By Calla Mairead Walsh

After the first two to three days of a hunger strike, the body begins breaking down its own fat stores for energy, then its muscles, vital organs, and bone marrow, eating itself alive. By day ten, significant medical intervention is required.

As of September 1, 2025, 29-year-old British political prisoner Teuta Hoxha is on her 22nd day of hunger strike in HMP Peterborough, and she has yet to be hospitalized or receive adequate medical care.

Hoxha is one of 24 activists arrested in connection with Palestine Action’s raid on an Elbit Systems factory in Filton, Gloucestershire, in August last year. 

One of the 'Filton 24' detained indefinitely under the UK's "Terrorism Act" while awaiting trial next spring, Hoxha is accused of participating in the heroic dismantling of an Elbit Systems weapons factory, which reportedly caused the Israeli arms manufacturing giant €1 million in damages.

The 'Filton 24' have experienced what can only be described as torture at the hands of the state — violent raids, sleep deprivation, solitary confinement in special counter-terrorism units, revocation of basic rights.

Hoxha's 17-year-old sister said the prison's unfair treatment of her greatly intensified after the UK's illegitimate proscription of Palestine Action as a "terrorist" group.

Hoxha was moved from HMP Bronzefield to HMP Peterborough, a for-profit prison run by the private company Sodexo, on the day MPs voted for proscription.

At least 75 medical professionals recently sent a letter to National Health Service (NHS) England and the prison authorities, warning that she is at risk of cardiac arrest.

Hoxha's loved ones report that the prison is medically neglecting her as her physical and mental health quickly deteriorates — her hair is falling out, her skin is discolored, and her last check-up showed "dangerously low blood sugar, elevated ketone levels, low blood pressure, a high pulse rate, and low oxygen.

Supporters on the outside are organizing an urgent campaign to call and email the prison administration, demanding they give Hoxha electrolyte sachets and meet the demands of her strike: the reinstatement of her job in the prison library and the delivery of her mail that the prison administration is withholding from her.

As of 30 August, supporters reported that the pressure was working: all of Hoxha's demands had been met, except for written confirmation of the reinstatement of her job, so the strike continues.

A friend told The Observer on Hoxha's condition, “She looks a lot thinner...I think she now realizes that they actually don’t care whether she lives or dies, so she’s not going to give up until they respond to the demands.” As Irish hunger striker Dolours Price said, “He who blinks first is lost."

Hoxha is not alone, though. When 35-year-old Casey Goonan, the only political prisoner in the US of the 2024 student intifada, heard about Hoxha on 26 August, he decided to join her strike until her demands are met.

Casey's cellmate in Santa Rita Jail in Dublin, California, also joined. As a diabetic, refusing to take in food is especially risky for Casey, but they have organized successful collective hunger strikes in the past, and they believe that "solidarity is actions, not words."

To announce their strike, Goonan published a statement saying, "The Palestine solidarity movement in the West cannot abandon people like [Hoxha] who have risked their lives and continue to do so in resistance to this intolerable condition of genocide...Solidarity with T. Hoxha and all prisoners of the Palestine solidarity movement! RAZE THE WALLS! LIBERATE ALL PRISONERS OF SETTLER EMPIRE!"

Goonan is facing up to 20 years in federal prison with "terrorism enhancement" for allegedly burning police vehicles at the University of California, Berkeley.

Like the weaponization of counter-terrorism lawfare in the UK cases, this "terrorism enhancement" addition to Goonan’s charges gives the federal government far more room for abuse and draconian overreach in their sentencing and treatment.

Like Hoxha, Goonan has been repeatedly targeted for the political nature of his alleged crime and deliberately isolated from other inmates. Just this summer, he and others like him were retaliated against for filing a grievance, and had their phone calls, visitations, and commissary revoked for over a month.

Several times, the state has pushed back the date of Goonan's sentencing hearing, which was supposed to take place in April but is now set for September 23, 2025.

Meanwhile, every week, supporters gather outside HMP Peterborough to demand the freedom of the 'Filton 24'. CAGE International just shared a solidarity message from Mansoor Adayfi, a former Guantánamo prisoner who spent years on a hunger strike and faced brutal force-feeding to protest his imprisonment and torture, who is now using his platform to advocate for Hoxha.

However, most organizations in the West have fallen completely silent about the ongoing hunger strike, part of their tendency to abandon those facing repression.

As New York-based Palestinian activist Nerdeen Kiswani commented, "Teuta is now paying the price for real solidarity. And while many celebrate resistance in theory, too many turn their backs when activists like her face prison cells, repression, and starvation."

The prison is today and historically a key site of struggle, and the hunger strike is a key tactic there, as the Palestinian and Irish prisoner movements show us.

As Western governments' crackdown against anti-Zionist activism intensifies, the movement will have to fortify itself against repression and build support structures for the growing number of political prisoners, not only the 'Filton 24' and Goonan, but others facing heavy criminal charges in the US, such as Elias Rodriguez, Jakhi McCray, and Tarek Bazrouk as well.

To save Hoxha and Casey's lives, call and email HMP Peterborough to demand they meet all of Hoxha's demands. For the latest updates, instructions, and set of demands, go to instagram.com/prisoners4palestine and x.com/Workshops4Gaza.

Calla Mairead Walsh is an American journalist and human rights activist.

(The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of Press TV.)

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Massive crowds poured into Yemen’s capital, Sana’a, for the funeral of Prime Minister Ahmed Ghaleb al-Rahawi and several ministers martyred in an Israeli strike last week.

The ceremony, held on Monday in Al-Sabeen Square, drew mourners from across the country. Amid the grief, attendees voiced steadfast solidarity with the Palestinian people, who have endured nearly 23 months of Israel’s genocidal war, despite the ongoing Israeli attacks on Yemen itself.

Mourners chanted slogans such as “God is Great, Death to America, Death to Israel,” as Mohammed Miftah, the acting Prime Minister of Yemen, stressed that the assassination of al-Rahawi and other ministers won’t succeed in destabilizing the foundations of the Yemeni state, and vowed revenge as well as an internal security crackdown against spies.

“We are facing the strongest intelligence empire in the world, the one that targeted the government, the whole Zionist entity (comprising) the US administration, the Zionist entity, the Zionist Arabs and the spies inside Yemen,” Miftah told the mourners at the al-Saleh mosque in al-Sabeen square, Reuters reported.

On Thursday, Israeli airstrikes on the Yemeni capital claimed the lives of Prime Minister al-Rahawi of the National Government of Change and Construction, and 12 other senior officials.

The Israeli airstrike, which also left several senior ministers wounded, marks a significant escalation in Israel’s ongoing military aggression against Yemen.

The Sana'a government was holding a routine workshop to assess its activities over the past year when it was targeted by Israeli warplanes.

Since the onset of Israel’s genocidal war on the Gaza Strip in October 2023, Yemen's forces have carried out scores of operations in support of the war-hit Gazans, striking targets throughout the occupied Palestinian territories, in addition to targeting Israeli ships or vessels heading towards ports in the occupied territories.

Israel launched a genocidal war on Gaza on October 7, 2023, after the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas waged the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the occupying entity in response to the regime's decades-long campaign of death and devastation against the Palestinians.

The regime’s bloody onslaught on Gaza has so far killed more than 63,500 Palestinians, mostly children and women.

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The Shanghai Cooperation Organization member states, in a joint statement on Monday, “strongly” condemned the US-Israeli aggression against Iran.

The statement described the attacks in June, which targeted civilian infrastructure, including nuclear-energy facilities, and resulted in civilian casualties, as blatant violations of international law, the UN Charter, and Iran’s sovereignty.

The SCO member states said such actions pose serious threats to peace and stability, endangering international security on a regional and global scale.

They also stressed that the safety of nuclear facilities must be permanently guaranteed, even during armed conflicts, to safeguard populations and the environment.

They emphasized that the member states remained fully committed to their diplomatic efforts required in order to resolve international disputes through peaceful means.

UN Security Council Resolution 2231 (2015) on the Iran nuclear issue was cited in the statement as the framework for resolving the dispute, emphasizing the document is binding and must be implemented.

In the joint statement, the SCO member states dismissed unilateral or arbitrary interpretations of the UN resolution, warning that such attempts would undermine the authority of the world’s top international body and do irreparable damage to the reputation of the UNSC.

The leaders, who also condemned the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip as well as the efforts to revive Nazi ideology, called for the resumption of constructive dialogue between disputing sides, noting that the focus should be on diplomatic means for finding solutions to deescalate the global tensions.

They reiterated their determination to continue their joint efforts against terrorism, separatism, and extremism, censuring all forms of terrorism as unacceptable, and pointing out that exercising double standards in this regard would not be accepted.

The statement condemned all unilateral coercive means, including economic measures used to exert unwarranted pressure on countries.

The SCO summit, hosted by Chinese President Xi Jinping, opened in Tianjin on Monday with the participation of heads of state and delegations from across the world.

The summit, which comes as the US has launched a global trade war, aims to set a long-term vision for regional cooperation amid shifting global alliances and growing calls for a new multipolar order.

The summit will review the organization’s achievements and also adopt a 10-year development strategy.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian is among the guests attending the two-day summit.

Before departing Tehran on Sunday, Pezeshkian said the SCO provides an opportunity to counter the US and European unilateralism in international affairs.

Pezeshkian described the SCO as a platform for strengthening cooperation towards multilateralism and counter unilateralism and authoritarianism where countries seek alternatives to US-led foreign policies affecting trade, security and conflicts.

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President Masoud Pezeshkian of Iran says the United States and Europe had better stop approaches based on confrontation and engage in diplomacy to find a “balanced and fair” solution to Tehran’s nuclear issue.

Pezeshkian made the remarks in an address to the Shanghai Plus Summit in China's port city of Tianjin on Monday, which was held after the 25th Meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Council of Heads of State.

Pointing to the acts of aggression by Israel and the United States against Iran in June, at a time that Washington was “hypocritically” engaging in negotiations with Tehran, he said the attack proved the military option was ineffective, and will be met with the heroic resistance of the Iranian people.

The president warned that Europe’s move to invoke the so-called snapback mechanism of sanctions on Iran “will only complicate the situation more and lead to further tensions.”

He called on the SCO and independent countries in the world to play an effective and responsible role in the face of unjust measures.

Pezeshkian once again reaffirmed the Islamic Republic’s constant readiness to find a diplomatic and peaceful solution to issues regarding its nuclear energy program.

Elsewhere in his address, the Iranian president urged the SCO, as one of the most important independent and justice-seeking bodies in the world, to take a more organized initiative that promotes global peace.

Pezeshkian placed a premium on the urgent need for the SCO to devise a comprehensive plan to address the longstanding conflicts in the West Asia region, particularly the massacre and starvation of innocent people in Gaza.

He cautioned that no plan for global peace and justice can succeed in the world without a just resolution to the Palestinian issue.

“Our solution has always been based on the participation of all original inhabitants of Palestine in a free election to realize the right to self-determination as the most fundamental principle of international law,” he said.

Pezeshkian noted that since the end of the Cold War, unilateral moves have hindered humanity's aspirations for lasting peace in the world.

However, he added, the establishment of the SCO has kept hopes alive for collaborative efforts among nations with cultural-civilizational diversity and different political, economic, and military situations.

“The experience of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization has shown that cooperation, especially among developing countries and emerging economies, can provide a practical response to global challenges, including economic inequalities, the pressures of sanctions, climate change, and transnational security crises,” the president said.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) has warned that more than 660,000 children have been deprived of schooling for a third consecutive year due to relentless Israeli genocidal war across the besieged Palestinian territory. 

“The war in Gaza is a war on children and it must stop. Children must be protected at all times,” UNRWA said in a recent statement.

The UN agency further cautioned that the besieged region’s youth are at risk of becoming a “lost generation.”

The Palestinian Education Ministry said around 700,000 students in the blockaded strip have seen their schooling suspended under incessant bombardment by the Israeli invading forces.

According to ministry data, more than 70,000 have remained unable to take high school exams for two consecutive years.

Israeli attacks since October 2023 have killed at least 17,000 school students and more than 1,200 university students in Gaza, while injuring tens of thousands more.

Nearly 1,000 education workers have been killed in Gaza, and thousands more injured or detained across the besieged strip. 

Also in the occupied West Bank, dozens of students have been killed, wounded, or detained by Israeli forces during the same period. The toll has extended to teachers and academic staff.

Imam al-Askari(a.s.), like his noble fathers, was a prominent scholar and an Imam whom no one could ignore. He (A.S.) was the chief of religious scholars, an ideal of worshippers, a leader of politics and opposition, and towards whom the hearts of people were adhered with love and respect.

Inspite of the existence of the brutal terrorism of the Abbasid rule, and their political hostility towards Ahlul-Bayt (A.S.), and the continuous pursuit of authorities for him and his followers, and throwing them in prisons and jails, the caliphs of his time could not hide his personality or weaken his scientific and political role and his social status. Thus, the spiritual authority of the Holy Imam(A.S.) was imposed upon the rulers and the opponents of his time.

Ahmad bin Abdulla bin Khaqan, being an opponent of Imam al-Askari (A.S.), narrated a full description about his social and political status and position:

Ibn Shahr Ashub said:

"Hussein bin Muhammad Ash'ari and Muhammad bin Ali said: During his assembly one day the Shias and their beliefs were mentioned. Ahmad bin Abdulla bin Khaqan was in charge of estates and the land tax in Qom. He was the severe enemy of the descendants of Ali bin Abi-Talib(A.S.), who said: 'I had not seen a man from the Sayyids like al-Hassan bin Ali bin Muhammad bin Ali al-Reza(A.S.). Once, the Imam's servant visited my father and said: Abu Muhammad bin al-Rida is standing at the door. Therefore, he permitted them to enter, and welcomed him (the Imam).

Then, the Caliph made him sit down in his oratory (place of Prayer) and started to talk with him and asked for sacrifice of himself for the Imam.

When the Imam wanted to leave, he (my father) bid farewell to him. Then, I asked my father about him (the Imam) and he replied: 'I my son! This is the Imam (leader) of Shias and if the office of leadership was to be taken from our caliphs i.e. the family of al-Abbas, no one among the family of Bani Hashim would be more entitled to it than him (the Imam) becase of his great merit, his self restraint, his modesty, his fasting, his prayer, his asceticism, his devotion (to Allah), and all of his high morals and his righteousness.' "Indeed, I always asked about him, they glorified him and mentioned his charismas. He added saying: 'I have never seen anyone who is more plentiful in knowledge and manner, nor sweet in tongue than Hassan al-Askari(A.S.).

Because of the Holy Imam's great status, political position and his standing at the top of political opposition at that time, the, then, authorities not only imposed a house arrest on him, but, also forced him to attend the office of the caliphate on Mondays and Thursdays every week in the city of Samarrah, the military garrison capital city of Abbasid administration.

In this regard, one of the companions of the Holy Imam (A.S.) said:

"We held a meeting in the district of "al-Askar", then, we waited for the day of Abu Muhammad's (the Holy Imam) going by, instead, he (a.s.) sent a letter in which he wrote the following: 'No one should greet me, nor refer to me with his hand nor gestures, because you would not secure yourselves."

The great position of the Imam (a.s.) can be shown by the following historical document in which he describes the people's conditions during the Holy Imam's martyrdom:

"When the news of his (the HolyImam) martyrdom was spread, Samarra' became on uproar. The markets were empty. Bani (the family) Hashim, the military leaders, the secretaries, the judges, the attestators and the rest of the people rode to his funeral. On that day, Samarra' looked like the (day of) Resurrection.."

Imam Hasan al-Askari (A.S.) The Eleventh Holy Shia Imam

Name: Hasan

Title: Al-Askari

Kunyat: Abu Muhammad

Born: at Medina on Monday, 8th Rabi-ul-Aakhir 232 A.H.

Father's name: Imam Ali un-Naqi al-Hadi(A.S.)

Mother's Name: Saleel

Martyred: at the age of 28 years at Samarra (Iraq), on Friday, 8th Rabi-ul-Awwal 260 A.H.

poisoned by Mo'tamad, the Abbasid caliph.

Buried: at Samarra(Iraq).

Imam Hassan al-Askari was born in Madina,on 8th day of the month of Rabi' Thani, in the year 232 A.H. He was called 'al-Askari' in connection with the district of Askar in the city of Samarra' in which he (the Imam) and his father, Imam Ali un-Naqi al-Hadi (A.S.) were imprisoned by the Abbasid caliphs.

The holy Imam(A.S.) was born and brought up under the care of his father, Imam Ali al-Hadi (A.S.), who was well-known for his divinely inspired knowledge, holy striving (Jihad) and good acts and from him he learned the best of morals, the abundance of knowledge, the spirit of belief and the good merits of Ahlul-Bayt (A.S.).

Indeed, he (the Holy Imam) (A.S..) accompanied his holy father and lived whit him more that twenty three years, during which time he comprehended the sciences of the descendants of Holy Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.) and learned the inheritance of the divine leadership. He looked like his fathers in the fields of knowledge, good deeds, jihad, and calling to reform in the community of his holy grandfather,Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.).

Various narrations are given concerning the leadership of Imam al-Askari (a.s.) and the isuue of his leadership appeared during the period of his holy father, Imam Ali al-Hadi (A.S.).

The Islamic Republic of Iran's Army warns that the world will witness mounting wars and acts of terror by Israel if the regime is not contained immediately.

In a statement on Sunday, the Army expressed its condolences over the martyrdom of Yemeni Prime Minister Ahmed Ghaleb Al-Rahawi of the National Government of Change and Construction, and eight other cabinet ministers in Israeli airstrikes on the Yemeni capital of Sana’a on Thursday.

It said the vile Zionist regime once again displayed its savage, criminal, and inhumane nature by assassinating Yemeni statesmen.

"The international community is aware more now than ever that this rogue and criminal [Israeli] regime poses a serious threat to humanity,” the statement emphasized.

The Iranian Army wished more success for the brave Yemeni people in the continuation of their fight against the Zionist enemy.

The Israeli airstrike also left several senior ministers wounded.

In a statement on Sunday, Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) said the Islamic resistance forces in the region, particularly the resilient Yemeni people, will give the Zionist criminals a crushing response.

The assassination of Yemen’s prime minister signals a dangerous escalation by Israel, aimed at deterring regional actors from opposing its genocidal campaign in Gaza.

Observers, however, say the heinous crime will intensify anti-Zionist outrage across the Arab world, with Yemen emerging as a prominent voice of resistance.

They say such targeted assassinations will heighten regional tensions, as public opinion rallies behind Gaza and calls for accountability grow louder worldwide.

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I think it is unprecedented in history... 

The Leader of the Islamic Revolution of Iran:

 "The crime that the heads of the Zionist government are committing today is, I think, unprecedented in history: killing children with hunger and thirst..."

Israel’s official Arabic-language X account has sparked outrage across social media after describing the rise in the numbers of mosques in Europe as “the true face of colonization”, calling for the removal of “this fifth column”.

Claiming that the number of mosques rose from “fewer than a hundred” in 1980 to “over 20,000” at the present time, the post said “This is the true face of colonialism. This is what is happening while Europe is oblivious and indifferent to the danger.”

The post, published on 25 August, acknowledged freedom of worship as a “basic human right”, but alleged that “the real danger lies in the contents that are taught in some of these mosques”.

The account claimed that some of those mosques encourage “escalating violence in the streets of Europe” and “spread hatred for the other”, urging the European governments to “wake up and remove this fifth column”.

The term “fifth column”, which originates from the Spanish Civil War, refers to a group of people or a faction that undermines a larger group, such as a country or organization, from within, secretly supporting an enemy.

‘Muslims in danger’

Many social media users slammed the post as an Islamophobic campaign targeting Muslims in Europe.

“Israel’s official state ideology is global race war against Muslims,” one person wrote, while another asked “What would the reaction be if an Arab state wrote this about synagogues and Jews?”

Another social media user warned that the post “further jeopardizes” the safety of millions of Muslims in Europe at a crucial timing.

“At a time when anti-Muslim racism in Europe has reached unprecedented levels - evidenced by the fact that one in two Muslims report experiencing discrimination in their daily lives - such Islamophobic content further jeopardizes the safety and well-being of millions.”

Another social media activist said Israel’s rhetoric went beyond that of Germany’s anti-immigrant party.

“Even the AfD [Alternative for Germany] don’t tweet ‘Europe must wake up and remove this fifth column’ over a map of mosques.”

Referring to its growing alliances with European parties known for anti-Muslim rhetoric, another user said Israel is positioning itself as “a blueprint for the international far right”.

“It’s posted this insane anti-Muslim hate rant. And Israel is one of the last states on earth to credibly lecture on hateful indoctrination,” the user added.

‘Migration connected to Israeli wars’

Several emphasized that Muslim migration to Europe cannot be separated from decades of wars, invasions, and displacements in which Israel has played a direct or indirect role.

“It’s hypocritical for Israel to warn about Muslim migration to Europe when its wars in Gaza, the West Bank, and civil wars in Lebanon and Syria have caused the very displacement driving it - Muslims just want to live and raise their children without being bombed or subjugated.”

A reddit user echoed the remarks, saying “Maybe if they didn’t displace Muslims and destroy their homes in the Middle East maybe they wouldn’t need to go to Europe to get a better life to begin with.”

“Israel invaded Middle East, destabilized it, driving Muslims out in droves, yet it doesn’t want Muslims to live anywhere else,” another user added on X.

‘Deluded regime’

Noting that the post was made in Arabic and not the languages of Europe, a user described it as “a humiliation ritual and a threat to those readers who do.”

Some users slammed the map of European mosques juxtaposed to the post as “so inaccurate,” questioning the claim that Europe had fewer than 100 mosques in 1980, amid centuries of Islamic presence across the continent.

“That map is so inaccurate. Spain has over 2,000 mosques, mostly because of it being under Moorish control for a bit,” one user noted.

Pointing to the usage of the word "colonization" in the post, other users highlighted Israel’s own plans to build a “Third Temple” in the occupied Old City of al-Quds.

"So building mosques is a form of colonization but Israel wanting to build the third temple is not? Deluded state."

According to Pew Research Center and the FAF Policy Brief, Europe is home to around 45–50 million today, making up roughly six to seven percent of the continent’s population.

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