Croydon Supports Palestine Hunger Strike

Now approaching 50 days, six remain on strike, including Croydon resident Teuta Hoxha on day 43. She’s part of the Filton 24, accused of damaging weapons at Israel’s Elbit plant in Filton – drones used in the Gaza genocide.

Dr. James Smith, emergency physician and UCL lecturer in touch with the strikers and families, warns of their critical danger: “After about three weeks, the body exhausts fat stores and starts breaking down muscle and organs just to keep essential functions going. Then risks mount daily: heart muscle failure, kidney shutdown, weakened breathing muscles, crippled immunity, and irreversible brain damage. Simply put, the hunger strikers are dying.”

Teuta suffers chest pains, dizziness, headaches, shortness of breath, and blackouts when standing. She warns of blindness, organ failure, brain damage.

“Basically everything that brings autonomy and lets us hunger strike, we risk losing.” Yet she adds, “We remain strong mentally and determined.”

Justice Secretary David Lammy refuses to meet the families or their lawyers, despite 62 MPs signing an EDM urging intervention to save lives.

Teuta’s local MP, Cabinet member Sarah Jones, has done nothing. None of Croydon’s four MPs signed the EDM. When Croydon Trade Union Council visited Jones’s surgery, it was shut two weeks early for Christmas.

From her cell, Teuta says: “I hold faith and hope, and those are the most important feelings to have in these moments. If they do not make any concessions, then they need to prepare to answer the question: ‘Why did you let prisoners die?’”