which has drawn international scrutiny, has become a test case for how the government – under Sir Keir Starmer – is dealing with pro-Palestine demonstrations.

Among the list of the activists’ demands to end their hunger strike is bail as well as the right to a fair trial.

The group is also calling for the de-proscription of Palestine Action, which was banned under terrorism legislation in July.

Metro has contacted the Ministry of Justice for a comment.

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