I made a statement on this blog recently with a high level of certainty, I felt there was virtually no chance I would be proved wrong. And in less than 12 hours, I WAS proved wrong. And it’s the happiest I’ve been in a long time. The statement I made is in my previous blogpost:
Now, most of this blogpost I still feel is, as accurate as I was able to make it. But I’m talking about one statement in particular:
“So, through a combination of it seemingly being embedded in British political culture to never give in, and the fact that Britain always stands by Israel no matter what happens, unless we witness an absolute miracle, the British government is not going to given in on even a fraction of one of the demands of Heba Muraisi, Kamran Ahmed and Lewie Chiaramello. The only possible way that this protest can work, is if at least one of them dies.”
I honestly believed, and I based this on previous incidents when the British government outright refused to back down, that there was no possible way for the Palestine Action hunger strikers to achieve even a fraction of one of their goals without at least one of them dying. But they have won victory on one of their goals, without any of them having to die.
The hunger strike was called off when Elbit Systems was denied a 2 billion pound training contract by the British Ministry Of Defense. The Hunger Striker’s Demands were as follows:
Immediate Bail, the right to a fair trial, ending censorship of their communications, decriminalization of Palestine Action, and, shutting down Elbit Systems.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/12/22/palestine-action-hunger-strikes-what-are-their-demands
It still remains to be seen whether Elbit Systems will be shut down in Britain, but just think of how powerful Heba Muraisi, Kamran Ahmed and Lewie Chiaramello are, just 3 people, with no power other than their ability to refuse food, managed to block a 2 billion pound training contract. 2 billion pounds! That’s an amount of money that I can’t even visualize! Tom Scott has a quite long video illustrating how big “one billion” is, if you’re interested:
I waited, bracing myself, for the news that Heba, Kamran or Lewie had died. The British government would not give in, I was certain of it. I thought it was a certainty that I would be learning in the next few days that one of them had died. It fills me with joy that they managed to achieve one of their goals without one of them dying.
During the last few days, I spent a lot of time in a deeply disturbing dystopia known as the internet, and I know what the vile creatures that live there are about to say:
“Elbit Systems hasn’t been shut down yet, only one contract is been denied, so they gave up on their hunger strike without even one of their demands being met!”
If you want to be technical about it, and I know the bastards out there who wouldn’t be willing to do even a 24 hour fast for any cause DO want to be technical about it, yes, they stopped the hunger strike after only part of one of their demands were met. But it’s a BIG part. Even one billion pounds is an amount of wealth that no human being on Earth should possess, so the hunger strikers managed to deny Elbit Systems a barely conceivable amount of money. And, I’m hoping what I’m about to say is bloody obvious. If, after all the hunger strikers suffered in their fight to bring about a more just world, if, after all that, they were willing to compromise a bit because they wanted to fucking live, then that is, and as I say, I hope this is bloody obvious, that is ABSOLUTELY FAIR ENOUGH!
A great victory was won. And without anyone having to die. There has been far too much death already. And of course perspective has to be maintained, 3 British lives were saved, but more than 70,000 people in Gaza were murdered, and will continue to be murdered. But I’m not willing to say that saving their lives was a small victory either, because every human life is precious. (Except Nehenyahu’s life, obviously.) And now that they have survived, the three hunger strikers can continue to tell their story, to tell of how they managed to deal a blow to Elbit Systems, and can continue to inspire people to fight back against Britain’s complicity in the genocide in Gaza.
The British Government Has Exposed One Of Their Weaknesses.
In denying the contract to Elbit Systems, the British government has revealed the fact that they really do care about optics. They do care about what the “ordinary” people think about them. What the working class think about them, what the poor thing about them, what the marginalized think about them. Not because they value these people’s opinion, oh heaven forfend no! But rather, they fear their power. Three people, with no power other than their ability to refuse food, brought down a 2 billion pound contract. Just 3 people were able to make a stand against the entire British government, and win. And Britain has a population of just under 70 million people.
Starmer and his ilk may well look down their noses at the poor, the workers, and the other “ordinary” people. But also, they fear them. They fear their power. They were worried enough about just three people to cancel a massive contract, what if hundreds more were willing to make a stand? Thousands more? Millions more? Perhaps when Jake Richards refused to even entertain the possibility of taking the hunger strike seriously, with the other MPs laughing along with him, perhaps that was a nervous laughter. Perhaps they were scared. And well they should be. All that has to happen for the genocide in Gaza to end, is for the people of the world, to say, no more.
Has Much Changed Since I Wrote My Last Post?
In a sense, nothing has changed. Nothing about the recent victory over Elbit Systems, changes the fact that movements to bring about a more just, a more kind, a more compassionate world, take a long time to achieve their goals. The road is still long, but hopefully the recent decision to deny a billion pound contract, shows that road is just a bit smoother than I initially realized.
The ultimate goal, of, not just the end of the genocide in Gaza, but the end of genocide, full stop, could take decades, centuries, millennia, or may not be achieved at all. It’s a very, very long term goal. Just like I was talking about one of my favourite quotes in my previous post, “You build a cathedral, knowing you will never see its completion.” So since the big news about the recent defeat of Elbit Systems, in a sense, everything has changed, but in another sense, nothing has changed. But we can’t give up. No matter how long it takes, we simply cannot, ever, just accept a world where entire peoples are completely wiped out because of their race or ethnicity. We simply cannot stand for the crime of genocide in our world any more.
FREE PALESTINE
END ALL GENOCIDE
Ponderings Of An Autist 