London, United Kingdom – The hunger-striking pro-Palestinian activist plans to refuse liquids as well as food, and told Al Jazeera he hoped his “hardline action” would pressure the government to meet the demands of his protest.
Umar Khalid, A Palestine Action-Concerned remand prisoner, stopped eating 13 days ago. He is currently receiving fluids with electrolytes, sugars and salts but said he will stop drinking completely from Saturday.
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Although the body can survive for weeks without food, the effects of dehydration are sure to occur in a very short time.
The increase comes days after three other hunger-striking remand prisoners linked to Palestine Action. Ended their agitationClaiming victory.
“The only thing that seems to have any effect, whether positive or negative, is strict action,” Khalid, 22, told Al Jazeera from prison through an intermediary. “The strike shows the intensity of this imprisonment. To live in this prison is not to live. Our life has stopped. The world spins, and we sit in a concrete room. This strike shows the intensity of my demands.”
Khalid seeks immediate bail; An end to alleged censorship in prisons – officials are accused of withholding mail, calls and books and denying visitation rights; an inquiry into alleged British involvement in Israeli military operations in Gaza; and the release of surveillance footage of Royal Air Force (RAF) intelligence flights that flew over Gaza on 1 April 2024, when British aid workers were killed in an Israeli airstrike.
Briz Norton break-in
Khalid is one of five activists accused of breaking into the United Kingdom’s largest airbase, RAF Bryce Norton in Oxfordshire in June, and spray-painting two Voyager refueling and transport planes. The incident, claimed by Palestine Action, caused millions of pounds in damages, according to the British government, which later banned the protest group as a “terrorist” organization.
Critics have condemned the ban on the grounds of Palestine Action stated objective Using non-violent means to resist Israel’s genocidal war against the Palestinians and the British involvement in it.
Khalid refused fee conspiring to cause criminal damage against him and conspiring to enter a restricted area with intent prejudicial to the security or interests of the UK.
He is part of a group of eight remand prisoners associated with the Palestine Action which began a hunger strike in November. Last week, three of them – Two of them was on the brink of death – ended their protest. Khalid is the only one who still refuses food.
Those who are now re-feeding said the reformed prison rights signal concessions. The UK’s refusal to award a defense contract to Elbit, Israel’s biggest arms manufacturer, is also being interpreted as a victory by them.
Throughout the hunger strike, the British government said it had no jurisdiction over the issue of bail as it was a matter for the judiciary to decide. The government also insisted that prison welfare procedures were being followed.
As for Khalid’s other demands, last year the opposition Labor Party blocked a bill by left-wing MP Jeremy Corbyn supporting an official inquiry into Britain’s involvement in the war on Gaza.
And in April, the Ministry of Defense told The Times newspaper it had video footage from an RAF surveillance plane that flew over Gaza on the day of an Israeli strike that killed aid workers but could not reveal further details, citing national security.
Britain has said it flew spy planes over Gaza during Israel’s offensive to search for missing detainees, but critics have raised questions about possible intelligence sharing with Israel.
Asim Qureshi, director of research at the campaign group Cage, told Al Jazeera that the government’s refusal to negotiate with Khalid on his demands “suggests their lack of concern for the life of this man who acted on his principles in relation to the genocide”.
The Ministry of Justice has not commented on Khalid’s imprisonment or demands.
‘cry myself to sleep’
Khalid’s family and friends told Al Jazeera they were particularly concerned because he suffers from limb-girdle muscular dystrophy, a condition that causes muscles to weaken and waste away.
“I miss him,” said his mother, Shabana Khalid, fighting back tears. “He is starting to feel tired.
“When I wake up, my first thoughts are of Omar. Some nights I cry myself to sleep.”
As she herself recovers from cancer and cares for her disabled sister, the journey to Prison Wormwood Scrubs in London, 320km (200 miles) from the family home in Manchester, is fraught with logistical challenges. She last saw her son on December 26 and does not know when she will be able to see him again.
She accused Wormwood Scrubs of being denied visitation rights and said she and his friends had applied to see him in prison but were told there had been no visits for weeks.
“My concern is that he’s going to slow down too quickly,” she said.
At the time of publication, Wormwood Scrubs had not responded to Al Jazeera’s request for comment.
Omar’s brother Usman, a mechanical engineering graduate, told Al Jazeera: “When Omar says he’s going to do something, he means it with all his sincerity. And as uncomfortable and sad as it is to say, I think in his own mind he’s willing to put his life on the line for this cause.”
Usman said that while he supports his brother’s protest demands, “from a slightly selfish and personal point of view, I hope he doesn’t (reject water).”
According to the Prisoners for Palestine group, which advocates for the protesters, Omar told prison staff “not to intervene if he faints”.
He went on a 12-day fast in December as his health deteriorated.
His mother said that before entering prison, he carefully managed his rare condition with a balanced diet and plenty of exercise.
“Alhamdulillah (thanks to God), I am fine. I feel very strong both mentally and physically,” Omar said. “I can usually use the prison gym once a week, but I don’t use it during my strike.”
He said he spends his time praying and reading books.
His trial date is set for January 2027, by which time he will have spent a year and a half behind bars – beyond the standard six-month pre-trial detention limit.
His friend Daniel Osman, 29, told Al Jazeera he felt “very nervous” but “absolutely” supported Omar “because we all want him to be freed”.