In a desperate act of protest, Umer Khalid, a 22-year-old activist with a genetic disorder, has stopped consuming both food and water in his ongoing hunger strike against criminal charges. Doctors have warned that this life-threatening decision could lead to his death within days.
Khalid, who suffers from the muscle-wasting condition limb-girdle muscular dystrophy, began his hunger strike in November 2025 alongside seven other Palestine Action protesters. They were demonstrating against charges related to alleged break-ins or criminal damage carried out on behalf of the group.
While the other protesters have since ended their strikes, Khalid has persisted, pausing only briefly over the Christmas period when his health deteriorated. Now, having resumed his protest 13 days ago, Khalid has taken the drastic step of refusing water as well as food.
According to Dr. Rupa Marya, a suspended University of California, San Francisco professor who has spoken on Khalid’s behalf, the lack of fluid intake puts him at grave risk. “With no fluid intake, typically people die of acute kidney failure and other derangements within three to four days,” she said. “With Khalid’s underlying health condition, he is at increased risk of death even sooner.”
The stakes are high, as Khalid’s action seeks to pressure the UK government over its ties to the Israeli arms company Elbit Systems. Just last week, the government decided not to award a £2 billion contract to Elbit’s UK subsidiary, a key demand of the protesters. However, Khalid and his supporters argue that more must be done to cut the UK’s links to Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories.
“While the UK government is making plans to build skyscrapers over the remains of Gaza’s buried children, Khalid’s actions expose the absolute barbarity and racist hypocrisy of the UK legal system,” Marya said.
With Khalid’s life now hanging in the balance, the spotlight turns to the UK authorities and whether they will heed the desperate pleas of this gravely ill activist before it is too late.
